Tempus Fugue-it, also known as Tempus Fugit, is a bebop jazz composition by Bud Powell. It was recorded in 1949 with Ray Brown on bass and Max Roach on drums for the Jazz Giant sessions, and Powell later revisited it in 1963 during home recordings with Francis Paudras. The piece was released on the Verve album Jazz Giant in 1956. The title is a pun on tempus fugit, Latin for time flies, reflecting the tune’s fast tempo rather than a formal fugue. It has been recorded by Powell, Miles Davis and many others. Financial Times critic Mike Hobart described it as a modernist masterpiece.
