Where Madness Lies: The Double Life

Don Byas Takes His Place Among the Greats A historical document of jazz at a time when the musicians, steeped in the swing tradition, were creating and setting the mold for the modern sounds of bebop. An Underappreciated Master
While Don Byas is lauded for his breathtaking solos – sumptuous and creamy on ballads, thoughtful and potent on uptempo numbers – his absence from the scene in the U.S. and a lack of recorded evidence might be reasons he is unfairly overlooked.
Starting today, Mosaic Records presents that evidence. Don Byas — who claimed to be inspired by Art Tatum more than any horn player — always considered himself more of a swing musician than a bebopper, but that might be because harmonic and rhythmic innovation were such important components of his personal style that he may not even have realized what an innovator and inspiration he was. Tenor saxophonists who followed him couldn’t help but take note of his highly inventive phrasing, with melodies that disregarded bar lines when he was still working on a thought; notes that squeezed in hurriedly to ornament the end of a line; and seductive shifts in register that were always unexpected surprises. If your ears and experience prepared you for something more typical, Byas gave you that and more.

Don Byas Takes His Place Among the Greats A historical document of jazz at a time when the musicians, steeped in the swing tradition, were creating and setting the mold for the modern sounds of bebop. An Underappreciated Master
While Don Byas is lauded for his breathtaking solos – sumptuous and creamy on ballads, thoughtful and potent on uptempo numbers – his absence from the scene in the U.S. and a lack of recorded evidence might be reasons he is unfairly overlooked.
Starting today, Mosaic Records presents that evidence. Don Byas — who claimed to be inspired by Art Tatum more than any horn player — always considered himself more of a swing musician than a bebopper, but that might be because harmonic and rhythmic innovation were such important components of his personal style that he may not even have realized what an innovator and inspiration he was. Tenor saxophonists who followed him couldn’t help but take note of his highly inventive phrasing, with melodies that disregarded bar lines when he was still working on a thought; notes that squeezed in hurriedly to ornament the end of a line; and seductive shifts in register that were always unexpected surprises. If your ears and experience prepared you for something more typical, Byas gave you that and more.