DONALD BYRD — Electric Byrd (review)

Album · 1970 · Fusion

4/5 · 2025-02-01
FunkFreak75

Recorded on May 15, 1970, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, we see with this album Donald's deeper dive into a commitment to both electric instrumentation with the prominent featuring of electric bass (from experienced jazz bassist Ron Carter, a man that did not stick with it for very long despite his electric bass play being very highly in demand) heavily-effected electric guitar and new special effects used on several of the other instruments in order to add a new "psychedelic" pastiche to his music. Also, Donald is here effectively using melody lines that intentionally fall out of line with the foundational keys and scales they're generally used in, giving the music a strongly disorienting, even "drugged" feeling. The album was released by Blue Note in November.

A1. "Estavanico" (11:00) for this song's first seven minutes Rudy Van Gelder convinces Donald and his crew to pull out all the stops on reality-based music: bending, distorting, panning, pitch-shifting all kinds of tracks while Donald, for his part, convinces his musicians to slip in some "off" or "sour" notes from time to time as if to prove or at least amplify the "drugged out" state being expressed in the music. The musicians who seem to be having the most trouble "fitting in" to the new style are experienced bassist Ron Carter and saxophonist Frank Foster; the rest seem to fall easily into the act of being under hallucinagenic sedation--especially the awesome flutes and percussionists. A pretty cool, bold, and successful foray into the counter culture. (17.75/20)

A2. "Essence" (10:30) late night jazz with some electrified accoutrements: walking bass, electric piano, and electric guitar. The sound effects added to the recording of the flute and cool drumming style provide some of the more interesting elements to the song. As experienced as Ron Carter was at this time, you'd think he'd have done a better job of finding his place in the groove; as it is he just feels lost and out of his element. Jerry Dodgion's heavily-effected (echoed) sax is interesting as is the berimbau and echoed trumpet and other percussives. The muted electric guitar is totally weird and irritating--even when the echo effect is applied to it. Could this have been the one and only take of a poorly rehearsed composition? (17.25/20)

B1. "Xibaba" (13:35) to me this is the album's most interesting song because of the fact that there is so much space in it--space with which to take in every sound and echo, every jingle and jangle, every electric piano chord and At the same time there is this rather heroic presence of the self-proclaiming, screaming (and echoing) trumpet. It feels as if the conquering young Spanish-Roman hero has returned, alone, to his home town, with all the excitement of fresh victory bursting to be shared, but when he reaches the normally-peopled public places he finds them empty, the city desolate, his cries echoing off of the stone walls of the empty open places, hallways and streets and edifices. The structure formed at the end of the fifth minute merely suggests the hero's more resolute walk around the streets and alleys as he fixes to his determination to find people--find his family and friends--but all he finds are ghosts and reverberations of his own echoing voice. I find this song intriguing as it heartily feeds my own imagination's tendency to visualize and storyboard the music I hear. For me, this song is more about impressions than technical prowess or sophistication. (27/30)

B2. "The Dude" (8:00) a suped up song that sounds as if it came from the overdubbing of a Motown foundational track. The R&B is strong with this one, Obi-wan. Though the "Motown" rhythm section remains tight and the soloists dancing lightly over the top sensitive, respectful, and creative, the song really doesn't do enough over the long run to make it memorable. (13/15)

Total Time: 43:48

I have to say that I respect Donald Byrd, now almost age 40, for his adventurousness. I also love the fact that engineer and recording studio owner Rudy Van Gelder was able to remain so fascinated with and invested in the latest greatest technological advancements in sound recording and engineering. The two coupled with a cast and crew who were at least able to try--to go along with their leader and producer's weird and whimsical requests (orders)--despite their own training, predilections and reservations. Many people look back upon the experiments and fumbles into the world of "psychedelics" as a laughable mistake--many with regrets--but I like it: it is all so entertaining (and nostalgic).

B/four stars; an excellent second and further sortie into the world of electronic sound manipulation--one that definitely qualifies as a pulsating representative of the First Wave of Jazz-Rock Fusion.