The Bebop Shop Donald Byrd

The Bebop Shop : Movin' & Groovin': More Blue Notes & Soul Jazz : Donald Byrd


	Donald Byrd: Birdhouse (CD: Delta Jazz) Price: £8.99


Donald Byrd: First Flight (CD: Delmark) The names and musical reputations of Donald Byrd and Yusef are well known where ever jazz is played. When this live concert was recorded, in Detroit at the New World Stage, August 23, 1955, their fame had not yet reached the heights they now enjoy. Donald Byrd may very well have been making his recorded debut at this concert. Although his style here is quite different and not as individually developed as his present one, it is full of exhuberance, swing, good taste, and very pure of sound. Byrd also emerged from the endless stream of talent that is Detroit, about the time this album was cut. Clifford Brown was the dominate trumpet voice at that time, and it is not difficult to hear Donald's fondness for that great musician. (Delmark records) Price: £13.99


	Donald Byrd Sextet: Byrd Jazz (CD: Fresh Sound) This Transition album features the concert the Donald Byrd Sextet gave in Detroit on August 23th, 1955 organized by the New Jazz Society, a group formed under the impetus of Kenny Burrell, one of the key influences in Detroit jazz. In this concert Byrd gave notice that he would be a major jazzman. Playing with intense drive and cohesiveness, allied to relaxed authority and individual conception, the young trumpeter confirmed his much heralded potential, contributing some excellent soloing. Of the others, tenor Yusef Lateef, big-toned and muscular, swung vehemently, full of emotional force. Bernard McKinney, here on euphonium, was impressively inventive, while pianist Barry Harris, an influential adviser to many young Detroiters, was typically assured, strongly supported by bassist Alvin Jackson and drummer Frank Gant. (Fresh Sound Records) Price: £17.99


Donald Byrd: Four Classic Albums (CD: AVID, 2 CDs) AVID Jazz presents four classic Donald Byrd albums, including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD."Byrd’s Word"; "Byrd’s Eye View"; "All Night Long" and "Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill". Price: £8.99


	Donald Byrd & Pepper Adams: Motor City Scene (CD: Bethlehem/ Charly) From the late 50's to 1961, trumpeter Donald Byrd struck up a highly-successful musical partnership with baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, before his subsequent Blue Note recordings established him as a major jazz star. Featuring fine contributions from fellow Detroit soloists Kenny Burrell on guitar and Tommy Flanagan on piano, this highly-listenable session from 1960 captures these top-notch musicians at their best. The all-star line-up is completed by Paul Chambers on bass and Hey Lewis on drums. (Snapper Music) Price: £10.99


Donald Byrd: Four Classic Albums - Second Set (CD: AVID, 2 CDs) AVID Jazz presents the latest release in our Four Classic Album series with a second re-mastered 2CD release from Donald Byrd, complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details.“Off To The Races”; “Byrd In Hand”; “The Cat Walk” and “Royal Flush”. (AVID Entertainment) Price: £8.99


	Donald Byrd: At The Half Note Cafe, Vol.1 (Vinyl LP: Blue Note) Trumpeter Donald Byrd was just 2 years into his 2 decade long Blue Note recording career when he brought his quintet in to Manhattan’s Half Note Café in November 1960 to record this soulful, swinging, and highly enjoyable live set of hard bop featuring Pepper Adams on baritone saxophone, Duke Pearson on piano, Laymon Jackson on bass, and Lex Humphries on drums. Byrd had already established himself as a leading trumpeter on the scene and was riding high on a creative hot streak that produced the studio albums Off To The Races, Byrd In Hand, Fuego, and Byrd In Flight. After an introduction by WOV disc jockey Ruth Mason (who would later become Ruth Lion, wife of Blue Note founder Alfred Lion), the band hits the ground running on Pearson’s up-tempo “My Girl Shirl” before downshifting into Byrd’s blues “Soulful Kiddy.” Side 2 opens with a beautiful ballad performance of “A Portrait of Jennie” before stretching out on another original blues by Byrd titled “Cecile” and concluding Volume 1 with the band’s theme “Pure D. Funk.” This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Record Technology Inc. (RTI), and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket. (Blue Note Records) view larger image Price: £39.99


Donald Byrd: A New Perspective (Vinyl LP: Blue Note) Blue Note legends like Grant Green, Horace Silver, and Jimmy Smith often looked to the church for musical inspiration, but trumpeter Donald Byrd presented A New Perspective with his magnificent 1963 album for band and voices which wove the essence of spirituals into modern jazz. In collaboration with composer and arranger Duke Pearson, Byrd assembled an ensemble with tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, pianist Herbie Hancock, guitarist Kenny Burrell, vibraphonist Donald Best, bassist Butch Warren, drummer Lex Humphries, and a choir under the direction of Coleridge Perkinson. The result was one of Byrd’s most popular albums, an uplifting and deeply soulful hybrid that delivers many memorable highlights including Byrd’s spirited opener “Elijah” and Pearson’s stirring compositions “Cristo Redentor” and “Chant.” This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal. (Blue Note Records) Price: £25.99


	Donald Byrd: Slow Drag (Vinyl LP: Blue Note) More than a dozen albums into his Blue Note tenure, Donald Byrd’s 1967 date Slow Drag would be one of the last pure hard bop sessions that the reliably brilliant trumpeter would cut before his music began evolving towards fusion. Byrd flies high on this highly gratifying set that finds it’s groove across a variety of feels fueled by the tremendous drumming of Billy Higgins. The quintet is rounded out by alto saxophonist Sonny Red, pianist Cedar Walton, and bassist Walter Booker, each of whom contribute original compositions to the set list. The album opens with Byrd’s loose-limbed titled track, an endlessly entertaining 10-minute groovefest that features Higgins’ scene-stealing adlibbed vocals. “Secret Love,” a 1950s hit for Doris Day, becomes a modal jazz vehicle that shifts easily into a bright swing before Booker and Walton’s “Book’s Bossa” introduces a bossa nova flavor to the proceedings. Red’s upbeat boogaloo number “Jelly Roll” lifts the energy at the start of Side 2 followed by Walton’s soulful jazz waltz “The Loner.” The album comes to a close with a showstopping performance of the ballad “My Ideal” that’s a showcase for Byrd’s dazzling melodicism. This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Record Technology Inc. (RTI), and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket. (Blue Note Records) view larger image Price: £39.99


Donald Byrd: BlackByrd (SACD: Blue Note/ Vocalion) SACD Hybrid Multi-channel release. Price: £12.99


	Donald Byrd: Places And Spaces (Vinyl LP: Blue Note) Donald Byrd’s 1975 fusion classic Places and Spaces was the culmination of the legendary trumpeter’s vibrant latter Blue Note years. Byrd had begun recording for Blue Note in 1958, and over two decades evolved from a top-notch hard bop trumpeter into a pioneer of R&B/Funk fusion, leading the label’s own creative direction along a similar path. Byrd had begun to introduce elements of fusion to his music with his 1969 album Fancy Free and shadowed Miles Davis early-1970s moves with experimental sessions like Electric Byrd and Ethiopian Knights. It wasn’t until Byrd hooked up with visionary producer Larry Mizell for his 1972 album Black Byrd that a new sound coalesced: funky and sultry, sophisticated yet accessible, with intricate arrangements that allowed Byrd’s trumpet to soar over top. A string of commercial successes followed, reaching a creative peak with Places and Spaces, the fourth Byrd-Mizell collaboration which was co-produced by Larry and his brother Fonce Mizell. The album featured some of the most enduring hits this legendary creative team conjured up including “Wind Parade,” “Dominoes,” and “Places and Spaces,” all of which were sampled heavily by Hip Hop artists in the decades that followed. This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal. (Blue Note Records) Price: £25.99

The Bebop Shop : Movin' & Groovin': More Blue Notes & Soul Jazz : Donald Byrd

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