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The Francis Paudras collection on Bud Powell contains over twenty hours of footage related to Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (1924-1966), a prominent American composer, pianist, and a seminal figure in the progression of modern jazz, also known as bebop. In the early 1960s, Powell lived in a Paris apartment with his caretaker and unofficial manager Francis Paudras (1935-1997). While living with Powell, Paudras filmed his musical idol with a home movie camera. The Francis Paudras collection on Bud Powell includes home movie footage of Powell on vacation, at the apartment, and with friends. Of note in the collection is footage of Powell meeting Thelonious Monk at the airport in Paris, Powell’s 1963 benefit concert at the Salle Wagram in France, and Powell’s 1966 funeral procession in New York. The collection also includes interviews with musicians who performed with Powell including Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke, Max Roach, Jimmy Gourley, and Pierre Michelot, among others.
The digitization and description project was supported by a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Project staff included Diane Biunno (Principal Investigator), Julia Durand, Vincent Pelote, Lewis Porter, Peter Pullman, and Kristiana Weseloh.
Photograph of Bud Powell at the piano by Francis Wolff, courtesy of Blue Note.
Contact Information
Diane Biunno
Metadata Archivist, Institute of Jazz Studies
dbiunno@libraries.rutgers.edu