My guest today is Peter Pullman, he is the author of “Wail: The Life of Bud Powell”. Receiving a Grammy nomination in 1994 for Best Album Notes on the album “The Complete Bud Powell On Verve” led Pullman to begin work on the biographical project. A truly exhaustive work, Pullman conducted 300 formal interviews, 500 informal ones, research in private archives, police records, FBI files, petitioning New York state psychiatric hospitals, fact finding trips to Europe. The book was a culmination of 12 years of work, and is probably the definitive book on the musician’s life.

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0:55 Bud Powell’s first piano teacher
2:15 How long was Bud with his first teacher?
3:46 Was Bud acquainted with any famous musicians in Harlem?
5:14 Did Bud join any big bands?
6:41 When did Bebop begin and how did Bud get into Bebop?
9:05 When Bud meet Thelonious Monk?
11:09 Did the theoretical underpinnings of Bebop come from Monk?
13:34 Who was Jimmy Blanton?
13:58 How tall was Bud Powell?
15:10 When Bud told Billy Taylor that he was more interested in learning Charlie Parker’s style instead of Art Tatum’s
17:21 When did that conversation take place?
18:55 What was Bud’s relationship with Charlie Parker in the early stages
21:52 Do we know how much Bud and Charlie Parker played together
23:50 What about Dizzy Gillespie and Bud?
25:56 How did the seminal 1947 recording date (with Donna Lee and Buzzy) happen if it was so difficult to corral everyone?
27:05 Recording with Sonny Stitt in 1949
28:34 Can you date the peak of interest in Bebop?
30:51 Sonny Stitt and Bud’s mutual respect
34:22 The famous disastrous final gig with Charlie Parker and Bud Powell
37:45 Bud tearing into Charlie Parker in Lennie Tristano’s presence
40:23 Did Errol Garner refuse to perform right after Bud Powell?
42:39 Was tension between Oscar Peterson and Bud Powell?
45:15 Was Francis Paudraus, Bud’s close friend, an unreliable biographer?
47:28 Did Art Tatum and Bud Powell have a cutting contest?
49:34 Bud receiving a standing ovation immediately after his “Move" solo
52:57 What was Barry Harris’ relationship with Bud Powell?
56:05 Did Bud Powell watch a John Coltrane concert and did they have a connection?
59:38 How has the reception to your book been?
1:02:35 Nikhil’s interest in Bud Powell
1:06:29 Who was the most helpful interviewee in your research?
1:09:13 Wrapping Up