Consider 1994 a banner year for Bud Powell reissues, with two comprehensive sets covering most of his American studio recordings. This four-CD set collects Powell's 1947 session for Roost and his Blue Note recordings from 1949 to 1958, with a final leap ahead to 1963 for a single trio track. Powell's mercurial genius is most apparent in the early sessions. The eight Roost tracks, with Curly Russell on bass and Max Roach on drums, are stunning demonstrations of Powell's flying right-hand runs, knotting harmonic complexity, and tempestuous invention, including an early recording of "Off Minor" that shows Powell's grasp of Thelonious Monk's music.
A 1949 quintet session has a teenaged Sonny Rollins in the frontline with trumpeter Fats Navarro for some Powell originals, and there are multiple trio takes of "Un Poco Loco" and "A Night in Tunisia" from 1951, in which each version seems somehow to exceed the manic energy of the preceding one. The final two CDs come from 1957-58, years when Powell had moderated his style, slowing down the infernal runs and working on a probing, more Monk-like, approach that often emphasized ballads and blues. Playing recent originals like "John's Abbey" and "Time Waits" in the company of some great rhythm players--bassists Paul Chambers and Sam Jones and drummers Philly Joe Jones and Art Taylor--Powell seems to find a new voice, a concentrated lyricism that tests the piano's emotive power. The five-CD Complete Bud Powell on Verve, which concentrates on Powell's recordings from the early to mid-1950s, is an important companion.

Tracklist
Disc-1
01. I'll Remember April (2:54)
02. Indiana (2:45)
03. Somebody Loves Me (2:56)
04. I Should Care (3:02)
05. Bud's Bubble (2:36)
06. Off Minor (2:24)
07. Nice Work If You Can Get It (2:20)
08. Everything Happens to Me (2:41)
09. Bouncing with Bud (alt tk #1) (3:05)
10. Bouncing with Bud (alt tk #2) (3:15)
11. Bouncing with Bud (3:03)
12. Wail (alt tk) (2:43)
13. Wail (3:06)
14. Dance of Infidels (alt tk) (2:52)
15. Dance of Infidels (2:54)
16. 52nd Street Theme (2:50)
17. You Go to My Head (3:15)
18. Ornithology (2:24)
19. Ornithology (alt tk) (3:11)
20. Un Poco Loco (alt tk #1) (3:50)
21. Un Poco Loco (alt tk #2) (4:32)
22. Un Poco Loco (4:45)
23. Over the Rainbow (2:57)

Disc-2
01. A Night in Tunisia (4:17)
02. A Night in Tunisia (alt tk) (3:53)
03. It Could Happen to You (alt tk) (2:24)
04. It Could Happen to You (3:15)
05. Parisian Thoroughfare (3:26)
06. Autumn in New York (2:55)
07. Reets and I (3:22)
08. Reets and I (alt tk) (2:34)
09. Sure Thing (2:42)
10. Collard Greens and Black Eyed Peas (alt tk) (2:13)
11. Collard Greens and Black Eyed Peas (3:05)
12. Polka Dots and Moonbeams (4:04)
13. I Want to Be Happy (2:53)
14. Audrey (2:58)
15. Glass Enclosure (2:24)
16. Embraceable You (2:51)
17. Burt Covers Bud (3:07)
18. My Heart Stood Still (3:20)
19. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To (2:41)
20. Bags' Groove (2:14)
21. My Devotion (3:05)
22. Stella by Starlight (2:10)
23. Woody 'n You (3:00)

Disc-3
01. Blue Pearl (3:49)
02. Blue Pearl (alt tk) (4:04)
03. Keepin' In The Groove (2:55)
04. Some Soul (6:59)
05. Frantic Fancies (4:54)
06. Bud On Bach (2:31)
07. Idaho (5:18)
08. Don't Blame Me (7:33)
09. Moose The Mooche (5:47)
10. John's Abbey (alt tk) (2:26)
11. Sub City (alt tk) (2:35)
12. Sub City (4:33)
13. John's Abbey (5:39)
14. Buster Rides Again (5:30)

Disc-4
01. Dry Soul (6:43)
02. Marmalade (4:32)
03. Monopoly (4:51)
04. Time Waits (5:07)
05. The Scene Changes (4:04)
06. Down With It (4:02)
07. Comin' Up (alt. tk) (5:31)
08. Comin' Up (8:00)
09. Duid Deed (5:10)
10. Cleopatra's Dream (4:25)
11. Gettin' There (5:06)
12. Crossin' The Channel (3:32)
13. Danceland (3:45)
14. Borderick (2:02)
15. Like Someone In Love (6:18)