Editing Bud Powell (section)

===1964–1966: Return to New York===
His engagement at Birdland with drummer [[Horace Arnold]] and bassist [[John Ore]] began on August 25<ref name="Gitler 1966 p=112" /> and included a repertoire of both jazz and classical music, particularly Bach.{{Sfn|Pullman|1994|p=37}} ''[[DownBeat]]''<nowiki/>'s [[Dan Morgenstern]] wrote an article on Powell following the engagement, noting, "the Bud Powell of 1964 is still a creative jazzman and pianist of the first rank." Morgenstern praised the pianist's loyalty to the bebop genre and the rapid recovery of his technique as the weeks of his long-running engagement passed.<ref name=":13">{{Cite magazine |last=Morgenstern |first=Dan |date=October 22, 1964 |title=Bud Powell Now |magazine=[[DownBeat]] Magazine |pages=19–22}}</ref> Powell recorded, albeit hesitantly, with Ore and drummer [[J. C. Moses]] in September 1964 for his album ''[[The Return of Bud Powell]]'' (1964), but disagreements between Powell and Moses plagued the recording session. After a severe illness prevented Powell from completing scheduled nights at Birdland, he was fired on October 11. Paudras and [[Barry Harris]] arranged for Powell to return to France to recover, but Powell – who feared the medical checkups that were scheduled prior to leaving – went missing by hitching rides, possibly in search of his old friend Elmo Hope, who took him to his home shortly after Powell went missing.{{Sfn|Paudras|1998|p=322}}<ref name="Gitler 1966 p=112" />{{Sfn|Pullman|1994|p=62}} Paudras returned to France on October 27 without Powell, who decided to stay in New York with Frances Barnes, his girlfriend from the late 1940s, and the couple's daughter Celia.<ref name="Gitler 1966 p=112" /><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=January 14, 1965 |title=Bud Powell Still in United States |magazine=[[DownBeat]] |pages=8}}</ref>
[[File:Downstate Medical Ctr jeh-2.jpg|thumb|A modern photograph of [[Kings County Hospital Center]], where Powell died in 1966]]
Powell's guardianship was transferred from Paudras to [[Bernard Stollman]] of [[ESP-Disk|ESP Records]] upon returning to New York,<ref name=":3" /> and with the exception of hospital visits, he remained at Barnes's home until shortly before his death in 1966.{{Sfn|Paudras|1998|pp=332–335}} His few public performances between the end of 1964 and his death were adversely affected by his alcoholism and ongoing lung problems.<ref name=":2" />{{Sfn|Paudras|1998|p=340}}

Between Paudras's departure and Powell's final hospitalization in the summer of 1966, several recording sessions were made with Powell, but with the exception of the album ''[[Ups 'n Downs (album)|Ups 'n Downs]]'', the recordings from these dates were not released.<ref name=":1" /> A Charlie Parker tribute concert at Carnegie Hall in March 1965<ref name=":1" /> and a May performance at the New York Town Hall revealed his poor health and its effect on his ability to play.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=NPR's Jazz Profiles: Bud Powell |url=https://news.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/powell.html |access-date=November 23, 2023 |website=news.npr.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Douglas |first=Ann |date=August 28, 1998 |title=Feel the City's Pulse? It's Be-bop, Man! |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/28/arts/feel-the-citys-pulse-its-bebop-man.html |access-date=November 23, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> However, his Town Hall performance received positive feedback from attendee [[Dan Morgenstern]], who noted, "his final selection, '[[I Remember Clifford (song)|I Remember Clifford]]', was extremely moving ... Powell hasn't lost his marvelous touch and sound, and everything he played revealed a sense of balance and proportion."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Morgenstern |first=Dan |date=July 15, 1965 |title=Caught in the Act |magazine=[[DownBeat]] |pages=12}}</ref> His last studio recordings, with [[Rashied Ali]] on drums, also went unreleased by the ESP label due to Powell being in "terrible shape".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=David |date=2015 |title=Bud Powell: Live at the Blue Note Cafe Paris 1961 |journal=ARSC Journal |volume=46 |issue=1}}</ref>

Several musicians visited Powell while he was ill, including [[Toshiko Akiyoshi]] and [[Art Taylor]]. Akiyoshi noted in a letter to Paudras that Powell played an opening night at Birdland in spring 1965, but also remarked that he was unwell.{{Sfn|Paudras|1998|pp=341–342}} He was admitted to [[Kings County Hospital Center|Kings County Hospital]] in early autumn 1965, where he played a small performance for producer Alan Bates and wrote four compositions, but after his release he became extremely ill.{{Sfn|Paudras|1998|pp=346–350}}

He was hospitalized again in 1966 following weight loss, erratic behavior, and self-neglect. In a letter from Kings County Hospital, where staff attempted to give him further electroconvulsive treatments, he wrote days before his death: "I'm a writer and composer, and these [electroconvulsive] treatments are destroying my brain." His final composition, written on his deathbed, was a poem called "Eternity", foreshadowing his impending death.{{Sfn|Paudras|1998|pp=350–51}}

On July 31, 1966, he died of tuberculosis, malnutrition, and alcoholism.<ref>[http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/powell-bud-1924-1966 "Powell, Earl 'Bud' (1924–1966)"], Blackpast.org</ref> He was given the [[last rites]] of the [[Catholic Church]]<ref>{{Cite book  |author=Ramsey, Guthrie |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/940310606 |title=The amazing Bud Powell : Black genius, jazz history, and the challenge of bebop |date=2013 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-24391-0 |oclc=940310606}}</ref> and was visited by his family and Jackie McLean on his deathbed.{{Sfn|Paudras|1998|p=352}} Several other musicians remained close to him until his death including Bob Bunyan, George Duvivier, Thelonious Monk, and Art Taylor.<ref name=":11" />

His funeral was celebrated on August 8, 1966, with several bands playing through the streets of [[Harlem]] and arriving at Powell's former church; performers included trombonist Benny Green, trumpeter [[Lee Morgan]], saxophonist Jim Gilmore, pianist [[Barry Harris]], bassist [[Don Moore (musician)|Don Moore]], and drummer [[Billy Higgins]]. The funeral was televised.<ref name=":15" /> Powell was buried in an unmarked grave. In 2024 a campaign was launched to have his remains moved to a marked grave, with a headstone, at [[Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)|Woodlawn Cemetery]] in the [[The Bronx|Bronx]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-08 |title=Arts Investigation: Mortality and Jazz Artists – Do We Honor the Dead? - The Arts Fuse |url=https://artsfuse.org/292288/arts-investigation-mortality-and-jazz-artists-do-we-honor-the-dead/ |access-date=2024-10-09 |website=artsfuse.org/ |language=en-US}}</ref>