Before Bud Powell, there was jazz piano. After Bud Powell, there was modern jazz piano. This didn’t stop police from beating him up. Bud suffered a severe head beating by police. This beating affected him permanently. One account says that the police turned on him as he spoke up against their harassment of another jazz great, Thelonious Monk. This appears in a biography of Thelonious Monk: “…the police stormed the club and went after Monk. He refused to show his identification, and was forcibly arrested. A fan barred the door and challenged the officers. They tried to push him aside, … Continue reading Jazz Birthdays: Bud Powell (1924) and Red Rodney (1927)