Donald Byrd Electric Byrd CD

Donald Byrd's transitional sessions from 1969-1971 are actually some of the trumpeter's most intriguing work, balancing accessible, funky, Davis-style fusion with legitimate jazz improvisation. Electric Byrd, from 1970, is the best of the bunch, as Byrd absorbs the innovations of Bitches Brew and comes up with one of his most consistent fusion sets of any flavor. Byrd leads his largest fusion group yet (ten to 11 pieces), featuring many of his cohorts of the time (including Jerry Dodgion, Lew Tabackin, and Frank Foster on various woodwinds). Most important are electric pianist Duke Pearson, who once again dominates the arrangements, and percussionist Airto Moreira, who in places lends a strong Brazilian feel that predates Return to Forever. Moreira also contributes one of the four compositions, "Xibaba," which starts out as an airy Brazilian tune but morphs into a free-form effects extravaganza; the rest are Byrd originals that prove equally imaginative and diverse. The Brazilian-tinged opener "Estavanico" has a gentle, drifting quality that's often disrupted by jarring dissonances. There's also the shifting -- and sometimes even disappearing -- slow groove of "Essence," and the hard-edged, bop-based funk of "The Dude." Much of the album has a spacy, floating feel indebted to the psychedelic fusion of Bitches Brew; it's full of open-ended solo improvisations, loads of amplification effects, and striking sonic textures. The arrangements are continually surprising, and the band never works the same groove too long, switching or completely dropping the underlying rhythms. So even if it wears its influences on its sleeve, Electric Byrd is indisputably challenging, high-quality fusion. It's also the end of the line for jazz purists as far as Donald Byrd is concerned, which is perhaps part of the reason the album has yet to receive its proper due. ~ Steve Huey

This is part of the Blue Note Records Rare Groove series.

Live Recording

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on May 15, 1970. Includes liner notes by Nat Hentoff.

Reissue producer: Bob Belden.

Personnel: Donald Byrd (trumpet); Wally Richardson (guitar); Lew Tabackin (flute, saxophone, tenor saxophone); Hermeto Pascoal (flute); Pepper Adams (clarinet, baritone saxophone, brass); Frank Foster (alto clarinet, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Bill Campbell (trombone); Duke Pearson (electric piano); Mickey Roker (drums); Airto Moreira (percussion).

Liner Note Author: Nat Hentoff.

Recording information: Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (05/15/1970); Ven Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (05/15/1970).

Personnel: Donald Byrd (trumpet); Jerry Dodgion (soprano & alto saxophones, flute); Lew Tabackin (tenor saxophone, flute); Frank Foster (tenor saxophone, alto clarinet); Pepper Adams (baritone saxophone, clarinet); Bill Campbell (trombone); Hermeto Pascoal (flute); Duke Pearson (electric piano); Wally Richardson (guitar); Ron Carter (bass); Mickey Roker (drums); Airto Moreira (percussion).

Producer: Duke Pearson.

Down Beat (12/96, p.58) - 4 Stars (out of 5) "...fellow seekers Byrd and Pearson seam to be more interested in subtleties of rhythm, space and orchestral colors....ambitious--and fresh."