Donald Keogh

Fuego - a title that might be somewhat misleading - is the final Blue Note recording exclusively pairing Donald Byrd with Jackie McLean, a fruitful partnership that set the yin of the (in this case) restrained trumpeter, against the yang of the tart and extroverted alto saxophonist. While not quite a unified whole, the two were involved in turf battles that were based on mutual respect, here exuding a quieter fire that toned down McLean and muted Byrd to attain an intriguing harmonic balance. Duke Pearson's clever piano in the middle, with Doug Watkins playing bass and favored drummer Lex Humphries, made for one of the more diverse sounds in modern jazz circa 1959-1960. Of course hard bop is at the core of this band, but Byrd is moving further into post-bop, as served up heartily by the two horns during the modal, rambling, and staggered theme of the title selection…

Timeless Donald Byrd combines most of the trumpeter's 1955 Savoy session Byrd's Word and two tracks from alto saxophonist John Jenkins' 1957 Savoy release Jazz Eyes. Both albums are solid examples of mid-'50s mainstream jazz and represent both artists well. Given that these albums go in and out of print, the Timeless compilations are welcome additions to the artists' catalogs, though diehards will still want to seek out the original albums.

Recorded for Jubilee records in 1957 and not to be confused with the Columbia record album also titled Jazz Lab. Hank Jones is the pianist for this one, as he was for New Formulas From The Jazz Lab and contributes a original tune. Donald Byrd is featured on "Isn't It Romantic" and Gigi's feature is "Imagination".

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," which borrows its melodic structure from the opening bars of "Lullaby of Broadway" and features Byrd using a muted trumpet.

For about the thousandth time, these very early recordings by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen that have remained officially unreleased for a reason: they're terrible and only vaguely resemble the actual Steely Dan that came years later. This is not to say that there is no merit to them, only very little, and only for those who are so obsessed by the Steely Dan legend they need to hear every bent note, of which there are plenty here. This is another shabby Dressed to Kill effort that should be avoided. Period.