Donald Byrd – A New Perspective (1963/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 40:50 minutes | 1,67 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Blue Note Records
Originally released as Blue Note BLP 4124 (mono) and BST 84124 (stereo)
“In preparing these hi def remasters, we were very conscientious about maintaining the feel of the original releases while adding a previously unattainable transparency and depth. It now sounds like you’ve set up your chaise lounge right in the middle of Rudy Van Gelder’s studio!” – Blue Note President, Don Was.
A New Perspective is considered to be one of the best and most successful uses of a gospel choir in a jazz context. Along with a chorus, Byrd was backed by a potent lineup of Blue Note allstars. Byrd himself said about the album, “I mean this album seriously. Because of my own background, I’ve always wanted to write an entire album of spiritual-like pieces. The most accurate way I can describe what we were all trying to do is that this is a modern hymnal. In an earlier period, the New Orleans jazzmen would often play religious music for exactly what it was – but with their own jazz textures and techniques added. Now, as modern jazzmen, we’re also approaching this tradition with respect and great pleasure.”
This unusual set (reissued on CD by Blue Note) was one of the most successful uses of a gospel choir in a jazz context. Trumpeter Donald Byrd and a septet that also includes tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, guitarist Kenny Burrell, and pianist Herbie Hancock are joined by an eight-voice choir directed by Coleridge Perkinson. The arrangements by Duke Pearson are masterful and one song, “Cristo Redentor,” became a bit of a hit. This is a memorable effort that is innovative in its own way, a milestone in Donald Byrd’s career. —Scott Yanow
With his flair for innovation, Donald Byrd, in late 1963, put together a septet that was recorded with the Coleridge Perkinson Choir providing a capella Gospel support. Duke Pearson provided arrangements which carefully weave eight wordless voices in and out of the septet’s blues-derived compositions. Byrd’s father was a Methodist minister, so the trumpeter worked with Pearson at, as Byrd states in the liner notes, “approaching this tradition with respect and great pleasure.” The recording, which was reissued on CD in 1988, is one of the first to be acknowledged in this manner.
Besides Byrd and a 23-year-old Herbie Hancock, this session includes saxophonist Hank Mobley, vibraphonist Donald Best, guitarist Kenny Burrell, bassist Butch Warren and drummer Lex Humphries. Frequently making use of a trumpet, tenor sax and vibes unison doubling, “Elijah” is an up-tempo number that features, among other things, some interesting and exciting piano work from Hancock. The slow, bluesy “Beast Of Burden” uses an interesting piano fill for the deliberate and soulful wordless vocals; alternately, the voices and vibes fill behind Byrd’s trumpet solo in like manner. “The Black Disciple” features both Burrell and Hancock stretching out with stellar performances, and Mobley’s tenor solo offers a fine example of his full tone and fluid technique. Pearson’s compositions “Chant” and “Cristo Redentor” are perhaps the best remembered of the session, featuring Byrd’s bold, clear, and deliberate trumpet melodies with the voices and piano adding a touch that showed the jazz world one more possibility among the many in improvised music. —Jim Santella
Tracklist:
01. Donald Byrd – Elijah (09:20)
02. Donald Byrd – Beast Of Burden (10:05)
03. Donald Byrd – Cristo Redentor (05:41)
04. Donald Byrd – Black Disciple (08:11)
05. Donald Byrd – Chant (07:31)
