The Amazing Bud Powell: Black Genius, Jazz History, and the Challenge of Bebop

[EyeSpeech]

Has anyone read this book who can speak to the emphasis on "black genius" and "black music"? I'm sure there is much great content, but I can't bring myself to buy the book because ascribing Bud's genius or music to a single racial identity turns me off. I think it does a disservice to the universal themes of Bud's talent and music. Guthrie Ramsey's previous book, Race Music, seems to set the tone. I'm sure he is getting grants for this type of work but one of the things I think we all love about great music is its ability to transcend color, creed, fads and time. What is the goal of academics like Ramsey who lay racial claim to a certain genre or group of genres that were clearly influenced by other races. Bud was profoundly influenced by latin music and other genres. I just don't see what can be gained in 20XX by calling this black music. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520243919

[Chuck Nessa]

Sigh.

[Unk]

Well sigh-ed.

[EyeSpeech]

Chuck, can you change your label name to White Producer - Black Music?

Edited March 13, 2016 by EyeSpeech

[Chuck Nessa]

Why state the obvious?

[JSngry]

3 hours ago, EyeSpeech said:

Bud was profoundly influenced by latin music and other genres. I just don't see what can be gained in 20XX by calling this black music.

Quo vadis, homie?

[Joe]

Yeah, when those Philadelphia cops were beating Bud senseless -- and forever altering the course of his life -- I'm sure they were paying no attention whatsoever to the color of his skin.

[paul secor]

A sorry thread.

[Teasing the Korean]

19 hours ago, EyeSpeech said:

...I just don't see what can be gained in 20XX by calling this black music. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520243919

How do you ignore the sociological contexts that led to the music's creation to begin with?  

[danasgoodstuff]

a better question might be, does this book's author write about Bud as 'black music' in an intelligent, insightful, nuanced way or not so much...

[Larry Kart]

28 minutes ago, danasgoodstuff said:

a better question might be, does this book's author write about Bud as 'black music' in an intelligent, insightful, nuanced way or not so much...

I recall taking a look at this book a year or so ago. To answer your question "does this book's author write about Bud as 'black music' in an intelligent, insightful, nuanced way or not so much..." my impression was somewhere between "not so much" and "not at all." Ramsey is no George Lewis, nor, when it comes to Bud Powell, no Peter Pullman.

[sonnyhill]

I do not agree with most of the points that OP made, but I find the title problematic also.  If referring to Bud Powell as a genius, I would prefer that it be done without qualification.  The term "black" used as an adjective in the context that the OP objected to speaks to me as a limitation that I do not like applied to black people of unique gifts like Bud or those in any area of endeavor.  It is used that way by black academics often, and I find it insulting.   

My view is that there is no special kind of genius called "black genius."   Of course, given the history of the United States, the fact that Bud was a black man, the legacy of slavery and its aftermath, the discrimination against black people that he experienced and witnessed throughout his life, and the struggle of black people to be treated humanely would have to be addressed in detail in any worthwhile examination of Bud Powell's life and music.   

[l p]

i checked out some of it on google books. the author of the book seems to be unaware that francis paudras was generally thought to be a bad influence on powell. 

[Quasimado]

8 hours ago, l p said:

... francis paudras was generally thought to be a bad influence on powell. 

Any specifics? "generally thought to be a bad influence" is a little surprising, although I guess it's not hard to imagine some people taking that line.

Personally I have never heard it. Q.

[l p]

i think it was the previous powell bio (mid/late 1990's?), it had some musicians who witnessed the situation both in paris and nyc, claimed that paudras was taking advantage of powell, and basically used him.

and if my chronology is correct, it was shorly after that bio came out that paudras blew his brains out. edit: the timing could have been a coincidence, because paudras also had family and health problems.

if Ramsey had this information for his dissertation and for the current book, both would have been quite different. as it stands, it seems that Ramsey read only paudras' account of their relationship.

https://books.google.com/books?id=g1YYaqWNehUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22bud+powell%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjEnpSzsMXLAhWBmIMKHc0LA6oQuwUILzAB#v=onepage&q=paudras&f=false

 

Edited March 16, 2016 by l p