Don Byron | |
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 Photo by Ed Newman | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1958-11-08)November 8, 1958 (age 66) Bronx, New York, United States |
| Genres | Avant-garde jazzklezmer |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Clarinet,bass clarinet,saxophone |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Labels | Nonesuch,Blue Note,Cantaloupe |
Donald Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily playsclarinet but has also playedbass clarinet and saxophone in a variety of genres that includesfree jazz andklezmer.
His mother was a pianist. His father worked as a mailman and played bass incalypso bands.[1] Byron listened toDizzy Gillespie andMiles Davis while growing up, but he was exposed to other styles through trips to the ballet and symphony orchestra.[2] When he was a child, he had asthma, and a doctor recommended playing an instrument to improve his breathing. This was why he started playing clarinet. He grew up in the South Bronx among many Jewish neighbors who sparked an interest inklezmer. Other influences includeJoe Henderson,Artie Shaw,Jimmy Hamilton, andTony Scott. In his teens he took clarinet lessons from Joe Allard.George Russell was one of his teachers at theNew England Conservatory of Music in Boston. At the school he was a member of Klezmer Conservatory Band led byHankus Netsky. In the 1980s he moved to New York City where he played with avant-garde jazz musicians such asHamiet Bluiett,Craig Harris, andDavid Murray.[1]
Byron is a member of theBlack Rock Coalition. In 2001, he performed "Bli Blip" for theRed Hot Organization's compilation albumRed Hot + Indigo, a tribute toDuke Ellington which raised money for charities devoted to increasingAIDS awareness and fighting the disease. He has recorded withBill Frisell,Joe Henry,Marc Ribot,Vernon Reid, andAllen Toussaint.
He has worked as a professor atMetropolitan State University of Denver (2015),The University at Albany (2005–2009), andMIT (2007–2008), teaching composition, improvisation, music history, clarinet, and saxophone.
Byron is a practicing jazz historian, and some of his albums have been recreations (in spirit) of forgotten moments in the history of popular music. Examples are Plays the Music of Mickey Katz and Bug Music.[3]
Byron won theRome Prize Fellowship awarded by theAmerican Academy in Rome in 2009. His Seven Etudes for solo piano, commissioned by pianistLisa Moore, made him a finalist for thePulitzer Prize in Musical Composition in 2009. He was nominated for aGrammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo in 2005 for his bass clarinet solo on "I Want to Be Happy" fromIvey-Divey.
He was a judge for the 2nd annual Independent Music Awards.[4]
Byron was named a 2007 USA Prudential Fellow[5] and awarded a grant byUnited States Artists, a public charity that supports and promotes the work of American artists. He also won aGuggenheim Fellowship in 2007.
WithUri Caine
WithMarilyn Crispell
WithBill Frisell
WithCraig Harris
WithDavid Murray
WithNeufeld-Occhipinti Jazz Orchestra
WithBobby Previte
WithReggie Workman
With others
Finalists:Pulitzer Prize for Music (2001–2010) | ||
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