Donald Byrd Vinyl, CD & Tape 19 Items

Donald Byrd’s 1975 album Places and Spaces featuring the hits “Wind Parade” and “Dominoes” was the culmination of the great trumpeter’s fusion period.

It was the fifth consecutive Byrd album to be produced by visionary producer Larry Mizell, and the second to last session Byrd would cut for Blue Note, the label he had recorded for since 1958 that had followed him along his remarkable evolution from top-notch hard bop trumpeter to pioneer of R&B/Funk fusion.

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

Donald Byrd’s 1967 album Slow Drag was one of the last pure hard bop records the trumpeter would make before his music began evolving towards fusion. Byrd flies high on this gratifying set featuring alto saxophonist Sonny Red, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Walter Booker & drummer Billy Higgins.



BLUE NOTE TONE POET EDITION: Stereo, produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.

Major Keys work their magic once more with the release of two iconic tracks by celebrated Jazz musician, Donald Byrd. Known for being one of the few jazz artists who successfully explored funk and soul music in the 70s, whilst remaining a leading figure in Jazz (much to the disgruntlement of purists)

This 2-track EP salutes 2 records from that exploratory era with the official license and 12 inch reissue of ‘Think Twice’ & ‘Where Are We Going’

Think Twice - Taken from his 1975 LP ‘Stepping into Tomorrow’ released in 1975 on Blue Note Records and produced by the legendary Mizell Brothers, responsible for producing other artists including Gary Bartz, Johnny Hammond, Bobbi Humphrey, as well as Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye. One of Byrd’s most recognisable records and a highly sampled song amongst a wealth of hip hop and house artists in recent years.

Where Are We Going – Taken from the 1973 album Black Byrd, the very first release of Byrd’s on Blue Note Records and was released in collaboration with Motown Records. Produced by Larry Mizell and Larry Gordon, then later performed by Marvin Gaye. The album still stands amongst some of Blue Note’s bestselling releases

The experimentations taking shape in jazz at the end of the 60's with Miles Davis leading the pack pushed jazz in many new directions. Released six months after Bitches Brew, Electric Byrd shows legendary hard bop Detroit trumpet player Donald Byrd was listening to, but not necessarily following concurrent paths. Backed by a diverse group of players including hard bop legends with Brazilians Moreira and Pascoal lending a fresh sound. Shimmering percussion, wind instruments and electric piano and guitar set the backdrop for Byrd's dramatic flight into a psychedelic space with his echo-laden trumpet blasts. The album ends on a rollocking funk featuring his full band that foreshadows the gold he would soon mine with the Mizell Brothers on his string of hit records recorded shortly after. A true glimpse of an artist in transition, it would be difficult to find a more perfect sounding record.

313 Series Detroit has long held a shared respect with New York; a similar outlook on authenticity. Tough to describe, but you know it when you see it. Third Man Records and Blue Note Records share this respect and also a commitment to integrity regarding the musical legacies they support that extends to the collaboration happening on the 313 Series partnership. The five unique albums from the Blue Note catalog chosen for limited edition re-release by Blue Note Records President and Detroiter Don Was represent the best of the Motor City; innovative sounds, incredible playing and that inexplicable something you know is real. For an undertaking like this you have to walk the extra mile. The original tapes were sent to Third Man's Detroit mastering and pressing facility where their extensive all analog re-mastering process ensured that the albums delivered live up to the tradition they are part of. The Third Man Records team's commitment to audio purity means no corners can be cut; sound and mastering engineer Warren Defever's goal being to provide the closest possible approximation of the magic found on the original master's tape brought to your living room. From the lacquers cut in the studio on the Neumann Vms-70 Cutting Lathe to the 180 gram vinyl pressed across the hall, every step of the process is tested in the facilities against exacting standards. That's the Detroit way and the reason why the musical legacy from the 313 area code remains beloved around the world. Donald Byrd - Trumpet Ron Carter - Bass Pepper Adams - Clarinet Mickey Roker - Drums Duke Pearson - Electric Piano Hermeto Pascoal - Flute Wally Richardson - Guitar Airto Moreira - Percussion Frank Foster - Saxophone Jerry Dodgion - Saxophone Lew Tabackin - Saxophone Recorded at Van Gelder Studio - Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1970

Blue Note Records will release the first-ever official release of Donald Byrd Live: Cookin’ with Blue Note at Montreux on what would have been the legendary trumpeter’s 90th birthday: December 9, 2022. The LP of the dynamic 1973 live set is all-analog cut directly from the original analog master tapes.



In July 1973, Blue Note Records headed to Montreux, Switzerland to showcase several of the label’s stars at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Produced by Blue Note President George Butler, live albums all titled Live: Cookin’ with Blue Note at Montreux followed from vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, organist Ronnie Foster, flutist Bobbi Humphrey, and vocalist Marlena Shaw, but one of the performances by trumpeter Donald Byrd remained unreleased in the Blue Note vaults, until now.

Donald Byrd: trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals - Fonce Mizell: trumpet, vocals - Allan Barnes: tenor saxophone, flute - Nathan Davis: tenor & soprano saxophone - Kevin Toney: electric piano - Larry Mizell: synthesizers - Barney Perry: electric guitar - Henry Franklin: electric bass - Keith Killgo: drums, vocals - Ray Armando: congas, percussion



Original recordings produced by George Butler

Recorded live by Chris Penycote at Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux, Switzerland, July 5, 1973

Mixed by Qmillion at EastWest Studios Los Angeles, CA


1-lp, 180g, unprinted polylined paper inner sleeve.

“Byrd in Flight”, Donald Byrd’s 1960 album, showcases his exploration of hard bop and soul jazz. With a stellar lineup featuring Hank Mobley and Duke Pearson, Byrd innovatively blends intricate compositions with improvisation. This release captures Byrd’s growth, employing complex arrangements that push the boundariesof hard bop. The album’s fusion of soulful elements with traditional jazz solidifies its significance in Byrd’s evolution as a bandleader and composer. SIDE A1. Ghana2. Little Boy Blue3. Gate CitySIDE B1. Lex2. “Bo“3. My Girl Shirl

Copy close to VG+

»They’d been living in Europe for months. They’d appeared in Cannes and at Knokke (…) yet the only thing missing was the consecration that a great concert in Paris would bring. They won that last battle with astounding brio, in front of an audience of connoisseurs. There were many there who thought modern jazz had never been so well-served in Paris.« (Jazz Magazine). Hard bop had arrived! Hallelujah! On its first French appearance, in July ‘58 at the Cannes Festival – the first and only Cannes jazz festival – the Donald Byrd Quintet had brought the house down. Yet four of its five members were relatively unknown in France … The French knew that the leader had replaced Kenny Dorham in the Jazz Messengers, that Doug Watkins was the Messengers’ bassist, and that pianist Walter Davis Jr. was still only 18 when he’d played with Charlie Parker. As for Art Taylor, even if his name meant something to fans, it was still difficult for people to have a more precise idea of his musical qualities. Only Bobby Jaspar was well-known to Paris audiences, and the tour marked the return of the prodigal son, the musician who’d decided, after setting the Club St. Germain on fire, to try his luck in the States early in 1956 – J.J. Johnson had hired him, and then Miles Davis (for a short spell) before Donald Byrd brought him into the group he was taking to Europe. This new tour would climax at the Olympia theatre during one of the “Jazz Wednesdays” that were organised there, ever since the "Jazz At Carnegie Hall” tour – Zoot Sims, JJ. Johnson, Lee Konitz, Phineas Newborn – had inaugurated the series a little earlier. Byrd and his band took pains not to disappoint a Paris audience they knew to be particularly fickle, and they astutely varied the public’s pleasures throughout the evening. The complicity that united the rhythm section – Walter Davis Jr., Doug Watkins and Art Taylor – was much in evidence on Ray’s Idea; mistrusting the traps of the spectacular at all costs, Donald Byrd, producing brilliant inventions on the trumpet, took the lion’s share of the honours on a theme that was then much in fashion, "Dear Old Stockholm", adapted from a Swedish traditional song; on "Flute Blues", Bobby Jaspar proved he was still a specialist on that instrument, and Paul’s Pal showed that, on tenor, the playing of Sonny Rollins hadn’t gone unnoticed. It must be said that it didn’t have much effect on the discreet lyricism underlying the choruses he played during his “St. Germain” period. The Olympia spectators weren’t sparing in their applause for the five musicians. How else could they have reacted, faced with the fire the band showed during a tune like "The Blues Walk"? It wouldn’t take much for us to applaud, too, even if it is fifty-five years later…

This 1956 Donald Byrd's quartet session, subsequently released in 1957 on Transition Records, sees the young trumpeter leading a Beacon Hill based rhythm section featuring bassist Doug Watkins, pianist Ray Santisi, and drummer Jim Zitano. The perfect line up for getting through a selection of classic standards such as "Stella by Starlight," "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," and "What's New". The atmosphere is easy and relaxed, and far from the hard bop / soul mood that later became Byrd's signature. This is a higly sensitive quartet that swings lightly and without unnecessary overplaying but with just the right hint of blues to make the music highly intriguing.

Record is close VG+. Top edge has seam split.

Vinyl LP pressing. Recorded in 1956 for producer Tom Wilson's short-lived Boston-based label Transition Records, Byrd Blows On Beacon Hill presented trumpeter Donald Byrd in a relaxed and intimate quartet setting with his frequent collaborator Doug Watkins on bass along with Boston area musicians Ray Santisi on piano and Jim Zitano on drums. The standards heavy set was captured on a rainy Spring afternoon in the Beacon Hill home of engineer Steve Fassett which provided a casual atmosphere that gave the album both it's title and it's easy-going charm. Byrd is at his lyrical best on Joe Sullivan's tune "Little Rock Getaway" as well versions of "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," "If I Love Again," and "Stella by Starlight." The trumpeter lays out to let the trio shine on "People Will Say We're in Love" and "What's New."

Recorded in 1955 for Tom Wilson’s Transition label, "Byrd’s Eye View" was Donald Byrd’s first issued album as a leader featuring the trumpeter at the helm of the line-up of The Jazz Messengers with Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, Doug Watkins, and Art Blakey plus trumpeter Joe Gordon on several tracks. "Byrd’s Eye View" is the first of three reissues from the Transition catalogue that will be released as part of the Tone Poet series in 2023, presented in a single sleeve with a booklet.



BLUE NOTE TONE POET EDITION: Mono, produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analogue master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, and packaged in a deluxe tip-on jacket. With Booklet.