Donald Byrd - 'Byrd in Flight'

 

'Byrd in Flight' was one of the first Jazz records, I ever owned, it was gifted to me for Christmas 1960, by my then piano teacher Mark, who was an early 60s hipster/beatnik kind of guy.  I have literally listened to 'Byrd in Flight', thousands upon thousands of times.

Released in December 1960, 'Byrd in Flight' was pieced together from three different recording sessions from earlier that year.  The core band for these sessions consists of trumpeter Donald Byrd, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, pianist Duke Pearson, and drummer Lex Humphries, with either Doug Watkins or Reggie Workman on bass.  Alto saxophonist Jackie McLean also makes a guest appearance on two tracks. 

Duke Pearson composed the bulk of the material for this session, though Byrd also contributes two original compositions.  The first of these is "Ghana," an energetic tune with Afro-Cuban rhythms, and nice solos from both Donald and Hank Mobley.  Byrd's other original, "Lex" swings happily along, with an interesting call-and-response approach between the horns and the drums.  Here Donald's solo mixes long-winded (in a good way) bop phrases with more simple, lyrical lines to good effect, while Hank Mobley takes more of a straight bebop approach, but with intricately clever phrasing and a slightly laid-back feel. "Little Boy Blue" is the sole cover tune on the album, and is a ballad feature for Byrd.  His expressive trumpet tone and his simple, lyrical solo that's based largely around the melody is the highlight of the piece, that said, Duke Pearson's excellent accompaniment is sublime.

"Gate City" is the first of three Duke Pearson compositions, and is a Gospel-tinged blues number, in which most of the players stick to the realm of blues traditions.  Bassist Reggie Workman gets some room to shine on the slow "Bo," another Duke Pearson originals with breaks in the melody for bass fills.  Jackie McLean takes the first solo and gives the tune a healthy dose of laid-back bop, while Donald's solo is spacious, lyrical and accurately described as a "speech-like, talking solo" by Nat Hentoff in the liner notes.  The album closes with the final Pearson original "My Girl Shirl," a minor tune with unusual changes and a wonderfully contrapuntal horn line in the bridge.  Once again, Jackie McLean starts out the soloing with a bold statement, with lyrical lines that accentuate his sharp, incisive tone, and then Donald takes a more bop-inflected solo.

'Byrd in Flight' is one fine hard bop album.  The original songs are well-written and executed, and the single cover tune functions well as the album's ballad. Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean and Duke Pearson play consistently great solos.

If you're a fan of hard bop releases from the Blue Note label, you won't be disappointed by this one.  If you already have it, the freeload is a 24bit/192kHz vinyl rip, and makes for a nice upgrade.

For the freeload, what was the oddest movie you've ever seen?