---
title: "Bud Powell | American Jazz Museum"
description: "Bud Powell (1924–1966). Pianist and composer who carried bebop’s speed and daring to the keyboard and shaped how jazz piano was played after him."
canonical: https://americanjazzmuseum.org/artist-spotlights/artists/bud-powell/
---

Artist Spotlights

# Bud Powell

1924–1966. Pianist and composer who carried bebop’s speed and daring to the keyboard and shaped how jazz piano was played after him.

![Black-and-white publicity portrait of Bud Powell in a dark suit and patterned tie, smiling; printed captions read “Bud Powell” and “Gale Agency Inc., 48 West 48th St., New York, N.Y.”](/_astro/bud-powell-1953.BhwGRHYF_e3yjc.webp)

[Bud Powell, publicity photo](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bud_Powell_\(1953_publicity_photo\).jpg). Gale Agency (photographer unknown), ca. 1953. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

## Mentioned in

*   [Artist Spotlight: Thelonious Monk](/artist-spotlights/thelonious-monk-in-walked-bud/) — October 13, 2026  
    As one story goes, Bud Powell took a police nightstick defending Thelonious Monk, and Monk wrote “In Walked Bud” for his friend. Hear Monk’s 1947 recording beside Clarence Penn’s from 2012.

[All Artist Spotlights](/artist-spotlights/)