Donald Byrd was considered one of the finest
hard bop trumpeters since
Clifford Brown. With his releases on the notorious
Blue Note label, he established a reputation as a superb band leader, solist and sideman with a clear tone and a knack for melodies. In the late 60s, Byrd became fascinated with
Miles Davis and started experimenting with fusion jazz as well, while in the 70s, he played with
soul influences: An artist reinventing himself time and time again. His ’70s jazz-funk records later became heavily sampled during the jazz-rap and
acid jazz movements. Born in Detroit under the illustrious civil name Donaldson Toussaint L’Ouverture Byrd II, Byrd already played with
Lionel Hampton while still in high school, and by 1955, when he was 23, he was backing up his idol
Clifford Brown for Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. His 1972 album Black Byrd became the biggest-selling record in
Blue Note history, even though
jazz critics hated it. Besides his musical success, Byrd spent much of his life teaching, helping bring jazz into college curriculums across multiple universities.
