Don Byas

[JSngry]

Sangrey, what are your feelings about the Webster/Byas side? Am I missing something?

Just curious.

It's one to have, but far from the first one.

[medjuck]

There's a litle bit of information about Byas in the intro to the Dan Morgantern book.

[AllenLowe]

Bud Johnson, yes - he was in one of the earliest groups with Dizzy/George Wallington, actually a very early recording exists on bootleg -

[Spontooneous]

Budd! I had a chance to attend the performance that turned out to be his last, and I didn't go for some reason. (It was at the Signboard Bar in Kansas City, with Jay McShann and Carmell Jones. He played beautifully that night, people said, and he died in the hotel afterward.)

Webster and Byas! Yes, it was recorded too late, but I love that disc anyway.

[AllenLowe]

"and he died in the hotel afterward."

so it was murder -

[Spontooneous]

so it was murder -

Hey, I told ya, I wasn't there. Me and the boys was just playin' cards.

This is how rumors are born.

(But seriously, folks. It was a heart attack, I think. I still have the newspaper clipping announcing Budd's death somewhere, but don't ask me where right now...)

[papsrus]

Some threads should be required reading. This one qualifies. Lots of great insights here. Thanks all.

[gmonahan]

Some threads should be required reading. This one qualifies. Lots of great insights here. Thanks all.

Yes, an interesting discussion, and one that happened before I discovered this group. While I don't imagine the "originators" necessarily want to take all this up again (!), I didn't see Wardell Gray mentioned in the discussion, probably because he came along toward the end of the 40s, but I'd be interested to know where some of you might think he "fits," if that's the right word.

greg mo

[mjzee]

The album he did with Bud strangely titled A TRIBUTE TO CANNONBALL (not actually a tribute, but Cannonball apparently was the producer) is very good. Excellent straight ahead playing.

And here is the is the flip side to the original LP cover:

When the LP was first released, it was billed as Don Byas / Bud Powell, and Byas's portrait was on the cover.

[Chuck Nessa]

The album he did with Bud strangely titled A TRIBUTE TO CANNONBALL (not actually a tribute, but Cannonball apparently was the producer) is very good. Excellent straight ahead playing.

And here is the is the flip side to the original LP cover:

When the LP was first released, it was billed as Don Byas / Bud Powell, and Byas's portrait was on the cover.

As Marty pointed out, that is the back. Bud is on the lp cover.

[mjzee]

Sorry, but no. I'm holding the LP in my hands (Columbia JC 35755). Byas is on the front cover, Bud is on the back. The album is billed, on both front cover and spine, as Don Byas / Bud Powell. And the liner notes, which begin on the front cover, discuss only Byas for the first four paragraphs.

[Chuck Nessa]

Checking mine, I see you are correct. The lp was issued over 10 years after the session. This was recorded as a Bud Powell date - a companion to the Portrait of Thelonious disc. Don was a sideman.

[papsrus]

Snagged a copy of "The Complete American Small Group Recordings" (definitive) tonight for what seems like the quite reasonable price of $49.99 from an amazon seller who says the set is in mint condition. Quite pleased, as I've had my eye on this one for a while to bookend the later "Complete 1946 - 1951 European Small Group Master Takes" (definitive).

Personnel:

DISC ONE: 1) Don Byas Orchestra: Charlie Shavers, Clyde Hart, Slam Stewart, Jack Parker. 2) Don Byas Orchestra with Rudy Williams (as) added. 3) Don Byas All Star Quinter: Joe Thomas, Johnny Guarnieri, Billy Taylor, Cozy Cole. 4) Don Byas All Star Quintet: Buck Clayton, Johnny Guarnieri, Eddie Safranski, Denzil Best. 5) Don Byas All Stars: Kenny Watts, John Levy, Slick Jones. 6) same as previous band, add Big Bill Broonzy and rename as Little Sam & Orchestra.

DISC TWO: 1) Don Byas All Star Quintet (same as 4 above with Buck Clayton). 2) Don Byas Quartet: Erroll Garner, Slam Stewart, Doc West. 3) Don Byas Quartet: Johnny Guarnieri, Slam Stewart, J.C. Heard. 4) Don Byas Quartet: Johnny Guarnieri, Sam Hall, Sid Catlett. 5) Don Byas All Star Quartet: Johnny Guarnieri, Eddie Safranski, J.C. Heard. 6) Don Byas and His Orchestra: Jimmy Powell, Hal Singer, unknown piano, bass, and drums, Rubie Blakey vocals. 7) Dizzy Gillespie, Gene Sedric, Sammy Price, Leonard Ware, Oscar Smith, Harold West, Albinia Jones vocals.

DISC THREE: 1) Don Byas Quartet: Garner, Stewart, West, same as previous disc. 2) Don Byas and the All Star Rhythm Septet: Gene Schroeder; Tony Gottuso, Slim Durham, Johnny Blowers. 3) Don Byas Quintet: Benny Harris, Jimmy Jones, John Levy, Fred Radcliffe. 4) Don Byas Quartet: Teddy Brannon, Frank Skeete, Fred Radcliffe. 5) Don Byas Quartet: Sanford Gold, Leonard Gaskin, Max Roach. 6) Don Byas Quartet: Beryl Booker or Tony Scott, John Simmons, Fred Radcliffe.

DISC FOUR: 1) Eddie Heywood and his Orchestra: Ray Nance, Aaron Sachs, Eddie Heywood, John Simmons, Shelly Manne. 2) Emmett Berry Five: Emmett Berry, Dave Rivera, Milt Hinton, J.C. Heard. 3) Hank D

Edit to correct title of European set.

Edited November 22, 2009 by papsrus

[davidsherr]

While there is definitely a Hawk influence in Byas's playing, Bird also had an impact. My favorite recording of Byas is the live appearance he made in Germany in January 1963 where he appeared with Idrees Sulieman and Bud Powell, documented on the Impulse release, AMERICANS IN EUROPE. His playing on "All the Things You Are" is so fantastic that with all the versions I own of this warhorse, this particular one is my all time favorite. Intensely swinging. On that CD, Byas is also featured on the ballad, "I Remember Clifford". If you don't already own this out of print CD, do pick it up as I often see it in various 2nd hand CD shops in the jazz anthology sections.

That's also my favorite version of the tune. I have seven recordings of Byas playing All The Things You Are. Two of them are from the 1940s, the others around the same time as the Americans in Europe. In the 40s, each solo was unique. The latter ones were all variations on the same elements. The one on the JATP in Europe seems to have scared Getz; he enters tentatively and sounds pretty intimidated. I guess following Hawkins and Byas will do that.

[Gheorghe]

The album he did with Bud strangely titled A TRIBUTE TO CANNONBALL (not actually a tribute, but Cannonball apparently was the producer) is very good. Excellent straight ahead playing.

And here is the is the flip side to the original LP cover:

exists also a recording of Bud with Don Byas and Brew Moore (3 tracks: Rifftide, I Remember Clifford, Anthropology) from Denmark 1962. Brew is out on I Remember Clifford. But as I think, Byas loved that tune as much as Bud loved it. On all 3 recorded meetings between those two giants, they recorded that ballad (Tribute to Cannonball, Americans in Europe, and the un-issued stuff I got.

[sidewinder]

Anyone seen that 'Don Byas In America' documentary put together in 1970 by Dutch TV? Includes great footage of Byas with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra at the Village Vanguard plus Don in action at Newport that year and wandering through downtown NYC. I believe it was his first visit to perform back in the USA since 1947.

Edited February 6, 2010 by sidewinder

[Late]

Snagged a copy of "The Complete American Small Group Recordings" (Definitive) tonight ...

It's a good set. But I had to make a compilation out of it that omits all the "singing bass" solos. Major Holley, if I recall correctly. I could never get with those bowed/sung things. My loss, I suppose

[Chuck Nessa]

Slam Stewart.

[Big Beat Steve]

Snagged a copy of "The Complete American Small Group Recordings" (Definitive) tonight ...

It's a good set. But I had to make a compilation out of it that omits all the "singing bass" solos. Major Holley, if I recall correctly. I could never get with those bowed/sung things. My loss, I suppose

Very much your loss if you otherwise like that mid-40s small-band swing.

You really have to allow that humming-singing-bass soloing to grow on you.

I remember an extended weekend in my very young collecting days (age 15 or so) when I was more or less locked in a weekend cabin due to heavy rain during a family excursion so just to pass the time I got busy with that handful of records and turntable there. Among a couple of jazz and pop oldies LPs there was that "Bowing Singing Slam" album on Savoy. Much as I liked swing music even at this early age this one really sounded odd to me and made my head just dizzy so I had to take it off.

Many, many years later (long after having been exposed to Slam quite a bit more, not least of all thanks to the 1945 Don Byas recordings), I picked up a secondhand copy of that "Bowing Singing Slam" album myself. And indeed by then it had become perfectly standard swing combo fare to my ears - very enjoyable and certainly nothing to make you feel dizzy.

[Late]

Very much your loss if you otherwise like that mid-40s small-band swing.

You really have to allow that humming-singing-bass soloing to grow on you.

Do I get any points for liking Irene Aëbi? And not minding Paul Chambers' arco solos?

(I said Major Holley, but it's Slam Stewart. I'll keep working on it.)

[jeffcrom]

Very much your loss if you otherwise like that mid-40s small-band swing.

You really have to allow that humming-singing-bass soloing to grow on you.

Do I get any points for liking Irene Aëbi? And not minding Paul Chambers' arco solos?

(I said Major Holley, but it's Slam Stewart. I'll keep working on it.)

When I was about 15 and learning about jazz, my wonderful mom would bring home records from thrift stores if she thought I'd be interested in them. One day she come home with a 10" LP - a Just Jazz concert with Lionel Hampton playing "Stardust." Slam Stewart was the bass player, but when he played his solo, I had no idea what in the world that sound was. It was only after I went to the library and did some research that I figured out what was going on.

And, yes you get points for liking Irene. I think her diction got really weird later - it sounds like she got dentures. But the limited-edition LP Sideways on the Roaratorio label was kind of a wake-up call in terms of appreciation for her singing, for me anyway. Irene sings a cappella for the first two minutes of "The Way." On the last note of this complex melody, she's joined by Lacy's soprano, and she is perfectly in tune - her pitch hasn't wavered at all for two minutes. Even if you don't like her sound, she's a musician.

[Caravan]

Anyone seen that 'Don Byas In America' documentary put together in 1970 by Dutch TV? Includes great footage of Byas with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra at the Village Vanguard plus Don in action at Newport that year and wandering through downtown NYC. I believe it was his first visit to perform back in the USA since 1947.

It's called "Byas Come Home" and it was his first visit to the US (in July 1970) since he left in September 1946 with the Don Redman band. I acquired a (poor quality) copy some time ago and it's a very nice documentary indeed. Reunions (not playing) with Dizzy, Louis Armstrong and who not. At Newport, he played with Dizzy's rhythm section of the time (with Mike Longo and David Lee). I often saw Don back in Amsterdam (I don't live there anymore now) around that time, but had missed out on this when it was broadcast. Could you by any chance identify the pianist in I Remember Clifford (the others being Wilbur Ware and Jo Jones) in the film?

[sidewinder]

Could you by any chance identify the pianist in I Remember Clifford (the others being Wilbur Ware and Jo Jones) in the film?

I was wondering if it might be Roland Hanna but I'll have to check.

[JSngry]

I very miuch want to see that film. Any leads?

[bichos]

I very miuch want to see that film. Any leads?

the first 9 minutes (and it looks good!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmQYOIAuWuI

keep boppin´

marcel