At 02:32 AM 8/1/01 -0400, Nathaniel Rahav wrote:
>Donald byrd was (is?) one FUNKY mofo
>
>check him on 'A new Perspective' for some ill jazzy soulful gospel vibes
>check him on Kofi for some beautiful, smooth, epic jazz groove - think
>long ride & drawn out solos, colors not notes
>check him on Places & Spaces for some nice funk
>Then of course there's his funk outfit called 'The Blackbyrds', famous for
>their b-boy classic 'Rock Creek Park'
>
>Nat
My favorite Donald Byrd records (grouped by period, roughly in order of pref.):
_Ethiopian Knights_
_Fancy Free_
_Electric Bird_
_Kofi_
Very much under the spell of Miles' _In a Silent Way_/_Bitches' Brew_
period. _Ethiopian Knights_ is a monster, but all 3 are pretty great.
_Street Lady_
_Blackbyrd_
_Places & Spaces_
_Steppin' Into Tomorrow_
Aided & abetted by the mighty Mizell Bros. Probably the most this-listy;
_Street Lady_ is the funkiest & wildest of that bunch; the last 2 are
excellent funky proto-disco.
His mid-sixties stuff (_Mustang_, _Slow Drag_, _Blackjack_, et al) is
really choice funky hard bop.
Hard to go wrong, really. Often written off as a lightweight by jazzbos
w/no real interest in rhythm or black popular music, luckily WE know better....
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