Donald Byrd - Live: Cookin' with Blue Note at Montreux (2022)

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.

That summer, Byrd was fresh off the release of his hit crossover fusion album Black Byrd, the first of his innovative and incredibly successful studio collaborations with producer Larry Mizell. But in a live setting the band had a rawer, harder edge, as this searing set attests. Byrd led a 10-piece band that included Larry Mizell on synthesizers, Fonce Mizell on trumpet and vocals, Allan Barnes on tenor saxophone and flute, Nathan Davis on soprano and tenor saxophone, Kevin Toney on electric piano, Barney Perry on electric guitar, Henry Franklin on electric bass, Keith Killgo on drums, and Ray Armando on congas and percussion. The set list includes Larry Mizell’s tune “Black Byrd” along with otherwise unrecorded Byrd originals like “The East,” “Kwame,” and “Poco-Mania,” as well as an excellent cover of Stevie Wonder’s “You’ve Got It Bad Girl.”

Larry Mizell: “My brother Fonce and I were invited by Blue Note Records (President George Butler & Donald Byrd) to travel with the Blue Note artist roster to attend and perform at the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival. At the time, Donald Byrd’s ‘Black Byrd’ album was a big success for Blue Note, along with Bobbi Humphrey’s ‘Blacks and Blues.’ The American Airlines plane was playing various cuts from ‘Black Byrd’ as part of the cabin music. The plane ride over was fun, energetic, and wild. The stewardesses were pleading for the passengers to go back to their seats as the aisle was packed with non-stop exuberance.”

Don Was, President, Blue Note Records: “Shortly after Mr. Byrd’s passing in 2013, we got an email from the noted British music icon, Gilles Peterson, inquiring about a legendary performance from 1973’s Montreux Jazz Festival. Inexplicably, the tapes had been tucked away in the Blue Note vaults. When we listened, we were knocked out: the 16-track, 2” analog master tapes revealed a more raw and gritty side of Donald Byrd’s 70’s music. As a special tribute to this Jazz Immortal and as a gift to the legions of aficionados who, like all of us at Blue Note Records, treasure the music he’s left behind, we are honored to present – on vinyl and CD for the first time – Donald Byrd, Live at Montreux from July 5, 1973.”

The choice to re-invent your art can make for daunting leaps. In the early '70s trumpeter Donald Byrd teamed with producers Larry and Fonce Mizell and fully embraced R&B funk fusion, a decision met with the same derisive howls from jazz fans that Miles Davis endured a few years earlier when he, too, went electric and funky. Fifty years later, it's obvious that Byrd's jazz cred was not wasted on this search for a wider audience; this period is far more influential as a vital part of hip-hop than anything from his years as bopper. Byrd, whose 1973 album Black Byrd was Blue Note's best-seller for a time, joined other funky labelmates like vibes player Bobby Hutcherson, organist Ronnie Foster and flautist Bobbi Humphrey to showcase at the Montreaux Jazz Festival later that year. Of all the sets recorded for live albums, only Byrd's remained unreleased until now. Well-played and crackling with energy, it's a wonderful testament to Byrd's enthusiasm for the fresh direction captured just as he and his band, including brothers Larry and Fonce Mizell, found their chops as a groove outfit. (Four other members of his backing band—saxophonist Allan Barnes, drummer Keith Killgo, guitarist Barney Perry and electric pianist Kevin Toney—were actually students of Byrd's at Howard University who would go on to form their own soul jazz unit, The Blackbyrds.) Fortunately the 16-track, 2" tapes, recorded by engineer Chris Penycote and mixed recently by Qmillion were in good condition, so the sound here is sharp and full-bodied, particularly for a half-century-old live recording. Driven by a resonant, low-synth pattern, the hit "Black Byrd" (which features chanted vocals by Larry Mizel) provides a steady bed of funk rhythms over which Byrd and the other horns solo. The longest track, "Kwame," which along with "The East" and "Poco-Mania" were unrecorded Byrd originals, opens with single note synthesizer wails, sleigh bells and a gong before settling into the kind of light, irresistible keyboard and brass-driven rhythm that makes Byrd's groove-oriented albums so attractive. Starting with trumpet blasts and electric guitar scratching, "Poco-Mania" is almost comically fast; its pace nearly overwhelms everyone in the band numerous times but Byrd's rapid-fire solos show his technique undiminished. A showstopper for soul jazz fans, this long buried Byrd set is exhilarating from the first note!

Tracklist
1. Black Byrd (8:11)
2. You've Got It Bad Girl (7:43)
3. The East (9:19)
4. Introductions (2:58)
5. Kwame (11:50)
6. Poco-Mania (5:22)