FunkFreak75 Donald's first album giving the reigns of both production and composition to NASA aerospace engineer Larry Mizell. (Larry has writing credit on all seven of the album's songs. Donald has none.) Larry and his 11-month-younger brother, Fonce, were both D.C. born graduates of Howard University: Larry in engineering, Fonce in music. The brothers had only moved out to California early in 1972, with the aim of starting their own record production company (Sky High Productions). Black Byrd was recorded on April 3rd and 4th at The Sound Factory in Hollywood, California though one other date was required (Nov. 24) before the album could be mastered (perhaps for the re-recording or overdubs to he album's title song: to give it that "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" sound and feel). It was released by the Blue Note label in February of 1973.

A1. "Flight Time" (8:30) a remnant from the previous album's recording sessions?--or perhaps something generated by the momentum established by those sessions. The music is more sedate, engineered more for the exposition of singular musicians, one at a time, at the front, with the rest of the band serving more in support roles, not garnering much attention. Even the solos from the lead instruments (trumpet and flute) are more linear and focused, less conversant, than the music on the rest of the album (and on successive albums)--until, that is, the fifth minute when everybody seems to have been given the green light to go, explore, show off (at least for a minute). It's nice but it also helps me to be appreciative of the busy and nuanced weaves of the band's future songs. The busy free for all has some of the same joi de vivre of Hugh Masakela's "Grazin' in the Grass." (17.5/20)

A2. "Black Byrd" (8:00) ominous funk from bass and synth with percussion and Fender Rhodes accents open this one before flutes and wah-wah-ed "Shaft"-like rhythm guitar joins in. Small male choir joins in near the beginning of the second minute talking about "walking along playing our song" while a muted horn and horn-like rhythm guitar squawk and converse between and behind the vocal passages. Truly revolutionary (as far as my experience goes--though there are reminisces here of the instrumental music rendered by The Temptations for their version of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone"--which was released in September! (13.75/15)

A3. "Love's So Far Away" (6:00) high quality, smooth-yet-rollicking and grooving funk-jazz with an awesome bass line (and style) that will be emulated by Les Nemes on one of my all-time favorite albums, HAIRCUT 100's Pelican West. (9.125/10)

B1. "Mr. Thomas" (5:15) nice full, complex, but not-too-busy, example of melodic jazz-funk. (8.875/10)

B2. "Sky High" (5:59) a song titled after Larry & Fonce's new music production company! Smooth melody lines over straightforward jazz-pop with some pretty adventurous bass walking from Chuck Rainey. This is definitely upbeat and happy music--and everybody contributing seems on board with this. Male choir enters in the second half with its background delivery of the usual hokey lyrics. Besides Chuck's awesome bass play, there are great performances here from all of the trumpeters and flutists as well as the rhythm guitarist, drummer, and keyboard players. (8.875/10)

B3. "Slop Jar Blues" (6:00) a nice, easy-going, Cosby Kids-like groove over which the winds and lead trumpeter and flutist have a great dialogue. I wonder if the solo voce "Slop Jar" lead vocalist is Donald, Fonce, or Freddie Perren. Another great engineered and mixed weave of instruments with Chuck Rainey's bass, the lead flute and trumpet, and the percussionists getting especially prominent treatment. (8.75/10)

B4. "Where Are We Going?" (4:40) the two-chord piano opening that proves to be the foundation for the rest of the song inspires (and supports) another great bass performance from Chuck Rainey while flutes, trumpets, and pianos play around within the mix. At 1:37 another singular male vocal performance starts that makes me wonder who it is. Motown-style b vox soon follow. Curiously, that's when Donald's trumpet really starts to fly around: in and between the vocals and recitations of the main melody from the flutes. There is a Classics IV/Atlanta Rhythm Section "Stormy" feel to the chords and melodies of the foundational progression. All in all it's a nice Smooth jazzed-up Soul/R&B song, despite its obvious references to other Motown classics (including Marvin Gaye's What's Going On?) (9.125/10)

Total Time: 43:17

By far the most melodic and pop-oriented music and album that Donald Byrd had released up to this time, I find it odd that an album so overwhelmingly dominated by one man and his production company's hired guns gets credited to the non-composing band leader instead of the principal generator of the finished product but such was the way of the music industry back in 1972/3. The shifts in both style and sound quality from Donald's previous release are so pronounced that one almost wants to ask if this is perhaps a different artist altogether--especially with respect to the list of musicians contributing to this album as compared to those on Ethiopian Knights: Wilton Felder, Joe Sample, and David T. Walker are present on Black Byrd, but, to what capacity as there are a whole host of other musicians present here filling in the same roles that the Jazz Crusaders were filling?

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of wonderfully-rendered blend of Smooth Jazz and Funk-Jazz.

FunkFreak75 I love it when a well-established, experienced and respected musician continues to grow and be open to new trends and ideas. Here Donald Byrd makes his second foray into the new world of electric and rock-infused Jazz Fusion, presenting some pretty great early examples of funk-drenched J-R Fuse.

A1. "The Emperor" (15:40) Funk! listen to that inventive Fender Rhodes play, that groovin' uptempo electric bass, that sexy, adventurous trumpet, the fun the blues-guitarists are having playing creative rhythm guitar, the wonderful unity of the total rhythm section. (28/30)

A2. "Jamie" (4:00) a little organ and acoustic guitar Latin thing that is closer to blues or Latin pop than fusion and or funk; it feels like a cover of a pop song (one that I do not know but which sounds very familiar). The prominence of the guitars makes me appreciate their talents more. (8.75/10)

B1. "The Little Rasti" (17:44) after a long 80-second drum intro, the funk is back, maybe even heavier and stinkier--definitely more hypnotic--than on the opener! Nice long solos given to a wah-wah guitarist, saxophonist Harold Land, and organist Joe Sample before Donald gets his turn (in the 11th minute). After. the fourteenth minute electric piano and trombone are given some shine, kind of together, before the other?) electric guitarist is given a turn and then Donald finishes things off with a now-heavily-echoed trumpet. If there's a flaw to the song it's that the main groove, as great as it is, goes on unbroken and with very little variation or enhancement for 15 minutes, a bit too long even with interesting solos going on over the top. (It is under conditions such as these that I think of the genius expressed by albums by Herbie Hancock, Eddie Henderson, and Julian Priester over the next couple of years where the musicians are each allowed to be inventive, even improvisational, all at virtually the same time instead of waiting for their assigned turn, which was the more standard jazz tradition.) (31.25/35)

Total Time: 37:09

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of early, experimental jazz-rock fusion.

FunkFreak75 And the ever-evolving trumpeter/bandleader keeps on going, here letting the Mizell brothers and elaborate rhythm section have the green light to embellish and improvise throughout the course of the songs wherever and whenever they feel so inspired. The result is an overwhelming success. Recorded in LA at the Sound Factory over three June days in 1973 (the 13th through 15th), the album was then released by Blue Note in July.

A1. "Lansana's Priestess" (7:42) the jewel of the album starts out with a bit of a Motown feel and instrumental palette before trumpets and flute begin expressing the main melodies over the top (parts of which are very close to that which becomes "Walking in Rhythm"). Very nice broad spectrum of instruments each doing their own thing in a very loosely-coordinated groove gives this a more free and easy--and happy--energy. The spirit conveyed in Jerry Peters' dynamic piano play is particularly infectious as is that of drummer Harvey Mason. (14/15)

A2. "Miss Kane" (7:35) another rich tapestry of instruments with a very catchy riff straight of the bat to suck us in and keep us engaged as the keep it going for the first three minutes. Once Donald takes the lead, the rest of the band starts to take inspiration from his adventurous spirit and they all seem to launch onto their own paths of adventurous "reconmaissance" with unbound enthusiasm--but then they all come back together in the fifth minute with some cool choir vocal "ooo"s slowly arpeggiating a single chord, thereby re-anchoring the main foundation to the ground so that the "recon" team can rush off to their own adventurous paths with the same reckless abandon as before. Brilliant! Definitely my favorite song on the album. (14.75/15)

A3. "Sister Love" (6:46) a slightly-free and loose samba-like Smooth Jazz tune that could very well have fit on one of Bob James' records from the same period. Donald's and Fonce Mizell's trumpets and Roger Glenn's flute seem to each go off in their own worlds but are magically held to task by the wonderfully grounding play of the expanded rhythm section. The choir appears here and there to gently, almost surreptitiously, breath the title into the mix. Again: great play and very engaging music from the rhythmatists while the two trumpets and flute entertain us from the top. (13.5/15)

B1. "Street Lady" (5:39) interesting three-chord piano vamp with percussion and funky bass support over which the male choir sings a funky-R&B chant. Roger takes the first solo with his flute, then Donald. The drums, rhythm guitars, and bass (and clavinet) are definitely at their most dynamic: very engaged and enthusiastic! Jerry Peters piano solo is so charged that you'd almost think you were listening to Jerry Lee Lewis or Don Pullen going off on one of their iconically acrobatic solos. (9/10) B2. "Witch Hunt" (9:43) an open-ended four-note riff creates an unfinished tension that keeps the listener hooked in because we're waiting for resolution to the tension. The "choruses" represent satisfactory, albeit temporary, solutions but then the music always returns to that unresolved riff for the longer verses. It has a very "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" feel to it. The instrumental palette, however, is rather fuller yet still quite cinematic with its constant vibraphone play, hypnotic congas, dangerous wah-wah guitars, and reckless piano play. Effective, powerful, and always interesting (and, therefore, entertaining) if a little long/drawn out. I'm not sure that the choir-delivered lyrics first appearing in the ninth minute are/were really necessary but, there it is. (17.5/20)

B3. "Woman Of The World" (6:55) a very pleasant and enjoyable song with Donald's standard male choir vocals here expanded further than I've yet heard: with long-running and fairly full and evolving lyrics, start to finish. (13.375/15)

Total Time: 42:25

An album of richly develop instrumental weaves that are built over and around some genuinely engaging hooks. Where I see the greatest growth in Donald (and the Mizell brothers)'s music from their earlier forays into the exciting "new" world of electrified jazz and jazz-rock fusion is in the freedom given and confidence exhibited from each and every one of the musicians: they are creating wonderfully adventurous sound and melodies, each, throughout the course of most of these songs. The music here sounds and feels like that of the cinematic musics found on the popular soundtracks of concurrent "Black Exploitation" films, as if intended to accompany montage scenes capturing the activities and stylings of African-American urban sceneries. Whereas Street Lady's predecessor contained the renderings of a collection of 100% Larry Mizell compositions, this one only has two.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of engaging, entertaining, and highly-adventurous Jazz-Rock Fusion.

FunkFreak75 Recorded at The Sound Factory in August and September of 1975 and then released by Blue Note in November.

A1. "Change (Makes You Want To Hustle)" (5:07) a not-unusual for the times party opener turns BOB JAMES-like driving pre-disco funk-lite. Think "Fly Robin Fly" or Burt Bacharach's funky music from the film soundtrack for Arthur. (8.875/10)

A2. "Wind Parade" (4:32) earworm music with a pretty lame lyric. But damn! It just won't leave the brain! I hate that this is the most memorable and my favorite song from this album! (9.25/10)

A3. "Dominoes" (4:32) bass chords and more J-R Fusion than smooth jazz or funk. Interesting! A top three song for me. (9/10)

B1. "Places And Spaces" (6:16) a little too repetitive but some awesome creative nuance-creation from several of the instrumentalists (percussion, Chuck Rainey's bass, Donald's flugelhorn, Skip Scarborough's electric piano) (9/10)

B2. "You And Music" (5:18) Smooth Jazz melody making, groovin' bass 'n' drum, over-the-top strings (that are actually pretty cool) thanks to arranger/conductor Wade Marcus, and a nice secondary motif of male-female joint and back-and-forth vocals. (9/10)

B3. "Night Whistler" (3:40) slay me with that rhythm guitar work! Some of those whistles sound like a distant woman screaming in distress! Otherwise, a pretty cool, chill song, with lots of layers of active musicians despite such a chill base. Hard to believe that all those "whistle" sounds are coming from one person (James Carter). (8.875/10)

B4. "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" (4:36) a cover of the famous Temptations song of a decade earlier using choir vocals, the same weird whistles, piano, and Donald's flugelhorn over the classic Motown rhythm section. Even a little Disco drumming and "Shaft"/"Love Theme" rhythm guitar injected into the third minute. Nicely done! Interesting enough to qualify as one of my top three. (9/10)

Total Time: 35:51

B+/A-/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of Jazz-Rock Fusion that should probably be counted as a minor masterpiece of the burgeoning Smooth Jazz domain.

liontime This record is a lot of fun; it's extremely listenable for the first few plays and its undeniably catchy at many times. However, after the first few euphoric listens, the shimmer wears away and the record starts to fall flat. Lansana's Priestess is the star track undoubtedly and is ultimately the only essential song on the album.

Street Lady is pretty easily described as jazz disco and Lansana's Priestess is a great example of the two opposed genres melding together into something fresh and exciting. The guitar is funky and crisp, the flute and synthesizer are pastoral and Donald Byrd does a fair bit of improvisation. However, the record as a whole is a bit mind numbing and an unfortunate harbinger of bloodless over produced jazz pop of the later 70's. Don't mistake this for harsh criticism, it is meant only to be honest. As a background or party album, it's tremendous. But it's not an album that warrants repeated intensive listening.

Play this album for your friends or while working out. It's got a lot of pep and won't drag anyone's mood down.