Donald Byrd | |
|---|---|
 Byrd in 1964 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (1932-12-09)December 9, 1932 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | February 4, 2013(2013-02-04) (aged 80) Dover, Delaware, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, vocalist |
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1954–2013 |
| Labels | |
| Education | |
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II[1] (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an Americanjazz andrhythm & blues trumpeter, composer and vocalist.[2] Asideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the fewhard bop musicians who successfully explored funk and soul while remaining a jazz artist. As a bandleader, Byrd was an influence on the early career ofHerbie Hancock and many others.
Byrd was born in 1932 inDetroit, Michigan. His family came from theAfrican-American middle-class. His father, Elijah Thomas Byrd, was aMethodist minister who greatly valued education and oversaw his son's schooling.[3][4] His mother, Cornelia Taylor, introduced Byrd to jazz music and it was her brother who gave Byrd his first trumpet.[4] He attendedCass Technical High School. He performed withLionel Hampton before finishing high school. During this period, his first professional recording session was in 1949 atFortune Records in Detroit with the Robert Barnes Sextette for the single "Black Eyed Peas" / "Bobbin' At Barbee's." After playing in a military band during a term in theUnited States Air Force, Byrd obtained a bachelor's degree in music fromWayne State University and a master's degree fromManhattan School of Music.[5] While still at the Manhattan School, he joinedArt Blakey'sJazz Messengers asClifford Brown's successor. In 1955, he recorded withGigi Gryce,Jackie McLean andMal Waldron. After leaving the Jazz Messengers in 1956, he performed with many leading jazz musicians of the day, includingJohn Coltrane,Sonny Rollins,Thelonious Monk, and laterHerbie Hancock.[2]
Byrd's first regular group was a quintet that he co-led from 1958 to 1961 with baritone saxophonistPepper Adams. The ensemble's hard-driving performances are captured live onAt the Half Note Cafe.[2] Byrd's 1961 LPRoyal Flush was Hancock'sBlue Note debut. Hancock has credited Byrd as a key influence in his early career, recounting that Byrd took the young pianist "under his wing" when he was a struggling musician newly arrived in New York, even letting him sleep on a hide-a-bed in his Bronx apartment for several years.
He was the first person to let me be a permanent member of an internationally known band. He has always nurtured and encouraged young musicians. He's a born educator, it seems to be in his blood, and he really tried to encourage the development of creativity.
Hancock also recalled that Byrd helped him in many other ways: he encouraged Hancock to make his debut album for Blue Note, connected him withMongo Santamaria, who turned Hancock's tune "Watermelon Man" into a chart-topping hit, and that Byrd also later urged him to acceptMiles Davis' offer to join his quintet.[6]
Hancock also credits Byrd with giving him one of the most important pieces of advice of his career – not to give away his publishing rights. When Blue Note offered Hancock the chance to record his first solo LP, label executives tried to convince him to relinquish his publishing in exchange for being able to record the album, but he stuck to Byrd's advice and refused, so the meeting came to an impasse. At this point, he stood up to leave and when it became clear that he was about to walk out, the executives relented and allowed him to retain his publishing. Thanks to Santamaria's subsequent hit cover version of "Watermelon Man", Hancock was soon receiving substantial royalties, and he used his first royalty check of $6,000 to buy his first car, a 1963Shelby Cobra (also recommended by Byrd) which Hancock still owns, and which is now the oldest production Cobra still in its original owner's hands.[7]
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In June 1964, Byrd played withEric Dolphy in Paris only two weeks before Dolphy died frominsulin shock.
By 1969'sFancy Free, Byrd was moving away from thehard bop jazz idiom and began to recordjazz fusion andjazz-funk. He teamed up with theMizell Brothers (producer-writers Larry and Fonce) forBlack Byrd (1973) which was, for many years, Blue Note's best-selling album.[8][9] The title track climbed to No. 19 onBillboard's R&B chart and reached the Hot 100 pop chart, peaking at No. 88. The Mizell brothers' follow-up albums for Byrd,Street Lady,Places and Spaces andStepping into Tomorrow, were also big sellers, and have subsequently provided a rich source of samples foracid jazz artists such asUs3. Most of the material for the albums was written by Larry Mizell.
In 1973, he helped to establish and co-producethe Blackbyrds, a fusion group consisting of then-student musicians fromHoward University,[2] where Byrd taught in the music department and earned hisJ.D. in 1976. They scored several major hits including "Happy Music" (No. 3 R&B, No. 19 pop), "Walking in Rhythm" (No. 4 R&B, No. 6 pop) and "Rock Creek Park".
During his tenure atNorth Carolina Central University during the 1980s, he formed a group which included students from the college called the "125th St NYC Band". They recorded three albums;Love Byrd andWords, Sounds, Colors and Shapes which featuredIsaac Hayes.[10] "Love Has Come Around" onLove Byrd became a disco hit, reaching number No. 4 on Billboard's U.S. Dance Club Songs[11] and in the UK and reached No. 41 on the charts.
Beginning in the 1960s, Byrd (who eventually gained his PhD in music education fromTeachers College, Columbia University in 1982) taught at a variety of postsecondary institutions, includingRutgers University, theHampton Institute,New York University,Howard University,Queens College,Oberlin College,Cornell University,North Carolina Central University andDelaware State University.[12] Byrd returned to somewhat straight-ahead jazz later in his career, recording three albums forOrrin Keepnews'Landmark Records.[13] Byrd was named a NEA Jazz Master in 2000.[14]
Byrd was a resident ofTeaneck, New Jersey.[15] He died on February 4, 2013, in Dover, Delaware, at age 80.[8]
| Recording date | Title / Co-leader | Label | Year released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955-08 | Byrd Jazz | Transition | 1956 | Live |
| 1955-09 | Byrd's Word | Savoy | 1956 | |
| 1955-12 | Byrd's Eye View | Transition | 1956 | |
| 1956-05 | Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill | Transition | 1957 | |
| 1956-08 | 2 Trumpets withArt Farmer | Prestige | 1957 | |
| 1956-11 | The Young Bloods withPhil Woods | Prestige | 1957 | |
| 1957-02, 1957-03 | Jazz Lab with Gigi Gryce | Columbia | 1957 | |
| 1957-08 | At Newport with Gigi Gryce andCecil Taylor | Verve | 1958 | Live |
| 1957-07, 1957-08 | New Formulas from the Jazz Lab with Gigi Gryce | Vik | 1982 | |
| 1957-08 | Jazz Lab with Gigi Gryce | Jubilee | 1958 | |
| 1957-08, 1957-09 | Modern Jazz Perspective with Gigi Gryce | Columbia | 1957 | |
| 1957-09 | Jazz Eyes | Regent | 1957 | |
| 1957-? | September Afternoon withClare Fischer | Discovery | 1982 | [16][17] |
| 1958-10 | Byrd In Paris | Brunswick | 1958 | |
| 1958-10 | Parisian Thoroughfare | Brunswick | 1958 | |
| 1958-12 | Off to the Races | Blue Note | 1959 | |
| 1959-05 | Byrd in Hand | Blue Note | 1959 | |
| 1959-10 | Fuego | Blue Note | 1960 | |
| 1960-01, 1960-07 | Byrd in Flight | Blue Note | 1960 | |
| 1960 | Motor City Scene with Pepper Adams | Bethlehem | 1961 | |
| 1960-11 | At the Half Note Cafe | Blue Note | 1960 | Live |
| 1961-04 | Chant | Blue Note | 1979 | LT series |
| 1961-05 | The Cat Walk | Blue Note | 1962 | |
| 1961-09 | Royal Flush | Blue Note | 1962 | |
| 1961-12 | Free Form | Blue Note | 1966 | |
| 1963-01 | A New Perspective | Blue Note | 1964 | |
| 1964-10, 1964-11, 1964-12 | Up with Donald Byrd | Verve | 1965 | |
| 1964-12 | I'm Tryin' to Get Home | Blue Note | 1965 | |
| 1966-06 | Mustang | Blue Note | 1967 | |
| 1967-01 | Blackjack | Blue Note | 1968 | |
| 1967-05 | Slow Drag | Blue Note | 1968 | |
| 1967-10 | The Creeper | Blue Note | 1981 | LT series |
| 1969-05, 1969-06 | Fancy Free | Blue Note | 1970 | |
| 1970-05 | Electric Byrd | Blue Note | 1970 | |
| 1969-12, 1970-12 | Kofi | Blue Note | 1995 | |
| 1971-08 | Ethiopian Knights | Blue Note | 1972 | |
| 1972-04 | Black Byrd | Blue Note | 1973 | |
| 1973-06 | Street Lady | Blue Note | 1973 | |
| 1973-07 | Live: Cookin' with Blue Note at Montreux | Blue Note | 2022 | Live |
| 1974-11, 1974-12 | Stepping into Tomorrow | Blue Note | 1975 | |
| 1975-08 | Places and Spaces | Blue Note | 1975 | |
| 1976-04, 1976-05 | Caricatures | Blue Note | 1976 | |
| 1978-02 – 1978-07 | Thank You...For F.U.M.L. (Funking Up My Life) | Elektra | 1978 | |
| 1979-08, 1979-09 | Donald Byrd and 125th Street, N.Y.C. | Elektra | 1979 | |
| 1981? | Love Byrd | Elektra | 1981 | |
| 1982 | Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes | Elektra | 1982 | |
| 1987-09 | Harlem Blues | Landmark | 1988 | |
| 1989-10 | Getting Down to Business | Landmark | 1990 | |
| 1991-01 | A City Called Heaven | Landmark | 1991 |
WithArt Blakey
WithKenny Burrell
WithPaul Chambers
WithSonny Clark
WithKenny Clarke
WithJohn Coltrane
WithEric Dolphy
WithLou Donaldson
WithRed Garland
WithDexter Gordon
WithGuru
WithHank Jones
WithHank Mobley
WithJackie McLean
WithDuke Pearson WithOscar Pettiford
WithSonny Rollins
WithHorace Silver
WithJimmy Smith
| With others
|
"Donald Byrd – One of the masters of post-bop trumpet and a noted educator, Byrd lives in Teaneck
'SEPTEMBER AFTERNOON.' Donald Byrd with Clare Fischer & Strings. Discovery DS-869. Can you believe this? Here is Donald Byrd in a New York studio, 26 years ago, playing 'Dearly Beloved,' 'Stardust' and 10 others, with sumptuous strings and wind arrangements by Fischer. If he was no Clifford Brown, at least he had taste and a pleasing timbre. Long buried by Warner Bros., this was disinterred by Discovery's tireless discoverer, Albert Marx. 3½ stars.
