Re: Donald Byrd

From: Jason Witherspoon (arzachel@speakeasy.org)
Date: Wed Aug 01 2001 - 20:36:04 CEST

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    At 02:32 AM 8/1/01 -0400, Nathaniel Rahav wrote:

    >Donald byrd was (is?) one FUNKY mofo
    >
    >check him on 'A new Perspective' for some ill jazzy soulful gospel vibes
    >check him on Kofi for some beautiful, smooth, epic jazz groove - think
    >long ride & drawn out solos, colors not notes
    >check him on Places & Spaces for some nice funk
    >Then of course there's his funk outfit called 'The Blackbyrds', famous for
    >their b-boy classic 'Rock Creek Park'
    >
    >Nat

    My favorite Donald Byrd records (grouped by period, roughly in order of pref.):

    _Ethiopian Knights_
    _Fancy Free_
    _Electric Bird_
    _Kofi_

    Very much under the spell of Miles' _In a Silent Way_/_Bitches' Brew_
    period. _Ethiopian Knights_ is a monster, but all 3 are pretty great.

    _Street Lady_
    _Blackbyrd_
    _Places & Spaces_
    _Steppin' Into Tomorrow_

    Aided & abetted by the mighty Mizell Bros. Probably the most this-listy;
    _Street Lady_ is the funkiest & wildest of that bunch; the last 2 are
    excellent funky proto-disco.

    His mid-sixties stuff (_Mustang_, _Slow Drag_, _Blackjack_, et al) is
    really choice funky hard bop.

    Hard to go wrong, really. Often written off as a lightweight by jazzbos
    w/no real interest in rhythm or black popular music, luckily WE know better....



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