The Amazing Bud Powell Quotes

“the difficulties that ravaged the lives of many young African American men of Powell’s ilk: drug and alcohol abuse (or, in his case, self-medication), psychiatric (mis)treatment, and the criminal (in)justice system.”
― Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr., The Amazing Bud Powell: Black Genius, Jazz History, and the Challenge of Bebop

“In a phone interview in 1994, Celia Powell stressed two sentiments: music was her father’s life; it was the driving force of his existence, in her opinion. And she thought the music industry had very much taken advantage of him.121”
― Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr., The Amazing Bud Powell: Black Genius, Jazz History, and the Challenge of Bebop

“Critics use musical metaphors to describe his painterly technique, referring to it as “pure eye music” and noting his “lyrical touch.”
― Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr., The Amazing Bud Powell: Black Genius, Jazz History, and the Challenge of Bebop

“Gillespie would recall the California experience with his typical resolve, a quality that probably fostered the remarkable longevity of his career: “Sea to sea, America in 1945 was as backward a country musically as it was racially. Those of us who tried to push it forward had to suffer.”80”
― Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr., The Amazing Bud Powell: Black Genius, Jazz History, and the Challenge of Bebop