The Times - Sat 24th July.
Discussion
Benny Powell - Obituaries
Powerful and versatile jazz trombonist esteemed throughout the US as a performer and as a teacher
In recent years Benny Powell was the powerful, engaging trombone soloist in the band led by the globetrotting pianist Randy Weston. His strong sense of jazz tradition and swing gave the band a focus that remained intact even in the middle of Weston’s exotic world music collaborations, such as a series of albums and concerts with African Gnawi musicians.
Powell was also a familiar figure in the smaller jazz clubs in New York, clad in African garb, and leading his own quintet with a fellow Weston alumnus, the saxophonist Talib Kibwe.
Over the two decades that the veteran trumpeter Doc Cheatham led a quartet at Sweet Basil in Greenwich Village, New York City, Powell was the reliable substitute who appeared when Cheatham went on tour. He found ready support from his local fans, but Powell was also a highly respected teacher, and often students from his classes at the New School for Social Research in Manhattan would come along and swell the crowd to listen or join in.
He was not only a fount of wisdom on trombone matters, but would regale his friends with tales of his many years on the road with the bands of Lionel Hampton and Count Basie.
Benjamin Gordon Powell Jr was born, as befits a jazz musician of his stature, in New Orleans. Although he never wholeheartedly embraced the traditional jazz of his birthplace, he affectionately recalled following marching bands on funerals and parades during his childhood, and he was taught by Eddie Pearson, a stickler for musical discipline who played with the Young Tuxedo Brass Band. But Powell’s generation wanted to play the new sounds of bebop being developed by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and in his teens Powell left his home town to play with a touring big band, The ’Bama State Collegians.
From here, he went by way of Ernie Fields’ band into the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, its ranks packed with like-minded individuals who combined swing big band playing with a passion for modern jazz. Three years with Hampton, playing to packed halls, taught Powell showmanship and professionalism.
He came off the road in 1951 and attempted to settle in Canada, but, not having proper papers, was deported, and to his good fortune arrived back in New York at precisely the time that Count Basie was re-forming his big band. Powell was to spend the next 12 years in Basie’s ranks, his mellow trombone being heard on such discs as Basie’s hit record of April in Paris.
During his time with Basie, Powell’s trombone style coalesced into a predominantly swing approach, but with a comprehensive grasp of more modern harmony, and an exceptional speed of execution. This was the hallmark of his distinctive contributions to many a freelance session, including records with Buck Clayton, Sir Charles Thompson and Frank Foster.
In 1963, not least because his solo opportunities in Basie’s band had diminished with the arrival of another trombone soloist, Al Grey, Powell left the band. He remained on good terms with Basie and rejoined him briefly on a couple of occasions in the 1970s.
Based in New York in the 1960s, Powell played jazz with the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra, (recording a swaggering solo on Fingers), and with the group led by Duke Pearson. He recorded as a freelance with Roland Kirk and Frank Wess, and he made a good living as a studio player in the television band for the Merv Griffin show.
When Griffin’s production team moved the programme to Los Angeles in 1970, Powell went too. Like many studio players, he kept in practice playing jazz with Bill Holman and with Bill Berry’s orchestra, but also worked constantly on film and television soundtracks. He made a brief appearance in front of the camera in Mel Brooks’s Blazing Saddles, where the Count Basie Orchestra played in the open air as Cleavon Little’s black sheriff rides past. He had a minor acting role as an elderly bedridden patient in a series of television commercials.
After a decade in California Powell returned to New York in 1981 by way of a touring production of the Fats Waller musical Ain’t Misbehavin’. For the past three decades he was a fixture on the New York scene, playing in almost every style of jazz from avant-garde to swing. His travelling was restricted by a kidney problem, which required dialysis several times a week, but after a successful transplant in 1996 he resumed a limited amount of touring.
As well as teaching in Manhattan and playing with Randy Weston and his own groups, Powell had an interest in jazz repertory and played for the Smithsonian Masterworks Orchestra and the American Jazz Orchestra. He was involved for many years with Jazzmobile, Dr Billy Taylor’s project to bring high-quality jazz concerts to the streets of New York.
Powell was married and divorced three times. His daughter survives him.
Benny Powell, jazz trombonist, was born on March 1, 1930. He died on June 26, 2010, aged 80
That the one?
Powerful and versatile jazz trombonist esteemed throughout the US as a performer and as a teacher
In recent years Benny Powell was the powerful, engaging trombone soloist in the band led by the globetrotting pianist Randy Weston. His strong sense of jazz tradition and swing gave the band a focus that remained intact even in the middle of Weston’s exotic world music collaborations, such as a series of albums and concerts with African Gnawi musicians.
Powell was also a familiar figure in the smaller jazz clubs in New York, clad in African garb, and leading his own quintet with a fellow Weston alumnus, the saxophonist Talib Kibwe.
Over the two decades that the veteran trumpeter Doc Cheatham led a quartet at Sweet Basil in Greenwich Village, New York City, Powell was the reliable substitute who appeared when Cheatham went on tour. He found ready support from his local fans, but Powell was also a highly respected teacher, and often students from his classes at the New School for Social Research in Manhattan would come along and swell the crowd to listen or join in.
He was not only a fount of wisdom on trombone matters, but would regale his friends with tales of his many years on the road with the bands of Lionel Hampton and Count Basie.
Benjamin Gordon Powell Jr was born, as befits a jazz musician of his stature, in New Orleans. Although he never wholeheartedly embraced the traditional jazz of his birthplace, he affectionately recalled following marching bands on funerals and parades during his childhood, and he was taught by Eddie Pearson, a stickler for musical discipline who played with the Young Tuxedo Brass Band. But Powell’s generation wanted to play the new sounds of bebop being developed by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and in his teens Powell left his home town to play with a touring big band, The ’Bama State Collegians.
From here, he went by way of Ernie Fields’ band into the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, its ranks packed with like-minded individuals who combined swing big band playing with a passion for modern jazz. Three years with Hampton, playing to packed halls, taught Powell showmanship and professionalism.
He came off the road in 1951 and attempted to settle in Canada, but, not having proper papers, was deported, and to his good fortune arrived back in New York at precisely the time that Count Basie was re-forming his big band. Powell was to spend the next 12 years in Basie’s ranks, his mellow trombone being heard on such discs as Basie’s hit record of April in Paris.
During his time with Basie, Powell’s trombone style coalesced into a predominantly swing approach, but with a comprehensive grasp of more modern harmony, and an exceptional speed of execution. This was the hallmark of his distinctive contributions to many a freelance session, including records with Buck Clayton, Sir Charles Thompson and Frank Foster.
In 1963, not least because his solo opportunities in Basie’s band had diminished with the arrival of another trombone soloist, Al Grey, Powell left the band. He remained on good terms with Basie and rejoined him briefly on a couple of occasions in the 1970s.
Based in New York in the 1960s, Powell played jazz with the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra, (recording a swaggering solo on Fingers), and with the group led by Duke Pearson. He recorded as a freelance with Roland Kirk and Frank Wess, and he made a good living as a studio player in the television band for the Merv Griffin show.
When Griffin’s production team moved the programme to Los Angeles in 1970, Powell went too. Like many studio players, he kept in practice playing jazz with Bill Holman and with Bill Berry’s orchestra, but also worked constantly on film and television soundtracks. He made a brief appearance in front of the camera in Mel Brooks’s Blazing Saddles, where the Count Basie Orchestra played in the open air as Cleavon Little’s black sheriff rides past. He had a minor acting role as an elderly bedridden patient in a series of television commercials.
After a decade in California Powell returned to New York in 1981 by way of a touring production of the Fats Waller musical Ain’t Misbehavin’. For the past three decades he was a fixture on the New York scene, playing in almost every style of jazz from avant-garde to swing. His travelling was restricted by a kidney problem, which required dialysis several times a week, but after a successful transplant in 1996 he resumed a limited amount of touring.
As well as teaching in Manhattan and playing with Randy Weston and his own groups, Powell had an interest in jazz repertory and played for the Smithsonian Masterworks Orchestra and the American Jazz Orchestra. He was involved for many years with Jazzmobile, Dr Billy Taylor’s project to bring high-quality jazz concerts to the streets of New York.
Powell was married and divorced three times. His daughter survives him.
Benny Powell, jazz trombonist, was born on March 1, 1930. He died on June 26, 2010, aged 80
That the one?
Edited by muffinmenace on Monday 26th July 12:01
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