Bouncing with Bud

Welcome back to Tea with Liya! On this sunny Wednesday, I'm playing "Bouncing with Bud," a jazz song composed by Bud Powell. It may already have 74 years in the books, but I think it's still a song worth listening to. I hope you like it!


Listen to the song here
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It seems that Thelonious Monk isn't the only musician who likes to name songs after himself. Another example would be the jazz pianist Bud Powell, who wrote "Bouncing with Bud" in 1946.

He is often called one of the greatest pianists of his time, but unlike the recording that I made for you to listen to, he wasn't actually the star of the show for this song. When there's a group of saxophones or trumpets in an ensemble, they'll be responsible for playing the melody, not the piano player. That actually makes sense, considering that a piano is usually the only instrument that can play harmonies, so it should be responsible for that. However, I still remember the time when I only had experience with classical piano and didn't know that.

It might seem sorely disappointing to find out that you're responsible for accompaniment, but the ensemble would fall apart if there was no one there to do it.

I'm not saying that you should look at a situation that you don't particularly like, and say, "Someone has to do it." That shouldn't become a reason to not aim for better things. However, not everyone can be at the top, either. Sometimes the greatest musician of his time is the one sitting at the back of the room behind his piano.

You don't always have to be at the front to know you have a talent. Everyone has one, right? And it doesn't have to be different from everyone else's to be something you're good at.

If you listened to this song, then I've already thought of one thing you're good at -- filling your teacup with music!

~Liya