places & spaces he's been: the DONALD BYRD poll

The Mizell albums, Black Byrd through Caricatures, are ridiculous, but slight edge to Ethiopian Knights.

hard bop: definitely ROYAL FLUSH

soul jazz: SLOW DRAG or ELECTRIC BYRD

funk: BLACKBYRD or PLACES & SPACES

disco: gotta think/listen on this one, maybe F.U.M.L? or125th Street or the one w/"sexy dancer"

yeah I love CARICATURES too. this is gonna be even tougher than I thought.

UP WITH DONALD BYRD is his weirdest and maybe worst, these strange disembodied voices floating though the mix. worth hearing once.

what about this one?
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_E30MCxImkaE/SZNfqsXUoVI/AAAAAAAAA4s/dGdNR_chonU/s320/donald+byrd+-+1969+-+kofi+(blue+note)1i.jpg

it is pretty good. i haven't heard enough of these to make a real judgment ... I do love Black Byrd and Places and Spaces ... Fuego is pretty tight on the hard bop tip.

is a used copy of "fancy free" on CD really worth $30?

http://www.amazon.com/Fancy-Free-Donald-Byrd/dp/B000005HEM

"Think Twice" is an unabated miracle, so Stepping into Tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

what a wet noodle this poll turned out to be. too many choices, too many good-to-great albums. live & learn. oh the places and spaces I've been.

voting Black Byrd BTW. also I forgot what a great acoustic/hard bop album Free Form is.

anybody who doesn't know his 70s albums should go get Best of Donald Byrd right now in the listening format of your choice. You'll Be Glad You Did.

This is actually harder than I thought when opening thread

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

http://www.amiright.com/album-covers/images/album-Donald-Byrd-A-New-Perspective.jpg

damn, this album^^^^

so good

also one of the best Blue Note album covers, imo -- which is saying something!

is that a Corvette on the cover? a Stingray maybe?

whatever it is, it is a sexy automobile. but srsly -- it's been said before many times -- but you gotta give it up for Blue Note's art dept./photographers. You look at other labels' jazz LP covers from the same time, and so many look so bad. Impulse! is generally solid, but they still have some crap. Pretty much every Blue Note looks great.

blows me away that A New Perspective is from 1963. did he ever do anything else like this? I know a bit of his funk period but have no idea what his early- to mid-60s stuff is like

I love Royal Flush, iirc it has one of Herbie Hancock's first recorded appearances, and Pepper Adams baritone playing and tone are amazing.

some of the 60s stuff is terrific and totally worth checking out. It's all on Spotify too.

Byrd In Hand and Byrd In Flight are pretty good 60s albums

Fuego as well

wtf just noticed Cristo Redentor being used as bkgd music in an old Dave Chappelle skit (Wacarnolds)

relative to a lot of other names on blue note during the period hes a fairly ave. trumpet player -- good sense of melody & phrasing but not the most inventive dude -- def worked perfectly w/ the mizells, tho -- id put spaces & places at #1, then stepping into tomorrow. shakey is right about a new perspective being pretty interesting though. but yeah spaces & places is both his & the mizell's peak imho

Love Byrd: Donald Byrd and 125th St, N.Y.C. (1981)

surprised no one repped for this ... its >>>> the other 125th street record for sure. 'feel like loving you today,' 'love has come around,' 'butterfly,' plus its all written/produced/keybd by isaac hayes!!

ive got two copies on vinyl if someone wants one lol

good sense of melody & phrasing but not the most inventive dude

to explain what i mean better, he knows what sounds good but seems to have pretty narrow lane of expressiveness, and his best records are collaborative bcuz he recognized these shortcomings

yeah I agree his trumpet playing is not super-distinctive on its own

lee morgan > donald byrd > freddie hubbard

freddie on CTI > freddie on Blue Note

thats crazy talk. as a trumpet player freddie plays circles around byrd

i mean, i prefer 70s byrd to 70s hubbard in terms of album output, but there's no question who the better trumpet player is

as a technician ppl would prob put freddie ahead of lee morgan too although i like lee's melodic style more than freddies

morgan vs. byrd is apples & oranges unless yr just talking about byrd in the 60s in which case morgan >>>>>>>

no doubt hubbard is better technically but I much prefer byrd and morgan. I really don't know shit about trumpet playing, just know what I like.

yeah i mean, just as 'entertaining trumpet players' though hubbard is imo a more inventive, interesting soloist

I read in some jazz guide that "lee morgan apparently never recorded a boring solo" and listening to his 60s work I almost believe it.

i dunno, i've heard some boring lee morgan records. he might still be playing well, but sometimes it's clear that there's not a lot of inspiration going on. guy recorded a lot!

yeah all three of these guys recorded a lot, including sideman work - maybe too much. blue note kept em busy

maybe he meant it like, lee morgan never played a corny note? he always had this really hip melodic sense & never played cliches or overly earnest lines, all v controlled

http://www.amiright.com/album-covers/images/album-Lee-Morgan-Cornbread_thumb.jpg
(actually a killer album)

That's my favorite. Also a big fan of search for the new land, sidewinder (obv), and candy. Candy if really underrated.

yeah those are all sweet.
this is the boring one i was thinking of...nice cover, though!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/Caramba%21.jpg

Man I'll take electric Byrd over the mizell stuff. Keep away from the ethiopian knights vinyl reissue, sounds like a nth gem cassette.

I love walking down the street with "Change (Makes You Wanna Hustle)" in my headphones.

via twitter:

Mustafa Monk-One ‏@monkuno

RIP Dr. Donald Byrd. Unfortunately confirmed by his nephew.

RIP. he has lots of great stuff.

'Love Has Come Around' is, IMO, one of the most incredible songs ever. RIP.

awwww wtf no!!

RIP

yeah, love that black byrd album.
this is lovely too
http://youtu.be/Y5ujEFsaInk

very sad news, huge fan of his 70s records.

jammin black byrd now, kind of the perfect jazz/funk/disco/pop record.

RIP

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r9BHjNdFgbI/TRU3N9JkAII/AAAAAAAAKgU/XSErp67YiUA/s1600/Donald%2BByrd%2B1970%2BElectric%2BByrd%2B%255Ba692%255D.jpg

Love his work with Jackie McLean and Hank Mobley.

ah shit, sorry to hear that. what a great career though, and ending it as a teacher/mentor is v classy. RIP.

new perspective makes you remember, oh yeah, blue note

just picked up 'street lady' and 'spaces and places' to go alongside the brilliant 'electric byrd'

its going to be a great weekend.

i absolutely love 'a new perspective' - a genuine one off album that never fails to send the chills into overdrive.

I listen to Byrd's 70s material more than anything else from his catalog.

had my first spin of 'street lady' (office - ear-buds) : oh yes. totally hit the spot. cannot wait to play this at home on my proper set up.

ok ..

i realise this flies in the face of this poll, but after a couple spins of each, i think i prefer 'street lady' to 'places and spaces'

'street lady' just hits harder.

of course, i reserve the right to totally flip this judgement at any point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8rblH8QLz8

i feel like the songwriting is at its strongest on 'places and spaces,' the production more delicate and ornate, 'street lady' more funk/groove driven which i should like more in theory but there's just a hint of disco to 'places and spaces' that makes up for it—weirdly it's the more danceable record, or at least has a more modern sense for dancing

oh, i totally get why it's loved,
just i think i prefer the tougher grooves of 'sweet lady' - especially 'witch hunt' and the title track.
that said, today i found out that i have the full version of 'emporer' on a compilation.
damn, that's a beast of a track.

When I was briefly the editor of Blue Note's website, I ran a piece by Darcy James Argue (leader of the weirdo big band the Secret Society) about Donald Byrd's '70s albums.

oh my .. thanks for the pointer.
time to fill up, and read that.

i absolutely love 'a new perspective' - a genuine one off album that never fails to send the chills into overdrive.

^^^
never get tired of this record, somehow

Hmm, okay. Will have to check that out. Listen to '70s Byrd all the time but have never listened to anything earlier for some stupid reason.

it's definitely unique in his discography, but it also feels p unique for the era in general (to me - maybe I'm missing something like this, idk)

i like 'a new perspective' a lot and not really for his solos as much as that it kinda gives away that even in the hard bop era donald byrd was more interested in pop songs

yeah - these are p weird pop songs tho!

def!

Cristo Redentor forever.

jammin' all the 125th street albums whilst cleaning house this am. not his greatest or most consistent stuff by any stretch, but damn satisfying radio funk. love byrd features big contributions from isaac hayes and has at least two definitive deep cuts. one of which is a should-have-been quiet storm touchstone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4P6kOt89N8

donald byrd + 125th street nyc — "i love your love" (1981)

also i threw fancy free from 1969 in the middle and yep: even on a low stakes possibly second tier soul jazz affair like that, idris muhammad just owns the whole set. stellar boogaloo playing from the under-mentioned guitar great jimmy ponder, as well!

thanks for the revive and reminder. queuing him up for tomorrow.

woulda voted Places and Spaces

out today: previously unissued live stuff from 73 with a large ensemble. only one track in, but it was "black byrd" so i'm biased af and this sounds amazing. badass. can't believe there's still stuff like this in the vaults.

the band, btw:

Donald Byrd: trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals

Fonce Mizell: trumpet, vocals

Allan Barnes: tenor saxophone, flute

Nathan Davis: tenor & soprano saxophone

Kevin Toney: electric piano

Larry Mizell: synthesizers

Barney Perry: electric guitar

Henry Franklin: electric bass

Keith Killgo: drums, vocals

Ray Armando: congas, percussion

very recommended.

Yeah, my local jazz station has been playing the hell out of "You've Got It Bad, Girl"---also some youtube on this page:

Don Was, President, Blue Note Records: “Shortly after Mr. Byrd’s passing in 2013, we got an email from the noted British music icon, Gilles Peterson, inquiring about a legendary performance from 1973’s Montreux Jazz Festival. Inexplicably, the tapes had been tucked away in the Blue Note vaults. When we listened, we were knocked out: the 16-track, 2” analog master tapes revealed a more raw and gritty side of Donald Byrd’s 70’s music. As a special tribute to this Jazz Immortal and as a gift to the legions of aficionados who, like all of us at Blue Note Records, treasure the music he’s left behind, we are honored to present – on vinyl and CD for the first time – Donald Byrd, Live at Montreux from July 5, 1973.”

yep, it definitely has a bit more of an edge than the mizell-helmed studio records he would do around the time. if you like the more miles-centric sounds of his electric byrd album, this new set is definitely recommended. if nothing else, check out the version of "black byrd" that opens the set.🔥

is a used copy of "fancy free" on CD really worth $30?

― moonship journey to baja, Monday, 3 August 2009 18:14 (thirteen years ago) link

http://www.amazon.com/Fancy-Free-Donald-Byrd/dp/B000005HEM

― moonship journey to baja, Monday, 3 August 2009 18:15 (thirteen years ago) link

according to that amazon link a new copy on cd goes for $160 now

arrives after christmas, btw

the montreux set is great