Discographers show Jimmy Powell slowing down from his recording session duties in the late '70s, at that point having cut well over 100 albums with major figures in classic jazz such as Fats Waller, Count Basie, Benny Carter, and Sidney Bechet. Powell dealt with much of the woodwind family -- several saxophones, clarinet, and flute among his axes -- but actually started out as a violinist. On this instrument he was something of a prodigy, performing a recital at New York Town Hall in 1928 when he was only 14 years old. He became a force in the reed sections of various New York City bands beginning in the mid-'30s.

In the '40s, Powell was part of Waller's touring outfit, then spent nearly four years with Basie beginning in 1943. Through the ensuing decade he could be found in a dizzy roster of bands, needless to say including Dizzy Gillespie's overseas activities as well as stints with players of a more traditional ilk such as Hot Lips Page, Don Redman, and Lucky Millinder. The unfettered side of Powell's blowing brought him into the RB and even early rock roll scheme of things, partnering with organ wildman Bill Doggett and blowing solos on Otis Redding records. In the late '50s and '60s Powell played Latin jazz with Machito and was a somewhat regular face on-stage at Harlem's Apollo Theatre in a house band fronted by Reuben Phillips. Saxophone snobs insist Powell's best work, at least on alto, takes place on Count Basie records. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi