3/1/2018 Richie Powell - Wikipedia

Richie Powell
Richard Powell (September 5, 1931 – June 26, 1956) was an American
Richie Powell
jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He was not assisted in his musical
development by Bud, his older and better known brother, but both played
predominantly in the bebop style.

After early work around Philadelphia and New York City, Richie Powell
played in the bands of Paul Williams (1951–52) and Johnny Hodges (1952–
54). He switched in the spring of 1954 to being pianist and arranger for the
quintet co-led by trumpeter Clifford Brown and drummer Max Roach. This
band toured extensively across the U.S. for two years, and released both
studio and concert recordings, including the Grammy Hall of Fame Powell (standing) in 1956
inductee Clifford Brown & Max Roach. Background information

Powell, his wife, and Brown were killed in a car crash when traveling Birth name Richard Powell
overnight from Philadelphia to Chicago. Powell was beginning to achieve Born September 5,
recognition at the time of his death, but he never had the chance to record 1931
as a leader. He had a playful piano style, and was fond of using musical New York City,
quotations. His relatively heavy touch and use of left-hand fourths New York, U.S.
influenced fellow pianist McCoy Tyner.
Died June 26, 1956
(aged 24)
Near Bedford,
Pennsylvania,
Contents U.S.
Early life Genres Jazz
Later life and career Occupation(s) Musician,
Playing style composer,
Influence arranger
Discography Instruments Piano
Albums as sideman
Years active 1949–56
References
Associated acts Clifford Brown,
Bud Powell, Max
Roach
Early life
Powell was born in New York City on September 5, 1931.[1] He was the youngest of three sons, after William, Jr., and
Bud, seven years Richie's elder.[2][3] Their parents were William, Sr. and Pearl Powell.[4] The family was musical:
William, Sr. was a stride pianist; William, Jr. led bands as a trumpeter and violinist;[5] and pianist Bud became one of
the leaders of bebop.[3]

One account of why Richie took up the piano is that he pestered drummer Max Roach, who lived nearby, for drum
lessons, and Roach, eventually fed up, suggested that he play the piano instead.[6] Bud did not assist his brother at all
in his musical endeavors; instead, according to a biographer of saxophonist Jackie McLean, "it was an excellent but
now forgotten pianist named Bob Bunyan who taught Richie Powell chords on the piano. Richie would study with

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Powell 1/5
3/1/2018 Richie Powell - Wikipedia

Bunyan, and then go home and watch his brother practice. [...] Richie and Jackie became tight friends and used to
rehearse together".[7] Richie also studied music with Mary Lou Williams,[8] and attended the City College of New
York.[1]

Later life and career

From 1949 to 1951 Powell worked around Philadelphia and New York City.[9] He then played in the bands of Paul
Williams (1951–52) and Johnny Hodges (1952–54).[1] With Williams' R&B-oriented band he recorded four tracks late
in 1952[10] that were released as singles.[11] Powell also played on a medley track for a 1954 Hodges album, Used to Be
Duke.[12][13]

Powell was with Hodges' band in Los Angeles in the spring of 1954 when Roach needed a new pianist for the quintet
that he co-led with trumpeter Clifford Brown.[6] Powell was offered, and accepted, the job.[6] He also became arranger
for the quintet.[1] They performed and rehearsed a lot, then had several recording sessions that August for EmArcy
Records, which resulted in their first album, Brown and Roach Incorporated.[14] In the same month, Powell was
involved as pianist for some tracks at a session arranged for singer Dinah Washington that featured a studio
audience.[15] In September the quintet played for a fortnight at the Black Hawk in San Francisco, then began a tour of
the eastern United States the following month.[16] The band's saxophonist, Harold Land, reported that, when touring,
"Richie was a little busy with the ladies. He had harems in almost every city".[17]

Further recording sessions for Powell with Brown and Roach took place in New York during January and February
1955.[18] The tracks cut in January, with arrangements by Neal Hefti, were released as Clifford Brown with Strings.[19]
The February sessions yielded the albums Study in Brown, and, combined with tracks from the previous year, Clifford
Brown & Max Roach.[19] The latter was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.[20] At the Newport Jazz Festival in
July 1955 Powell played with Roach and others as backing for Washington.[21] Recordings made of the Brown–Roach
quintet at the same event were released decades later.[22]

The quintet with Sonny Rollins, who replaced Land on tenor saxophone, recorded what became their last official
album early in 1956.[23] Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street contained playing at even faster tempos than
on their earlier album releases.[24] Several of the tunes were composed by Powell;[25] on one, "Time", Powell played
celeste in addition to his usual piano.[26] Another was "Gertrude's Bounce", which Powell said was named following his
admiration for the way in which artist Gertrude Abercrombie walked.[27] The third of his originals, "Powell's Prances",
was "a modal composition, with Brown and Rollins improvising on the scale rather than on the usual chord changes",
a form popularized three years later by Miles Davis.[28]

The band continued touring in 1956, including to Toronto.[29] In late February or early March, Powell and Rollins,
traveling together near Philadelphia, were involved in a crash that destroyed Powell's car, but they were not seriously
injured.[30] The quintet recorded under the leadership of Rollins in March for Prestige; this was released as Sonny
Rollins Plus 4.[31] They also had live national CBS Radio broadcasts from the Basin Street club in April and
May.[32][33][34] Two years of exposure with the Brown–Roach ensemble meant that Powell was beginning to achieve
some recognition in his own right.[35]

On June 26, 1956, Powell and his wife, Nancy, together with Brown, were traveling overnight by car from Philadelphia
to Chicago.[36] On the Pennsylvania Turnpike outside Bedford, in heavy rain, Nancy lost control of the vehicle, which
crashed off the road and rolled down an embankment.[37] All three were killed instantly.[37] Nancy was 19;[3] Brown,
25;[38] and Powell, 24.[35]

Playing style

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Powell 2/5
3/1/2018 Richie Powell - Wikipedia

Although he also played swing and R&B, Powell was known as a bebop player.[9] This included using right-hand single-
note lines.[39] In his playing with Brown and Roach, he was fond of inserting musical quotes, including from nursery
rhymes and opera.[40]

Powell usually played as part of a rhythm section in ensembles, so there are few recorded examples of him in smaller
bands.[3] In one 1954 session he recorded a trio version of "I'll String Along with You", on which he used "heavily
chorded patterns with intriguing flourishes."[39] Another exception to Powell being in a supporting role is his extended
introductory section to a 1954 Hodges recording of "Autumn in New York".[3] On this track, in the words of critic Marc
Myers six decades later, Powell's playing was "regal, bouncy and appropriately lush, with shades of Erroll Garner, Al
Haig and Richie's brother, Bud. [...] In 'Autumn in New York', we clearly hear a dramatic, playful pianist who was fast
becoming an extraordinary talent."[3]

Influence
Pianist McCoy Tyner, who grew up close to the Powell brothers in Philadelphia,[41] was influenced by their relatively
heavy keyboard touch and their liking of percussive piano sounds.[42] Tyner also got some of his inspiration for chord
voicings from hearing Richie's use of left-hand fourths.[43][44] Tyner's voicings became the norm for young jazz
pianists.[41]

Discography
Powell did not make any recordings as a leader.[35]
Bootlegs and other unofficial recordings are not included.

Albums as sideman

Year recorded Leader Title Label

1954 Johnny Hodges Used to Be Duke Norgran
1954 Dinah Washington Dinah Jams EmArcy
1954 Various Jam Session EmArcy
1954 Clifford Brown and Max Roach Brown and Roach Incorporated EmArcy
1954 [1970s] Clifford Brown and Max Roach Daahoud Mainstream
1954–55 Clifford Brown and Max Roach Clifford Brown & Max Roach EmArcy
1955 Clifford Brown and Max Roach Clifford Brown with Strings EmArcy
1955 Clifford Brown and Max Roach Study in Brown EmArcy
1956 Clifford Brown and Max Roach Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street EmArcy
1956 Sonny Rollins Sonny Rollins Plus 4 Prestige

References
1. Rinzler, Paul "Powell, Richie" (http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/J360700). The
New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (2nd ed.). Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press.
Retrieved August 1, 2015. Subscription required.
2. Ramsey 2013, p. 48.
3. Myers, Marc (August 11, 2015) "Richie Powell in 1954" (http://www.jazzwax.com/2015/08/richie-powell-in-1954.ht
ml). JazzWax.
4. Ramsey 2013, p. 1.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Powell 3/5
3/1/2018 Richie Powell - Wikipedia

5. Ramsey 2013, pp. 47–48.

6. Catalano 2000, p. 116.
7. Spellman, A.B. (2004) Jazz Perspectives: Four Jazz Lives (2nd edition). University of Michigan Press. pp. 189–
90. ISBN 978-0-472-08967-3.
8. Davis, John S. (2012) Historical Dictionary of Jazz. Scarecrow. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-8108-6757-4.
9. McClellan, Lawrence (2004) The Later Swing Era – 1942 to 1955. Greenwood. p. 277. ISBN 978-0-313-30157-5.
10. Paul Williams – 'The Hucklebuck' and His Orchestra. [LP liner notes.] Saxophonograph Records.
11. "Verve Records Discography: 1952" (http://www.jazzdisco.org/verve-records/discography-1952/). jazzdisco.org.
Retrieved August 14, 2015.
12. "Johnny Hodges and His Orchestra – The Rabbit's Work on Verve Vol. 4" (http://www.discogs.com/Johnny-Hodge
s-And-His-Orchestra-The-Rabbits-Work-On-Verve-Vol-4/release/2016095). Discogs. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
13. The Complete Johnny Hodges Recordings 1951–1955. [LP liner notes.] Mosaic Records.
14. Catalano 2000, pp. 122–24.
15. Catalano 2000, pp. 130–31.
16. Catalano 2000, pp. 136–37.
17. Catalano 2000, p. 152.
18. Catalano 2000, p. 147.
19. Cook & Morton 2008, p. 181.
20. "Grammy Hall of Fame – Past Recipients" (https://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame).
grammy.org. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
21. Cohodas, Nadine (2007) Queen – The Life and Music of Dinah Washington. Knopf Doubleday. p. 205. ISBN 978-
0-375-42148-8.
22. Yanow, Scott (December 2006) "Clifford Brown/Eric Dolphy Clifford Brown + Eric Dolphy Together 1954 Clifford
Brown/Max Roach Quintet The Last Concert" (http://jazztimes.com/articles/17628-clifford-brown-eric-dolphy-toget
her-1954-clifford-brown-eric-dolphy). JazzTimes.
23. Cook & Morton 2008, p. 182.
24. Catalano 2000, p. 156.
25. Yanow, Scott "Clifford Brown / Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet / Max Roach – At Basin Street" (http://www.allm
usic.com/album/at-basin-street-mw0000187770). AllMusic. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
26. Catalano 2000, pp. 170–72.
27. Catalano 2000, p. 168.
28. Catalano 2000, p. 169.
29. Catalano 2000, pp. 169, 174.
30. Catalano 2000, p. 173.
31. Catalano 2000, p. 175.
32. Catalano 2000, pp. 177–178.
33. "Erroll Garner Set for Radio" (April 23, 1956). Daily Defender. p. 19.
34. "Erroll Garner" (May 5, 1956). The Chicago Defender. p. 16.
35. Yanow, Scott "Richie Powell" (http://www.allmusic.com/artist/richie-powell-mn0000295577/biography). AllMusic.
Retrieved August 11, 2015.
36. Catalano 2000, pp. 184–85.
37. Catalano 2000, p. 185.
38. Yanow, Scott "Clifford Brown" (http://www.allmusic.com/artist/clifford-brown-mn0000789775/biography). AllMusic.
Retrieved January 1, 2016.
39. Catalano 2000, p. 125.
40. Catalano 2000, pp. 131, 156.
41. Yanow, Scott "McCoy Tyner" (http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mccoy-tyner-mn0000868092/biography). AllMusic.
Retrieved August 11, 2015.
42. Gioia, Ted (1997) History of Jazz. Oxford University Press. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-19-539970-7.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Powell 4/5
3/1/2018 Richie Powell - Wikipedia

43. "Jazz Piano Giants: McCoy Tyner" (http://soundjunction.org/JazzpianogiantsMcCoyTyner.aspa).

soundjunction.org. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
44. Tick, Judith (ed.) (2008) Music in the USA – A Documentary Companion. Oxford University Press. pp. 644–45.
ISBN 978-0-19-513988-4.

Bibliography

Catalano, Nick (2000). Clifford Brown – The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter. Oxford University
Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514400-0.
Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. ISBN 978-0-141-
03401-0.
Ramsey, Guthrie P. (2013). The Amazing Bud Powell – Black Genius, Jazz History, and the Challenge of Bebop.
University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24391-0.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richie_Powell&oldid=800086047"

This page was last edited on 11 September 2017, at 12:40.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Powell 5/5