Frech Doc: Bud Powell

To fully feel the beauty and grace of jazz at its highest level, you must appreciate the sadness that comes with the joy and the poetry that's baked into the music's history. They are one, like two sides of a coin. Virtually all of the exceptional jazz musicians had tragic sides, making one wonder whether greatness was even possible without the demons and deep sadness.

Yesterday, Matt LeGrouix sent along a link to a stunning French documentary on Bud Powell that just went up in June. It's gripping and emotional, weaving in and out of his music and life with historical film, performance film and interviews with key players in Powell's live.

Here's Bud Powell: Inner Exile, a 1998 French documentary directed by Robert Mugnerot...