Donald Byrd 1973 Montreux

In July 1973, Blue Note Records headed to Montreux, Switzerland to showcase several of the label’s stars at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Produced by Blue Note President George Butler, live albums all titled Live: Cookin’ with Blue Note at Montreux followed from vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, organist Ronnie Foster, flutist Bobbi Humphrey, and vocalist Marlena Shaw, but one of the performances by trumpeter Donald Byrd remained unreleased in the Blue Note vaults, until now.

The choice to re-invent your art can make for daunting leaps. In the early '70s trumpeter Donald Byrd teamed with producers Larry and Fonce Mizell and fully embraced R&B funk fusion, a decision met with the same derisive howls from jazz fans that Miles Davis endured a few years earlier when he, too, went electric and funky.

This Blue Note 80 Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.