Jacascript Duckett

Recorded in 1981 and produced by Isaac Hayes, trumpeter and composer Donald Byrd's first recording for Elektra is the sound of a musician who has truly lost his way. Byrd's nearly decade-long collaboration with the Mizell Brothers ended when he left Blue Note for Elektra. It wasn't so much that Byrd left "jazz" for funk and proto-disco, the latter elements had been part of his sound since 1972 with Black Byrd (some would say the real transition to more R&B based music began before that with Fancy Free in 1965). The period with the Mizells, though decried by jazz critics everywhere as a sellout, was a fertile one for Byrd creatively and married his vision of being a viable and accessible artist, one who sought out the direct experience of soul and funk as a way of getting his music across. It was also a successful one commercially - his albums sold to a wider audience and were played on commercial FM radio.

A definite soul based session for Donald Byrd – and that's saying a lot here, because his previous decade's worth of work had all had some sort of R&B focus. The main force behind the set here is Isaac Hayes – who's producing, arranging, and playing most of the keyboards on the album. Oddly, Ike's not singing at all – and vocals are instead handled by Rose Williams, Diane Davis, Pat Lewis, and Myra Walker – plus the Hot Buttered Soul group on backing vocals.