* En anglais uniquement
Described by bandleader -- or rather co-bandleader --
Mel Lewis as "brilliant" in 1982, trumpeter
Jim Powell should not be confused with closely named jazzmen such as the
Jimmy Powell who rode the
Count Basie bus. Excluding bizarre variants such as "Jimbo" or "Jamie," the trumpeter has been referred to under every possible variation of this name, although most often as
Jim Powell. Discographer Tom Lord came up with a total of nearly two dozen recording sessions for trumpeter
Jim Powell between 1977 and the mid-'90s. Also in Lord's dominion of recorded jazz artists are a
James Powell on both flügelhorn and trumpet, hitting only twice between 1990 and 1996. Then there's
Jimmy Powell, whom Lord credits for a single 1987 session, again on both trumpet and flügelhorn.
All are the same guy, a trumpeter who inspired the previously mentioned praise from
Lewis when he came into
the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra as a replacement for the dynamic
Tom Harrell. In interviews,
Lewis further described
Powell as being in the style of
Harrell; one thing these two trumpeters do have in common is a background in
Woody Herman's big bands going back to the '70s, building up chops for the exciting encounters to come in the '80s. Further disturbing similarities could be gleaned fromLord's multiple listing of trumpeters under
Powell's name, if it is indeed possible to be disturbed by anything in a mere discography --
Harrell, after all, has suffered from schizophrenia. The period of
Powell's career most likely to have involved suffering, however, would have been his stint with notoriously demanding drummer
Buddy Rich. ~ Eugene Chadbourne