Editing Bud Powell (section)

=== 1956–1958: Birdland All-Stars and return to Blue Note ===
[[File:Bud Powell.jpg|left|thumb|229x229px|Powell, {{Circa|1955–1960}}]]
Powell's long-running gig at [[Storyville (nightclub)|Storyville]], a jazz club in [[Boston]], ended in January 1956. On the last night of the gig he met [[Toshiko Akiyoshi]], a pianist who had recently moved to the U.S. from Japan. She became a friend of his in his later years and contributed to the [[liner notes]] of ''[[The Complete Bud Powell on Verve]]''.{{Sfn|Pullman|1994|pp=35–36}} In March of the same year, "Buttercup" Edwards in a [[Paternity law|paternity suit]] accused Powell of being the father of her son. Powell was arrested but later released on the basis that he was not biologically capable of being a father. Around the same time as this incident, the [[New York Supreme Court]] rescinded its claim that Powell was mentally incompetent, again enabling him to tour.{{Sfn|Paudras|1998|p=20}} Jazz historian Pierre-Emmanuel Seguin suggested that the removal of guardianship was an intentional move by Goodstein to marry Powell to Edwards and continue to control his musical engagements by proxy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Seguin |first=Pierre-Emmanuel |date=2015 |title=''Wail: The Life of Bud Powell'', and ''The Amazing Bud Powell: Black Genius, Jazz History, and the Challenge of Bebop'' |journal=Jazz Research Journal |pages=96}}</ref>

Powell took part in the spring 1956 Birdland Tour organized by [[Morris Levy]], for which he was joined by bassist [[Joe Benjamin]] and drummer [[Roy Haynes]]. [[Nat Hentoff]], writing for ''DownBeat'', noted that during the Tour, Powell's style appeared to have become calmer and more lucid, contrasting with the turbulence of his playing in previous years.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Hentoff |first=Nat |date=March 7, 1956 |title=Birdland Tour in Fast Start |magazine=[[DownBeat]] |pages=24}}</ref> According to pianists [[Barry Harris]] and [[Michael Weiss (pianist)|Michael Weiss]] and writer Peter Pullman, who analyzed all of Powell's recordings on Verve, his playing improved dramatically between the January 1955 and September 1956 sessions he recorded for the label with his trio.{{Sfn|Pullman|1994|p=130}} In the 1956 ''DownBeat'' critics' poll of jazz pianists, Powell took a narrow second, slightly edged out by [[Art Tatum]]; but he placed higher than [[Erroll Garner]], [[Earl Hines]], [[John Lewis (pianist)|John Lewis]], and [[Count Basie]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=August 8, 1956 |title=It's Basie And The MJQ Again |magazine=[[DownBeat]] |pages=11}}</ref>

In June 1956, Powell's younger brother [[Richie Powell|Richie]] and trumpeter [[Clifford Brown]] were killed in a car crash.<ref name="Catalano2001">{{cite book |last=Catalano |first=Nick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yjUfAQAAQBAJ |title=Clifford Brown: The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-19-514400-0 |page=167}}</ref> Bud, saddened by the loss of his brother, fell from the public view of American jazz musicians and critics, particularly after his Verve contract ended in September.{{Sfn|Paudras|1998|pp=20, 23}} In November, he began a tour of Europe with the Birdland All-Stars in addition to [[Miles Davis]], the [[Modern Jazz Quartet]], and [[Lester Young]] starring throughout the performances.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Session details: Salle Pleyel (November 2, 1956) |url=http://www.plosin.com/milesAhead/Sessions.aspx?s=561102 |access-date=December 2, 2023 |website=Plosin.com}}</ref> His performances in Paris, and particularly at the [[Salle Pleyel]], were short due to his ill health, but they influenced pianists [[René Urtreger]] and [[Francis Paudras]] and contributed to the growing jazz scene in France.{{Sfn|Paudras|1998|p=18}} Hentoff remarked that, in his opinion, Powell's constant touring was bad for his mental health, and that he needed [[psychotherapy]] while traveling due to the "grueling" nature of nightly performances.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Hentoff |first=Nat |date=February 6, 1957 |title=Notes Between Sets |magazine=[[DownBeat]] |pages=17}}</ref> Attorney Cohen responded that Powell was the one who wanted to tour, and wrote that the pianist was recovering from his illness.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Cohen |first=Maxwell |date=March 4, 1957 |title=Full Report... |magazine=[[DownBeat]] |pages=4}}</ref>

Powell continued to perform at Birdland throughout fall 1956 and recorded for [[RCA Records|RCA Victor]] in late 1956 and early 1957. He returned to his trio with Duvivier and Taylor but, according to later comments from Duvivier, refused to talk to his bandmates, who played entire sets entirely by ear. According to Guthrie Ramsey Jr., the reason for Powell's uncommunicativeness was a need to focus more intently on his playing and to avoid losing his way throughout song forms.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jazz |first=All About |date=June 6, 2013 |title=Jazz news: Bud Powell: The RCA Sessions |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/news/bud-powell-the-rca-sessions/ |access-date=May 23, 2024 |website=All About Jazz |language=en}}</ref>

In late 1957, Powell recorded [[Bud! The Amazing Bud Powell (Vol. 3)|volume 3]] of his series ''The Amazing Bud Powell'' with [[Paul Chambers]], Art Taylor, and trombonist [[Curtis Fuller]] for what jazz critic [[Scott Yanow]] described as an "inspiring" and "strong set".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bud Powell - The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 3: Bud! Album Reviews, Songs & More |website=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-amazing-bud-powell-vol-3-bud!-mw0000657871 |access-date=November 22, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Powell's ''Vol. 3'' composition "[[Bud on Bach]]" included a medley of [[Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach]]'s "[[Solfeggietto]]" and a composition of his own.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 4, 2020 |title=The Party Trick {{!}} Hear Me Out |url=https://www.wqxr.org/story/hear-me-out-bud-powell-bach |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=WQXR |language=en}}</ref> Further productive sessions with Blue Note yielded ''[[Time Waits: The Amazing Bud Powell (Vol. 4)|Time Waits]]'' and ''[[The Scene Changes: The Amazing Bud Powell (Vol. 5)|The Scene Changes]]'', becoming volumes 4 and 5 of ''The Amazing Bud Powell'', respectively.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Bud Powell Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bud-powell-mn0000640675 |access-date=November 22, 2023 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}</ref> Volumes 4 and 5 were notable for introducing new compositions to the pianist's repertoire including "Time Waits", "John's Abbey", and "Cleopatra's Dream".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bud Powell - Time Waits: The Amazing Bud Powell Album Reviews, Songs & More |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/time-waits-the-amazing-bud-powell-mw0000669423 |access-date=November 23, 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bud Powell - The Scene Changes Album Reviews, Songs & More |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-scene-changes-mw0000188663 |access-date=November 23, 2023 }}</ref>

A November 1957 gig at a [[Paris]] nightclub with [[Pierre Michelot]] on bass and Kenny Clarke was well-received, but upon Powell's return to New York, his nightclub ban due to the [[New York City Cabaret Card|cabaret card system]] in the American city made finding work difficult. He experienced further hospital stays in the U.S. before being convinced by Edwards to move to France in the spring of 1959.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 9, 2021 |title=Stories of Standards—Parisian Thoroughfare by Bud Powell |url=https://www.kuvo.org/stories-of-standards-parisian-thoroughfare-by-bud-powell-2/ |access-date=December 2, 2023 |website=KUVO |language=en-US}}</ref>