A Byrd Perspective

Donald Byrd - Amen
Donald Byrd - Cristo Redentor
Donald Byrd - Slow Drag
Donald Byrd - The Emperor
Donald Byrd - Black Byrd

Although I own 'Street Lady' and and several Blue Note compilations, I was just recently reintroduced to Dr. Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II. My friend, the reintroducer, a Donald Byrd enthusiast, informed me that he would be playing seven nights in a row at a London venue and asked if I'd like to go. Of course I did and would've had the shows not, unfortunately, all been cancelled. As compensation my friend made me a CD of tracks spanning Byrd's long career and it's an abridged version of that disc that I present for you today.

OK, for the completely uninitiated, Donald Byrd plays the trumpet. Although at times, for some, he pushed the boundaries a little too far, it's fair to say that the music he makes resides in the world of jazz. Born and raised in Detroit, he was an accomplished musician at an early age, playing with pioneering vibraphonist, Lionel Hampton, even before finishing high school. After serving in the Air Force (in the military band) and obtaining a music degree from Wayne State University, Byrd relocated to get his Masters from the Manhattan School of Music. It was in New York that things really took off. He played with the likes of Art Blakely, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins and recorded sessions with Savoy and Prestige before exclusively signing with Blue Note in 1958. At this time, the style of jazz played by Byrd was hard bop. A cracking example of which is the first tune I've selected, 'Amen' from 1959's 'Fuego'.

In 1963 Byrd teamed up with Duke Pearson and stepped out of the small jazz combo mould typical of Blue Note recordings to produce the stunning 'A New Perspective'. With principles, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, guitarist Kenny Burrell and Herbie Hancock on the piano, the group played behind the eight voice Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson gospel choir to devastatingly original effect. 'Cristo Redentor' which translates as Christ the Redeemer, composed by Pearson, was inspired by the statue of Christ in the Andes mountains on the border between Argentina and Chile. I get the feeling he was in a melancholic mood before he saw the statue.

'Slow Drag' was one of the last hard bop sounding albums Byrd made before following Miles Davis into jazz fusion. On the title track Byrd's trumpet has a crisp honesty and drummer Billy Higgins weighs in with some surprise vocal snippets from about the six minute mark.

From 1971's 'Ethiopian Knights' comes the epic fifteen plus minutes of 'The Emperor'. The jazz-funk tangent was where Byrd found his groove and this track shows why. Featuring Wilton Felder on bass, Edward Greene on drums, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes and Harold Land on sax, 'The Emperor' shows why Donald Byrd was so important to the acid jazz cats.

'Black Byrd' is straight up ghetto jazz-funk and as sleazy sounding as you would expect from a track released in 1973. At the time it was Blue Note's biggest ever selling release, even though the jazz Nazis hated it. The whole thing sounds like a blaxploitation movie soundtrack, a concept Byrd would take to the next level on his following release, 'Street Lady'.

Deep Groove Encyclopedia - Donald Byrd