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Happy birthday to one of the all-time great Detroiters, trumpeter Donald Byrd, born 12/9/32. What a golden sound he had at the peak of his powers! Chops of steel here, in bars 5/6, ascending a concert B-flat minor 7 chord to that clarion A-flat. 12/58.
Here's another from just over a year later in Jan. 1960. Inspired, flowing trumpet lines threading the changes. Check out the 15-bar (!) snake he uncorks starting at 2:15. Also A+ Hank Mobley from his best period.
Byrd's chops are starting to slip a bit, but I think "Royal Flush" is his best all-around LP factoring in his compositions, bandleading & maturity of his improvising (more space, more development). 9/61. Brilliant Billy Higgins & @herbiehancock debut on LP
Quick @herbiehancock detour: The repeating, rhythmically displaced, chromatic gesture with which he starts his solo on Byrd's Shangri-La is VERY reminiscent of what he plays at the top of his own "Succotash" two years later over similar broken rhythm
Taped 3 months after Royal Flush, Free Form features the same band but w/Wayne Shorter in for Pepper Adams. A searching vibe to side 2, inc. Phrygian-flavored title track. The Hancock/Warren/Higgins trio would also back Herbie on his debut Takin Off 5/62
Byrd at 23 playing his tune "Omicron" on a Paul Chambers date 9/56. "Woody 'n You" changes. Thrilling high notes over 6/8 Latin intro; he nails the tricky head; two exhilarating & eloquent solos of a chorus each. No wonder Byrd's phone rang off the hook.
A beautifully relaxed and swinging version of the standard "Witchcraft" from May 1959 with Byrd's melodic lyricism, and gorgeous tone heard to grand effect.
Something that's not talked about much is the looseness of Byrd's rhythmic feel, especially at medium tempos. Listen to how far his 8th notes and bebop triplets are behind the beat on this blues with Sonny Rollins in 1956.
Lat one for today: Byrd's 1963 LP "A New Perspective" with choir was his best-selling LP before the crossover breakout hit "Black Byrd" a decade later. Duke Pearson's prayerful lament "Cristo Redentor" became an anthem in African American communities.
