Doc Powell

New York-born guitarist and composer Doc Powell first revealed his abilities at a young age. He had already taken up the instrument by age 6, and in his teens he began laying down recordings while appearing onstage. Those initial shows drew the notice of leading performers, among them Wilson Pickett, who selected the musician still in his early twenties to act as musical director.

The assignment opened the door to a period with Luther Vandross and the B. B. &Q. Band, where Powell again handled musical-director duties. Multiple R&B chart successes from the group turned him into a musician in steady demand, contributing to scores for The Five Heartbeats and Down & Out In Beverly Hills while also working with Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, Teddy Pendergrass, and Vanessa Williams. In the early 1990s Powell stepped forward with his own releases, channeling a smooth jazz sensibility across his 1992 debut The Doctor, 1996’s Inner City Blues, and 1999’s I Claim The Victory, the last of which introduced gospel accents. Spring 2001 brought Life Changes, followed two years later by 97th and Columbus.