Donald Byrd

This Landmark release was trumpeter Donald Byrd's first jazz album in over 15 years after a long (and commercially if not artistically successful) detour into poppish R&B/funk. In the 1980s Byrd had neglected his trumpet playing in order to direct the Blackbyrds and teach. The period away from his instrument shows in spots on this well-intentioned set. Byrd gathered together four excellent players (altoist Kenny Garrett, pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith) to play four group originals, W.C. Handy's "Harlem Blues" and "Blue Monk." Ironically Byrd's own playing was not at this point up to the level of his sidemen although his chops would improve during the next couple of years.

Donald Byrd - Ethiopian Knights (1971) {Blue Note}
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© 1998 Blue Note / Capitol | 7243 8 54328 2 8 | SBM
Jazz / Fusion / Jazz Funk / Trumpet

Right from the stop-start bass groove that opens "The Emperor," it's immediately clear that Ethiopian Knights is more indebted to funk – not just funky jazz, but the straight-up James Brown/Sly Stone variety – than any previous Donald Byrd project. And, like a true funk band, Byrd and his group work the same driving, polyrhythmic grooves over and over, making rhythm the focal point of the music. Although the musicians do improvise, their main objective is to keep the grooves pumping, using their solos more to create texture than harmonic complexity.

Donald Byrd's transitional sessions from 1969-1971 are actually some of the trumpeter's most intriguing work, balancing accessible, funky, Davis-style fusion with legitimate jazz improvisation. Electric Byrd, from 1970, is the best of the bunch, as Byrd absorbs the innovations of Bitches Brew and comes up with one of his most consistent fusion sets of any flavor. ~ AllMusic

Donald Byrd's 1961 recording Free Form is both a smorgasbord of modern jazz styles and a breakthrough album showing the Detroit born trumpeter's versatility and interest in diversity. At age 30, turning down offers to teach and a full decade before turning to commercial funk fusion with his Blackbyrds, Byrd, alongside a wonderful collection of jazz professionals, proves his mettle as an individualist while also stylistically straddling the blurred lines of jazz. Where his brass tone is very lean and toned, he does not resort to outlandish outbursts into the ionosphere, but shows a refined yet daring approach removed from his predecessors or peers - Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan in particular. With tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, a very young pianist Herbie Hancock, drummer Billy Higgins, and bassist Butch Warren, Byrd tackles different flavors of jazz…

This CD compilation collects three separate sessions recorded by Donald Byrd and Doug Watkins for Transition with various small groups. The 1955 recordings (first issued under the title Byrd's Eye View) were made shortly after Byrd replaced Kenny Dorham in the Jazz Messengers, all of whom (Horace Silver, Art Blakey, and Hank Mobley, along with Byrd and Watkins) are present, with the addition of local trumpeter Joe Gordon as a guest on two tracks. The half-dozen songs mix an improvised blues ("Doug's Blues"), a favorite from the swing era ("Crazy Rhythm"), a ballad feature for Byrd and Mobley ("Everything Happens to Me"), plus a pair of potent hard bop pieces contributed by the tenor saxophonist…

For this excellent album, trumpeter Donald Byrd teams up with tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse, baritonist Pepper Adams, pianist Walter Davis, Jr., bassist Sam Jones and drummer Art Taylor. Together the sextet performs three Byrd originals, two Davis songs and the standard "Witchcraft." Although none of the new tunes caught on, the group (which includes two distinctive saxophonists and the rapidly maturing trumpet of Donald Byrd) plays consistently creative and spirited solos in the hard bop idiom.

Donald Byrd - Free Form (1961) {2004 Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 337 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 106 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb
© 2004 Blue Note / Capitol / EMI | 7243 5 95961 2 9 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Hard Bop / Trumpet

Donald Byrd's 1961 recording Free Form is both a smorgasbord of modern jazz styles and a breakthrough album showing the Detroit born trumpeter's versatility and interest in diversity. At age 30, turning down offers to teach and a full decade before turning to commercial funk fusion with his Blackbyrds, Byrd, alongside a wonderful collection of jazz professionals, proves his mettle as an individualist while also stylistically straddling the blurred lines of jazz.

Donald Byrd - Electric Byrd (1970) {Blue Note Japan SHM-CD UCCQ-5129 rel 2015} (24-192 remaster)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 278 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 103 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 172 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit 192 kHz remaster
© 1970, 2015 Universal Japan / Blue Note | BN 75th The Masterworks | UCCQ-5129
Jazz / Fusion / Jazz Funk / Trumpet

Reissue. Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player) and the latest 24bit 192kHz remastering. Donald Byrd in a sweet electric mode – as you'd guess from the title! The set was recorded right before Byrd's legendary run with Larry Mizell in the early 70s – and the electric approach is a bit different here – a style that blends Byrd's wonderful trumpet lines with the larger ensemble mode Blue Note sometimes used in the late 60s, but with a spacey, stretched-out feel that's mighty nice!