Benny Powell

Benny Powell (March 1, 1930 – June 26, 2010) was an American jazz trombonist. He played both standard (tenor) trombone and bass trombone.

Biography
Born Benjamin Gordon Powell Jr in New Orleans, Louisiana, he first played professionally at the age of 14, and at 18 began playing with Lionel Hampton. In 1951 he left Hampton's band and began playing with Count Basie, in whose orchestra he would remain until 1963. Powell takes the trombone solo in the bridge of Basie's 1955 recording of "April in Paris".

After leaving Basie, he freelanced in New York City. From 1966 to 1970 he was a member of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, playing on Monday nights at the Village Vanguard. Among other engagements, he played in the house band of the Merv Griffin Show, and when the show moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1970 Powell also relocated there. He did extensive work as a session musician, including with Abdullah Ibrahim, John Carter, and Randy Weston. Later in his career Powell worked as an educator, including as part of the Jazzmobile project. Having moved back to New York in the 1980s, he began teaching at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in 1994.

He died in a Manhattan hospital at the age of 80, following back surgery.

Personal
Powell married Evelyn Jackson at St Bernard Catholic Church in New York in 1958.

As leader

 * Coast to Coast (Trident, 1982)
 * The Gift of Love (Faith, 2003)
 * Nextep (Origin, 2008)

As sideman
With Pepper Adams With Gene Ammons With Count Basie With Donald Byrd With Benny Carter With John Carter With Buck Clayton With Hank Crawford With Dameronia With Frank Foster With Al Grey With Eddie Harris With Jimmy Heath With Johnny Hodges With J. J. Johnson With Clifford Jordan With Bobby Bland and B.B. King with Melba Liston With Herbie Mann With Les McCann With David Newman With Joe Newman With Chico O'Farrill With Moacir Santos With Frank Wess With Randy Weston With Gerald Wilson
 * Pepper Adams Plays the Compositions of Charlie Mingus (Workshop Jazz, 1964)
 * Free Again (Prestige, 1971)
 * The Count! (Clef, 1952 [1955])
 * Basie Jazz (Clef, 1952 [1954])
 * Dance Session (Clef, 1953)
 * Dance Session Album #2 (Clef, 1954)
 * Basie (Clef, 1954)
 * Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings (Clef, 1955) with Joe Williams
 * April in Paris (Verve, 1956)
 * The Greatest!! Count Basie Plays, Joe Williams Sings Standards with Joe Williams
 * Metronome All-Stars 1956 (Clef, 1956) with Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Williams
 * Hall of Fame (Verve, 1956 [1959])
 * Basie in London (Verve, 1956)
 * One O'Clock Jump (Verve, 1957) with Joe Williams and Ella Fitzgerald
 * Count Basie at Newport (Verve, 1957)
 * The Atomic Mr. Basie (Roulette, 1957) aka Basie and E=MC2
 * Basie Plays Hefti (Roulette, 1958)
 * Sing Along with Basie (Roulette, 1958) with Joe Williams and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
 * Basie One More Time (Roulette, 1959)
 * Breakfast Dance and Barbecue (Roulette, 1959)
 * Everyday I Have the Blues (Roulette, 1959) - with Joe Williams
 * Dance Along with Basie (Roulette, 1959)
 * String Along with Basie (Roulette, 1960)
 * Not Now, I'll Tell You When (Roulette, 1960)
 * The Count Basie Story (Roulette, 1960)
 * Kansas City Suite (Roulette, 1960)
 * The Legend (Roulette, 1961)
 * Back with Basie (Roulette, 1962)
 * Basie in Sweden (Roulette, 1962)
 * On My Way & Shoutin' Again! (Verve, 1962)
 * This Time by Basie! (Reprise, 1963)
 * More Hits of the 50's and 60's (Verve, 1963)
 * Jazz Lab (Columbia, 1957) with Gigi Gryce
 * Harlem Renaissance (MusicMasters, 1992)
 * Castles of Ghana (Gramavision, 1986)
 * Dance of the Love Ghosts (Gramavision, 1987)
 * Fields (Gramavision, 1988)
 * Shadows on a Wall [Gramavision, 1989)
 * How Hi the Fi (Columbia, 1954)
 * Mr. Blues Plays Lady Soul (Atlantic, 1969)
 * Look Stop Listen (Uptown, 1983)
 * Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt Paris (Soul Note, 1989 [1994])
 * No 'Count (Savoy, 1956)
 * The Last of the Big Plungers (Argo, 1959)
 * The Thinking Man’s Trombone (Argo, 1960)
 * Silver Cycles (Atlantic, 1968)
 * How Can You Live Like That? (Atlantic, 1976)
 * New Picture (Landmark, 1985)
 * Little Man Big Band (Verve, 1992)
 * Triple Play (RCA Victor, 1967)
 * The Total J.J. Johnson (RCA Victor, 1967)
 * Play What You Feel (Mapleshade, 1990 [1997])
 * Bobby Bland and B. B. King Together Again...Live (MCA, 1976)
 * Melba Liston and Her 'Bones (MetroJazz, 1958)
 * Glory of Love (CTI, 1967)
 * Comment (Atlantic, 1970)
 * Bigger & Better (Atlantic, 1968)
 * The Many Facets of David Newman (Atlantic, 1969)
 * Cityscape (HighNote, 2006)
 * The Count's Men (Jazztone, 1955)
 * Salute to Satch (RCA Victor, 1956)
 * Nine Flags (Impulse!, 1966)
 * Saudade (Blue Note, 1974)
 * North, South, East....Wess (Savoy 1956)
 * Spirits of Our Ancestors (recorded 1991)
 * Volcano Blues (recorded 1993)
 * Saga (recorded 1995)
 * Khepera (recorded 1998)
 * Spirit! The Power of Music (recorded 1999)
 * Live in St. Lucia (recorded 2002)
 * New York, New Sound (Mack Avenue, 2003)
 * In My Time (Mack Avenue, 2005)