Jim Powell

In 1982, co-bandleader Mel Lewis applied the term "brilliant" to trumpeter Jim Powell, a musician who must be kept separate from other jazz figures sharing close variants of the name, among them the Jimmy Powell who traveled with Count Basie. Setting aside peculiar spellings such as "Jimbo" or "Jamie," nearly every conceivable rendering of the name has been attached to this player, with Jim Powell appearing most frequently.

Discographer Tom Lord tallied almost two dozen sessions involving trumpeter Jim Powell between 1977 and the mid-1990s. The same reference work lists a James Powell performing on both flügelhorn and trumpet across two dates from 1990 to 1996, and credits a Jimmy Powell with one 1987 session on the identical pair of instruments. All three listings identify the same artist.

Lewis offered his praise after Powell entered the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra in place of the dynamic Tom Harrell. In subsequent interviews the co-bandleader characterized Powell’s style as reminiscent of Harrell’s. Both trumpeters had earlier strengthened their technique in Woody Herman’s big bands during the 1970s, preparation that proved useful for the intense work that followed in the 1980s. Further parallels surface in Lord’s multiple entries under the Powell name; Harrell, for his part, dealt with schizophrenia. The stretch of Powell’s career most likely marked by hardship came during his tenure with the notoriously demanding drummer Buddy Rich.