Homage to Donald Byrd. The legendary passed on last week but left a lasting legacy. He was ahead of his time pushing the pure jazz movement into a progressive soulful funk era with classics “Dominoes”, “Think Twice”, working with the Mizell bros. Was a mentor to Herbie Hancock and was influential in the creation of the Blackbyrds of “Walking in Rhythm” and “Rock Creek Park” fame. He was also one of the most heavily sampled in hip-hop classics, and appeared in Guru’s Jazzmatazz series.
Writer Mike Sonksen captures his life in his blog Donald Byrd and Revolutionary Words….
“The music of hard bop impresario, and later soul jazz innovator, Donald Byrd shares the same spirit as the poets. DJs around the world have been in mourning since Byrd died on February 4, 2013. I wish I could say I heard Byrd’s music first in my parent’s record collection, but like many of my generation I learned of his music from hearing his samples in hip hop songs by A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, Public Enemy, and other early 90s records. Sampled over 200 times, Byrd’s recording career spanned over five decades, primarily with Blue Note Records. Two of his best known albums are “Blackbyrd” and “Spaces and Places.” (READ FULL BLOG)