Francis Paudras (January 21, 1935 – November 26, 1997) was a French musician and author best known for ''La Danse des Infidels'', his memoir of jazz pianist

Bud Powell Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. A pioneer in the development of bebop and its associated contributions to jazz theory,Grove Powell's application of complex phrasing to ...

Biography

Paudras was born in Chilly-Mazarin, France on January 21, 1935. He was "a keen follower of jazz in Paris" who befriended a number of jazz pianists including Powell,

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...

, and Jacky Terrasson. He was Powell's carer and manager from 1963 to 1964, when he brought the bebop pianist back to New York after his stay in France. ''

DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' noted that Paudras was "largely responsible for Powell’s recovery rom tuberculosis Paudras took the pianist in hand, nursed him back to health, and protected him from the various social vultures that were always nearby." Paudras captured hours of footage of Powell, in addition to interviews and recordings of other prominent jazz musicians of the era, which he added to his collection; the videos ultimately became part of

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

's Library. Among the musicians interviewed in the collection were

Kenny Clarke Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), known professionally as Kenny Clarke and nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride ...

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

, Pierre Michelot, and

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

. The

Council on Library and Information Resources The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) is an American independent, nonprofit organization. It works with libraries, cultural institutions, and higher learning communities on developing strategies to improve research, teaching, an ...

financed a digitalization of the collection in 2021; in 2022 Diane Biunno of the ''Journal of Jazz Studies'' announced that it would be posted on Rutgers' online database by spring 2023. Paudras was among the personnel of the album '' Relaxin' at Home'', recorded on makeshift brushes at his home along with pianist Powell and bassist Michel Gaudry. The album included one of the first appearances of Powell's composition dedicated to Paudras, " Una Noche con Francis." Paudras wrote two books: ''La Danse des Infidels'' about the life of Powell, and a book to which he was the co-author, ''To Bird with Love''. The former included a detailed account of Powell's later life and described the friendship between Powell and Paudras from a more personal perspective than that of a typical biography. ''La Danse des Infidels'' was used as source material for

Bertrand Tavernier Bertrand Tavernier (; 25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. Life and career Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, ...

's 1986 film '' Round Midnight'' starring saxophone player

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians. Gordon's height was , so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" an ...

, who had himself recorded with Powell while the pianist was living in France. His home, a castle previously occupied by the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

, in rural France was a popular destination for jazz expatriates living in Europe including

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

, and

. Paudras was himself an accomplished jazz and classical pianist, and a few of his performances during the 1980s were captured on tape. Paudras gave his record collection, which included studio, live and home recordings of Bud Powell, to the deceased pianist's daughter Celia in 1979. These recordings were released under the Mythic Sound label in 1989 in a ten-CD collection under the title ''Earl Bud Powell''; among the albums included in the collection were '' Early Years of a Genius'', '' Relaxin’ at Home,'' '' Holidays in Edenville'', '' Return to Birdland'', and '' Award at Birdland''. Paudras died of suicide on November 26, 1997, at his home in France following attempts by the French government to confiscate his collection due to a tax dispute.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paudras, Francis 1935 births 1997 deaths 20th-century French writers 20th-century French male pianists French jazz pianists People from Essonne Suicides in France