Throughout Jazz’s most dynamic period, Donald Byrd and the sounds from his horn changed with the times. A revolutionary bandleader, trumpeter, and producer, Byrd fused Funk, Gospel, and Soul with Jazz together after being knighted by such greats as Lionel Hampton, Art Blakey, and John Coltrane.
Byrd, who passed away in early 2013, embraced the future, whether mentoring Herbie Hancock, forming The Blackbyrds, or working extensively with Gang Starr’s Guru on two Jazzmatazz volumes.
With recordings dating back to 1955, Byrd came to prominence at the height of the Bebop era. Upon introduction, with his led ’55 LP, Byrd’s Jazz, whose album opener flipped a Lightnin’ Hopkins standard in “Blues,” the Detroit native was experimenting with genre. Releasing a series of albums in the ‘50s, Donald relocated to New York and ultimately ended up on the storied Blue Note Records. In between his extensive discography milestones, Donald and his horn played on albums by Cannonball Adderley, Lou Donaldson, and Jimmy Smith—artists, who like Byrd, would be embraced by Hip-Hop sampling more than three decades later.
Entering the ‘60s, Byrd’s Royal Flush LP commemorated the first Hancock appearance and composition on Blue Note, his would-be mainstay. With its flashy artwork (recognizable to Tone-Loc fans,) Byrd’s 1963 A New Perspective was a landmark release. The effort employed a Gospel choir, and started Byrd’s journey of bonding Jazz instrumentation with variations of Soul music. “Cristo Redentor” stood out from theproject, giving Byrd a hit, and a milestone for Vocal Jazz to come in the 15 years that followed. Even 50 years later, the versatile song has been reconsidered through songs by Action Bronson, Smoke DZA, and Royce Da 5’9”.
By the time of the Lunar Landing, Donald Byrd had departed from the out of vogue Bebop and plugged in. Bringing in an electric piano on 1969’s Fancy Free, Donald was headed in a clear direction towards the Electric Jazz of the ‘70s. Along the way, Byrd closed the ‘60s with songs that diggers dug, in crafting a certain dusty quality for The Pharcyde (see below), Lords Of The Underground, and The Beatnuts.
Ten years removed from A New Perspective, Donald Byrd delivered Blue Note a hit in Black Byrd. The album was the trumpeter’s first union with writer/producer Larry Mizell and his horn-playing vocalist brother Fonce. The album was rooted in a spacey Funk that gave the Jazz imprint release a crossover appeal. The effects of opener “Flight Time” would later become part of the basis for the opening to Nas and DJ Premier’s “NY State Of Mind,” and subsequent sequels.
Immediately following the success of the ’73 release The Mizell Brothers and Byrd created The Blackbyrds, a group taking its name from the album. Byrd recruited students from his then-post at Howard University to join the side-project, off of Blue Note, and at the San Francisco-based Fantasy imprint. The group’s sophomore album, the Top 30-Flying Start featured the mainstream hit “Walkin’ In Rhythm,” while its 1975 follow-up included seminal Hip-Hop foundation staple, “Rock Creek Park.” That same year, Byrd furthered his Blue Note solo recordings, with #1 Billboard Jazz album, Places and Spaces. The LP included “Wind Parade,” the basis of Black Moon’s “Buck ‘Em Down,” and the regularly-recycled hard bassline in “(Fallin’ Like) Dominoes.”
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Byrd would begin the 1980s at Elektra Records, working with producer Isaac Hayes and his 125th Street Band on albums like 1981’s Love Byrd. Byrd remained active through the decade, moving to Landmark Records following his Asylum/Electra tenure.
In addition to his tenure at Howard, Byrd, who carried a PhD from Columbia University, would teach at Rutgers, North Carolina Central University, NYU, and Cornell, among numerous others. On February 4, 2013, Donald Byrd died in Teaneck, New Jersey. A musician in six decades, Byrd’s music and his impact (in Jazz and beyond) lives on.
