Chez Francis
Paris 1962-64
ONLY 500 HAND-NUMBERED COPIES AVAILABLE ON SAMRECORDS.FR
OR AT SAM RECORDS STORE: 10, RUE TAYLOR – 75010 PARIS
Relaxed and inspired, the pianist is captured at home by his friend Francis Paudras.
Some precious and intimate moments that reveal the genius of an indispensable jazz creator.
Bud Powell moved to Paris in autumn 1959, following an engagement at the Club Saint-Germain, where he had already performed in 1957, accompanied by Pierre Michelot and Kenny Clarke. Following in the footsteps of Kenny Clarke, who had been living in Paris since the mid-1950s, Bud Powell spent five years in the French capital. It was during this extended stay that he befriended Francis Paudras, a relationship that inspired the film Autour de Minuit, and thanks to which we are fortunate to listen to this selection of tracks curated by Daniel Richard.
This library of informal recordings inherited from Paudras is the source of the present programme, and there are numerous delights herein. It needs to be pointed out that the recording quality is good but not of professional standard and also that the piano in Paudras’s apartment, to which Bud became so intimately attached, had probably seen better days. But anyone lending half an ear to these exceptional tapes will rapidly overlook any apparent technical deficiencies, and find themselves riveted by the quality of the music.
The repertoire played by Powell in the 13 tracks selected here consists of a mixture of American song standards, jazz standards and some original pieces. Bud’s choice of song standards is in some ways untypical of the bebop generation to which he belonged, for they usually played their own lines using the chords of standards, as when he adds ‘Ornithology’ at the end of ‘How High the Moon’. But using the original melody of ‘All God’s Children Got Rhythm’ was by then probably deemed unfashionable, as were ‘I Know That You Know’, ‘Idaho’ or the 1929 ‘Deep Night’, each of which he had previously recorded on studio albums as is the case with the 1952 hit, ‘When I Fall in Love’. ‘Wahoo’, on the other hand, was a jazz standard of the period, and Bud’s versions of two Monk tunes are notable: ‘Stuffy Turkey’ and ‘Ruby My Dear’, where he stays reverentially close to Monk’s own voicings.
Four of Powell’s own originals provide considerable enlightenment. The opening track of the album ‘Una Noche Con Francis’ has built-in contrasts, with the theme being very Latin-jazz flavoured despite the lack of any percussion instruments. When the pianist switches to a swing feel for his solo, the change is remarkably clear on the keyboard. A similar swing approach is heard in both ‘In the Mood for a Classic’ and ‘Yeheadeadeadee’. Both provide examples of Bud’s sublimely melodic improvisation, and the dynamic accentuation of his phrasing. ‘Blues for Bouffémont’, on the other hand, is a rare example of his slow-blues playing and contains around the 2’30” mark what sounds like a reference to ‘Parker’s Mood’.
The name of Bud’s blues, however, is a reference to the fact that Powell was hospitalised in 1963. On returning to the Paudras household, he rapidly recovered his facility at the keyboard and prepared for his August stay on the coast of Normandy. But more significant, and ultimately more tragic, was the invitation to return later that month to New York for an open-ended residency at Birdland, which lasted less than eight weeks before he was dismissed. Paudras had travelled with him and arranged to bring him back to Paris, but he wasn’t to be found when the time came and Francis returned alone. Then it was a further descent into the abyss for the pianist, with further hospitalisations and finally his death on July 31, 1966.
There had been attempts at studio sessions during this New York period, but it might be fair to say that these recordings by Paudras, done while Powell was relaxed and being cared for, are the last to be worth revisiting. The earlier classic discs among his albums of the 1940s-1950s (often on the Blue Note or Verve labels) remain accessible and continue to provide an essential education about the development of Bud’s iconic style. And, of course, there are still countless examples of pianists who were influenced by his creations. The enclosed music, however, is a unique insight into his playing during a unique period in his life.
A1 Una Noche con Francis 03:45
(music by Bud Powell)
Francis Paudras’ home, 64 rue de Clichy, Paris, probably July 1964.
A2 Ruby, My Dear 03:52
(music by Thelonious Monk)
Francis Paudras’ home, 64 rue de Clichy, Paris, February 16, 1964.
A3 In the Mood for a Classic 03:06
(music by Bud Powell)
Francis Paudras’ home, 64 rue de Clichy, Paris, probably July 1964.
A4 Stuffy Turkey 01:54
(music by Thelonious Monk)
Francis Paudras’ home, 64 rue de Clichy, Paris, February 16, 1964.
A5 Deep Night 04:14
(words by Rudy Vallée – music by Charlie Henderson)
Francis Paudras’ home, Paris 1962-1964.
A6 Blues for Bouffémont 04:20
(music by Bud Powell)
Francis Paudras’ home, 64 rue de Clichy, Paris, February 16, 1964.
B1 How High the Moon / Ornithology 02:48
(words by Nancy Hamilton – music by Morgan Lewis /
music by Charlie Parker and Bennie Harris)
Francis Paudras’ home, 64 rue de Clichy, Paris, 1964.
B2 All God’s Children Got Rhythm 02:09
(words by Gus Kahn – music by Bronislaw Kaper and Walter Jurmann)
Francis Paudras’ home, Paris 1962-1964.
B3 I Know That You Know 02:04
(words by Anne Caldwell – music by Vincent Youmans)
Francis Paudras’ home, 64 rue de Clichy, Paris, 1964.
B4 Yeheadeadeadee 03:16
(music by Bud Powell)
Francis Paudras’ home, 64 rue de Clichy, Paris, probably July 1964.
B5 Wahoo 01:59
(music by Bennie Harris)
Francis Paudras’ home, Paris 1962-1964.
B6 Idaho 02:29
(words and music by Jesse Stone)
Francis Paudras’ home, Paris 1962-1964.
B7 When I Fall in Love (To Nicole and Francis) 02:01
(words by Edward Heyman – music by Victor Young)
Francis Paudras’ home, 64 rue de Clichy, Paris, 1963.
Bud Powell: piano
Michel Gaudry: double bass on A1, A3, B4
Francis Paudras: brushes on A4, A5, B2, B5, B6
—
Musical selection and sequencing by Daniel Richard.
Transfers and audio restoration by François Lê Xuân.
Graphic design by Jean-Louis Duralek
All photos by Jean-Pierre Leloir.
Produced by François Lê Xuân and Fred Thomas for Sam Records / Saga.
Special thanks: Martin Davies.
This compilation (P) 2024 Sam Records / Saga under license from François Lacharme.