DONALD BYRD — Ethiopian Knights (review)

DONALD BYRD — Ethiopian Knights album cover Album · 1972 · Funk Jazz Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
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.
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