Donald Byrd

Over the course of the past couple months, Donald Byrd has slowly supplanted Freddie Hubbard as my favorite trumpet player. Byrd has such a great combination of lyricism and a full, rich tone and it's shown off to great effect on Off to the Races, Byrd's first date as a leader on Blue Note (although he had led sessions on other labels prior to this). ~ Amazon

Trumpeter Donald Byrd and baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams worked together on several recordings between 1958 and 1961, and The Cat Walk (released on LP in 1962) is among the best. A quintet setting, with pianist Duke Pearson (another longtime Byrd collaborator), bassist Laymon Jackson, and a lively Philly Joe Jones on drums joining the front line of Byrd and Adams, the sessions for The Cat Walk benefited from the writing and arrangement skills of Pearson, who contributes three compositions here, the impressive opener "Say You're Mine," "Duke's Mixture," and "Hello Bright Sunflower," ~ AllMusic

Just a few weeks before his death, Eric Dolphy performed a concert at the Le Chat Qui Péche club in Paris on June 11, 1964, broadcast on French radio station France Musique, with a septet including fellow jazz luminary Donald Byrd on trumpet. The six tracks on this disc include selections from his albums Outward Bound (1960), Out There (1961), and Far Cry (1962), as well as a version of John Coltrane's "Naima". Personnel: Eric Dolphy - alto saxophone, bass, clarinet, flute; Donald Byrd - trumpet; Nathan Davis - tenor saxophone; Jack Diéval - piano; Jacques Hess - bass; Franco Manzecchi - drums; Jacky Bambou - congas. The entire broadcast is presented here, digitally remastered, with background liners.

At 24 years old, Donald Byrd was already among the greatest trumpeters alive at that time. Alto saxophonist Gigi Gryce, who wrote the charts for everything heard on this disc aside from "I Remember Clifford," was an exceptionally talented arranger as well as a gifted composer. Unlike the rest of the Byrd/Gryce recordings from 1957, these have extra horns: Benny Powell's trombone, Julius Watkins' French horn, Don Butterfield's tuba, and Sahib Shihab's baritone sax. The rhythm section players were exceptionally solid: pianists Tommy Flanagan, Wade Legge; bassist Wendell Marshall; and master percussionist Art Taylor. With some of the best arrangements heard in jazz and excellent solos by Gryce, Byrd, and Flanagan, Jazz Lab makes for an excellent introduction to the hard bop catalog.

This unusual set was one of the most successful uses of a gospel choir in a jazz context. Trumpeter Donald Byrd and a septet that includes tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, guitarist Kenny Burrell, and pianist Herbie Hancock are joined by an eight-voice choir directed by Coleridge Perkinson. The arrangements by Duke Pearson are masterful and one song, "Cristo Redentor," became a bit of a hit. This is a memorable effort that is innovative in its own way, a milestone in Donald Byrd's career.

Reuniting with Larry Mizell, the man behind his last three LPs, Donald Byrd continues to explore contemporary soul, funk, and R&B with Places and Spaces. In fact, the record sounds more urban than its predecessor, which often played like a Hollywood version of the inner city. Keeping the Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, and Sly Stone influences of Street Lady, Places and Spaces adds elements of Marvin Gaye, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Stevie Wonder, which immediately makes the album funkier and more soulful. Boasting sweeping string arrangements, sultry rhythm guitars, rubbery bass, murmuring flügelhorns, and punchy horn charts, the music falls halfway between the cinematic neo-funk of Street Lady and the proto-disco soul of Earth, Wind & Fire. Also, the title Places and Spaces does mean something – there are more open spaces within the music, which automatically makes it funkier. Of course, it also means that there isn't much of interest on Places and Spaces for jazz purists, but the album would appeal to most fans of Philly soul, lite funk, and proto-disco.

This unusual set was one of the most successful uses of a gospel choir in a jazz context. Trumpeter Donald Byrd and a septet that includes tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, guitarist Kenny Burrell, and pianist Herbie Hancock are joined by an eight-voice choir directed by Coleridge Perkinson. The arrangements by Duke Pearson are masterful and one song, "Cristo Redentor," became a bit of a hit. This is a memorable effort that is innovative in its own way, a milestone in Donald Byrd's career.

Reuniting with Larry Mizell, the man behind his last three LPs, Donald Byrd continues to explore contemporary soul, funk, and R&B with Places and Spaces. In fact, the record sounds more urban than its predecessor, which often played like a Hollywood version of the inner city. Keeping the Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, and Sly Stone influences of Street Lady, Places and Spaces adds elements of Marvin Gaye, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Stevie Wonder, which immediately makes the album funkier and more soulful. Boasting sweeping string arrangements, sultry rhythm guitars, rubbery bass, murmuring flügelhorns, and punchy horn charts, the music falls halfway between the cinematic neo-funk of Street Lady and the proto-disco soul of Earth, Wind & Fire. Also, the title Places and Spaces does mean something – there are more open spaces within the music, which automatically makes it funkier. Of course, it also means that there isn't much of interest on Places and Spaces for jazz purists, but the album would appeal to most fans of Philly soul, lite funk, and proto-disco.