Mediocre (composition)

"Mediocre"
"Mediocre"
Song by Bud Powell
from the album The Lonely One...
Released	1959
Recorded	January 13, 1955
Genre	Jazz
Length	2:56
Label	Verve
Composer(s)	Bud Powell
Producer(s)	Norman Granz

"Mediocre" is a composition written by Bud Powell c. 1955 for his album The Lonely One... which has been noted for its unconventional structure and its combination of stride piano with jarring right-hand interpretation.^[1]^[2]

History

Powell recorded the composition only once in his entire career: on January 13, 1955, at Fine Sound Studios in NYC for Verve Records. He was joined by Percy Heath on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums, and the album was released by Verve as The Lonely One... in 1959.^[3]

Reception

The unconventional composition has divided critics. Patrick Burnette of All About Jazz described the first half of the track as "slyly humorous," but criticized the recording quality and summarized it as "a frightening record which seems a direct expression of—rather than an aesthetic response to (a la 'Glass Enclosure')—his unstable mental condition." Barry Harris and Michael Weiss showed similar concern regarding the composition.^[1] DownBeat praised the composition as "oddly fetching," and, regarding the place of the composition within the album, remarked that its "idiosyncrasy reaches some lofty plateau."^[2]

Weiss noted that the bassline occasionally clashes with the piano during the tune, and suggested that Heath played through the recording by ear.^[4]

Notable recordings

The Lonely One... with Heath and Clarke
Remembering Bud Powell by Chick Corea

References

^ ^a ^b Burnett, Patrick. "Bud Powell Box Collections". All About Jazz. Retrieved June 13, 2009.
^ ^a ^b "The Lonely One". DownBeat. September 3, 1959. p. 27.
^ "Bud Powell Discography". www.jazzdisco.org. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
^ Pullman, Peter; Weiss, Michael (1994). The Complete Bud Powell on Verve (Media notes). p. 124.

[:0-1] Burnett, Patrick. "Bud Powell Box Collections". All About Jazz. Retrieved June 13, 2009.

[DownBeat-2] "The Lonely One". DownBeat. September 3, 1959. p. 27.

[3] "Bud Powell Discography". www.jazzdisco.org. Retrieved 2024-01-11.

[4] Pullman, Peter; Weiss, Michael (1994). The Complete Bud Powell on Verve (Media notes). p. 124.

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v t e Bud Powell
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release. Because Powell's discography features albums with the same title, record labels are identified to avoid any confusion.
As leader or co-leader	Bud Powell Trio (Roost, 1947–53) Jazz Giant/Piano Solos/Piano Solos, No.2 (1949–50) The Amazing Bud Powell (1949–51) The Genius of Bud Powell/Bud Powell's Moods (Mercury/Verve, 1950–51) Inner Fires (1953) The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 2 (1953) Bud Powell's Moods (Norgran/Verve, 1956) Jazz Original/Bud Powell '57 (1954–55) The Lonely One... (1955) Piano Interpretations by Bud Powell (1955) Blues in the Closet (1956) Strictly Powell (1956) Bud! (1957) Swingin' with Bud (1957) Bud Plays Bird (1957–58) Time Waits (1958) The Scene Changes (1958) Bud in Paris (1959–60) The Essen Jazz Festival Concert (1960) A Portrait of Thelonious (1961) A Tribute to Cannonball (and Don Byas, 1961) 'Round About Midnight at the Blue Note (1961) At the Golden Circle (1962) Bouncing with Bud (1962) Americans in Europe (split album, 1963) Bud Powell in Paris (1963) Relaxin' at Home, 61–64 (1961–64) Eternity (1961–64) The Invisible Cage (1964) Holidays in Edenville, 64 (1964) The Return of Bud Powell (1964) Award at Birdland, 64 (1964) Ups 'n Downs (c. 1965)
With others	Cootie Williams and His Orchestra 1941–1944 (Cootie Williams, Classics, 1944) New York Journeyman – Complete Recordings (Frank Socolow, 1945) Dexter Rides Again (Dexter Gordon, 1946) J. J. Johnson's Jazz Quintets (1946) Sonny Stitt/Bud Powell/J. J. Johnson (1949–50) One Night in Birdland (1950) Jazz at Massey Hall (Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Mingus, Max Roach, 1953) Mingus at Antibes (Charles Mingus, 1960) Paris Jam Session (Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, 1959) Dizzy Gillespie and the Double Six of Paris (1963) Our Man in Paris (Dexter Gordon, 1963)
Compilations and box sets	Earl Bud Powell, Vol. 1: Early Years of a Genius, 44–48 (1944–48) The Best of Bud Powell on Verve (1949–55) The Complete Blue Note and Roost Recordings (1947–63) The Complete RCA Trio Sessions (1956–57) The Complete Bud Powell on Verve (1949–56)
Compositions	"Bouncing with Bud" (1946) "Tempus Fugue-it" (1949) "Parisian Thoroughfare" (1951) "Un Poco Loco" (1951) "Glass Enclosure" (1953) "Mediocre" (1955) "Bud on Bach" (1957) "Una Noche con Francis" (1964)
Related	Round Midnight (1986)