Mel Powell

Mel Powell was a musical prodigy who started his career as a jazz pianist and arranger before transitioning to classical composition. Born in 1923 in New York, Powell made his mark in the jazz world as a teenager, playing with Benny Goodman's orchestra and later with Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band during World War II. His jazz compositions like "Mission to Moscow" and "The Earl" became big band classics.

After the war, Powell shifted gears dramatically, studying composition at Yale under Paul Hindemith. He went on to have a distinguished career as a classical composer and music educator, teaching at Yale and later becoming the founding dean of the music department at the California Institute of the Arts. In 1990, Powell won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his work "Duplicates: A Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra". Throughout his career, Powell explored various musical styles, from neoclassicism to electronic music, leaving a lasting impact on both jazz and classical spheres.

Genres

Experimental

Classical

Jazz

Contemporary Classical

Avant-garde

Swing

Big Band

Chamber Music

Neoclassical

Latest Release

I Love a Piano

Teddy Wilson•

Mel Powell•

Mary Lou Williams

Album - 16 Tracks - Released December 14, 2021