William P. Gottlieb / Library of Congress · No restrictions

Mel Powell built two careers in American music: a jazz pianist during the swing era, composing Big Band pieces like "Clarinade" and "The Earl," and then a Pulitzer Prize-winning concert composer once he moved into academia. Born Melvin Epstein, he taught for more than forty years — at Mannes College, Queens College, and Yale — before becoming the founding dean of the music department at the California Institute of the Arts, shaping one of the country's most experimental conservatory programs from the ground up.