Donald Byrd - Live at Montreux 1973 getting release

[felser]

Got an email about this from Blue Note. And I guess I've been asleep at the wheel, did not realize Don Was had become president of Blue Note. Don't think that can be a good thing, can it?

http://www.bluenote.com/spotlight/donald-byrd-live-at-montreux-july-5-1973

Blue Note Newsletter

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DONALD BYRD, LIVE AT MONTREUX JULY 5, 1973

As a special tribute to this Jazz Immortal and as a gift to the legions of aficionados who, like all of us at Blue Note Records, treasure the music he's left behind, we are honored to present - for the first time - Donald Byrd, Live at Montreux from July 5, 1973.

As teenagers in Detroit during the 1960s, my friends and I regarded Donald Byrd with the same lofty respect reserved for other hometown musical heroes like Smokey Robinson, The MC5, Elvin Jones, Mitch Ryder, Aretha Franklin and John Lee Hooker....they were all amazing artists who were changing the face of music by exporting the sounds of our city to the rest of the world. The music of Donald Byrd was ubiquitous back then...cats like the legendary Motor City jazz disc jockey, Ed Love, would hit tracks like "Nai Nai" from "Free Form" and "Christo Redentor" from "A New Perspective" on a nightly basis...Later on, in the 1970s, Mr. Byrd started adding a healthy dose of Detroit-style funk to his records and his innovative music could be heard blasting out of dashboard mounted 8 track players and back seat subwoofers all over town...He was a Motor City Trumpet Revolutionary and his timeless music will never be forgotten.

Shortly after Mr. Byrd's passing on February 4th, we got an email from the noted British music icon, Gilles Petersen, inquiring about a legendary performance from 1973's Montreux Jazz Festival. Blue Note's Curator-In-Chief, Michael Cuscuna , told us that it had, indeed, been recorded and subsequently mixed for release by Bob Belden in 1999. Inexplicably, it has remained hidden in the Blue Note vaults - until now. The tapes are wonderful and reveal a far more raw and gritty side to Donald Byrd's 70's music than his studio recordings might suggest....

To stream the entire recording, visit: http://smarturl.it/byrdstream

Don Was

President, Blue Note Records

[felser]

Here's the personnel and set list. "Black Byrd". I'll pass on this one.

Personnel:

Donald Byrd, Trumpet, Fluegelhorn, Vocals; Fonce Mizell, Trumpet, Vocals; Allan Barnes, Tenor Sax, Flute; Nathan Davis, Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax; Kevin Toney, Electric Piano; Larry Mizell, Synthesizer; Barney Perry, Electric Guitar; Henry Franklin, Electric Bass; Keith Killgo, Drums, Vocals; Ray Armando, Conga, Percussion.

This set contains 7 sounds, total time: 47.29

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  01 Introduction
  
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  02 Poco-Mania

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  03 You've Got It bad Girl

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  04 Untitled No. 3

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  05 Black Byrd

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  06 Byrd Introduces Band

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  07 Kwame

  • 399
    

[JSngry]

I don't think it's getting released right now...just streamed on a soundcloud....

But there does appear to be video of the concert on the Youtube. Not "pro" level, but now we know it exists in some form.

Oh, don't think it's all smoothed out like the Black Byrd LP. It's not. I was pleasantly surprised about that.

[danasgoodstuff]

There's a whole long thread on Don Was and what he means for Blue Note, but damn if I can find it.

[Mark Stryker]

BN folks told me it's not on docket for release at this time but will be available as a stream indefinitely. Pace Jim, definitely edgier than the LPs released at the time. This may not make a difference for some -- I'm not sure it does for me either, as I haven't made up my mind about a lot of this music. But I listened once yesterday and found it illuminating in the way that it gives a fuller picture of what Byrd was up to. FWIW, making it available as a stream was Don Was' idea.

[robertoart]

BN folks told me it's not on docket for release at this time but will be available as a stream indefinitely. Pace Jim, definitely edgier than the LPs released at the time. This may not make a difference for some -- I'm not sure it does for me either, as I haven't made up my mind about a lot of this music. But I listened once yesterday and found it illuminating in the way that it gives a fuller picture of what Byrd was up to. FWIW, making it available as a stream was Don Was' idea.

That's great. Has he got any other ideas?

How about streaming some of the long hoped for 'rejected' sessions!

Grant Green with Kenny Dorham, Ike Quebec, Gene Harris etc.

The 'trainwreck' or others that people have been interested in.

Must have cost them 20 minutes of someone's wages to get the Montreax stream up and running.

Or is Michael Cuscuna still 'discerning' the lie of the land for us all.

Maybe they could even get someone to have another look for a few of the 'missing' tape boxes as well.

Who knows what they might turn up?

[felser]

Gave this a listen, definitely a huge improvement over the studio stuff, sounds more post- 'Ethiopean Knights' than pre- 'Black Byrd' to me, definitely more substance than those dreadful studio albums. Even with the Mizell Brothers in the band. Having Nathan Davis and Henry Franklin on board had to be a good thing, though Franklin doesn't really distinguish himself here. I was able to listen the whole way through, and could even see myself buying this and playing it again if it came out on CD.