Donald Byrd Landmarks CD

LANDMARKS is a compilation of tracks taken from GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS, HARLEM BLUES & A CITY CALLED HEAVEN.
Personnel: Donald Byrd (trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn); Kenny Garret (alto saxophone); Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone); Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphone); Mulgrew Miller, Donald Brown (piano); Peter Washington, Rufus Reid (bass); Carl Allen, Al Foster, Marvin "Smitty" Smith (drums).
Producers: Orrin Keepnews, Donald Byrd.
Compilation producer: Adam Dorn.
Principally recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on September 22 & 24, 1987 & October 10 & 12, 1989. Includes liner notes by Orrin Keepnews.
Not only was 1987's Harlem Blues Donald Byrd's first album in over 15 years--it also marked the first time he had recorded acoustic straight-ahead jazz since the 1960s. Released in 1998, this CD looks back on the sessions that Orrin Keepnews produced for Byrd after his comeback and draws on three albums: Harlem Blues, Getting Down to Business (1989) and A City Called Heaven (1991). The trumpeter/flugelhornist had neglected his chops during his hiatus from recording, and his playing on Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk" and James Williams' "Alter Ego" (both from Harlem Blues) reflects that. But Byrd still played with feeling, and material from Getting Down to Business and A City Called Heaven finds his chops improving gradually. To his credit, Keepnews made sure that Byrd was surrounded by many first-class improvisers from 1987-91--Joe Henderson, Kenny Garrett, Mulgrew Miller and Bobby Hutcherson are among the heavyweights featured on these sessions. Landmarks isn't in a class with Byrd's classic Blue Note output of the 1950s and 1960s, but the material is pleasing and enjoyable nonetheless. ~ Alex Henderson
Though Donald Byrd first came to fame as Kenny Dorham's successor in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, it was the trumpeter's later forays into electric jazz/funk fusion that made him a star. Consequently it's his more commercial, funky side with which Byrd's most commonly associated. In the late-'80s, producer Orrin Keepnews brought Byrd into the studio to record three (relatively) straight-ahead acoustic jazz albums for Keepnews' Landmark label. Over a decade later, 32 Jazz saw fit to compile the best of those sessions into this handy collection. Byrd is joined here by a host of younger players, whose compositional skills (Kenny Garrett's "Voyage A Deux" is a highlight) prove as valuable as their instrumental abilities.
Byrd's far too forward-looking to ever be a traditionalist, so LANDMARKS feels anything but anachronistic. Note the semi-reggae undercurrent of "Theme for Malcolm," or the snaky, syncopated melody of Byrd's own "The Onliest." Byrd's fluid, economical improvisations are naturally the focus of LANDMARKS, and they are nicely complemented by the contributions of younger guns like Garrett, as well as the sparkling guest appearance of Byrd's contemporary Bobby Hutcherson, on "King Arthur."

Live Recording