IJS Wins $41,589 CLIR Grant to Preserve Bud Powell Film

The Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS) has been awarded a 2021 Recordings at Risk grant in the amount of $41,589 from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) for the project titled “Preserving the Jazz Legacy of Bud Powell: The Francis Paudras Film Collection at the Institute of Jazz Studies.”

These home movies and private footage of the jazz legend Bud Powell were created by Powell’s caretaker, Francis Paudras, during Powell’s years as an expatriate in France (1959–1964). Many were filmed in Paudras’s Paris apartment, European festivals, clubs, and vacation destinations. Most are unique fragmentary short clips with solo and non-solo musical performances by Powell, as well as interviews with Powell and other jazz legends such as Dizzy Gillespie. The films include spectator footage of Powell’s 1966 funeral in New York and some live recordings of Powell in concert.

This project is supported by a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.