During the early years of hard bop in the 1950s, there was a plethora of big bold and beautiful trumpet players, such as Clifford Brown, Kenny Dorham, Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan. One of the forgotten members of the club, and ironically one of the most recorded, was Donald Byrd (1932-2013). He had a long and productive career as both a leader and a sideman, appearing on over 50 (!) albums from 1955-56 alone, including stints with Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane. This 6 disc collection puts together an impressive overview that has 11 of his early and hard swinging albums. Hang on tight!
His Byrd Jazz 1955 debut with Yusef Lateef-Frank Foster/ts, Bernard McKenney/eup, Barry Harris-Hank Jones/p and rhythm section is a straight-ahead collection of blues and originals, with a snappy “Woody ‘N’ You” and a hip blues “Yusef”. 1956 sees him teaming with alto saxist Phil Woods for vintage bebop originals and Bird-inspired pieces like “Dewey Square” and “In Walked George”. His own Byrd’s Eye View finds him essentially leading the Jazz Messengers of Art Blakey/dr, Horace Silver/p, Hank Mobley/ts and Doug Watkins/b along with fellow trumpeter Joe Gordon, who rides up Byrd’s back on the frenetic “Hank’s Tune” and grooving “Doug’s Blues”. The same year has him in a blowing jam with Foster, Jones, Kenny Clarke/dr and Paul Chambers/b with Byrd in heaven on “Someone TO Watch Over Me” and a lyrical “Star Eyes”.
A Quartet session has Byrd at the helm with Watkins/b, Ray Santisi/p and Jim ZItano/dr emphasizing melodic standards like “Stella By Starlight”, “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” and a bel canto “What’s New”, showing what the horn master can do in the spotlight. Another two trumpet summit, this time with the velvety Art Farmer (along with a bright Jackie McLean on alto sax) includes an after hours jam on “Dig” and a finger snapping “The Third”.
Finally reaching 1957, Byrd stretches out a bit, as he includes the hep bop vocalist Jackie Paris (along with alto saxist Gigi Gryce, and pianist Wynton Kelly) for the gospel-tinged “Early Morning Blues”. Another Jazz Messenger-ish meeting with the obscure alto saxist John Jenkins, Curtis Fuller/tb, Tommy Flanagan/p, Doug Watkins/b and Art Taylor/dr featuring jam session-feelings on “Star Eyes” and Jenkins pieces like “Orpheus” and “Rockaway”. A real obscure album on the Esquire label features Byrd stretching out on “You Gotta Dig It” as well as the short lived Jazz Lab label in a larger group session that includes two trombones, French Horn, tuba and baritone sax with some clever charts on “Speculation” and “Nica’s Temp” along with a gorgeous read of “I Remember Clifford”. The last album is actually led by tenor saxist Hank Mobley, and again hints of Blue Note messages make sparks fly as on “ Budo” and a toe tapping “There’ll Be Another Y You”
If you know a bit about jazz, you’ve seen iconic photos in the 1950s of Byrd playing in subways and on streets on posters. Now you can hear what you’ve been seeing.