Bud Powell's "Glow"
Sometimes musicians get from their instruments what you'd expect from their instruments. On the other hand, sometimes the sounds they create seem humanly impossible to produce. And still they are there, on the record, or performed live for everybody to see and hear.
One of these sounds is what I call the "glow" that you hear in Bud Powell, or a few other pianists. You know the tone. McCoy has it too. It's mostly in the middle register, a tone that seems to ignore the law of nature that a piano tone inevitably decays at its given rate. The tone just stays there, as if the piano strings were made of red-hot glowing steel, kept in vibration by some divine magnet.
When I was fifteen, I always wanted to learn how to play like that. But I never figured out exactly how. I tried every possible way to touch the key, to no avail. At some point, I guess I just got tired of it and gave up trying.
Years later, playing a slow number at a performance, I heard the tone again. And this time, it was produced by me, without me even trying. I was awestruck. I had gotten what I attempted so hard to achieve many years ago. Unconsciously and effortlessly.
To those who are curious: Today I can conjure this sound up when I desire to. Most of the time. But I still can't put my finger on what I do to get it. I can only say for sure that it feels like playing the note more out of your wrist than your finger. And that it gets easier on long-scale pianos. On household uprights, it's almost impossible. But what this mainly goes to show is that most of the time, you can't achieve things when you have obstacles like ego and zeal in your way. Give them up, and magic will come to you. Out of its own volition. It's still magic, after all.
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Bud Powell's "Glow" - that incredible tone that just sustains foreverM-S Recording - and Reverse M-S too...