http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_2639910.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Byrd
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Wow, just wow.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zacha341
Donald Byrd, one of the greatest trumpeters of our time. RIP. About to put on "Places and Spaces" one of my favorites of his.
"Places and Spaces" a masterful piece - simply wonderful........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c88XzPsvNNs
Great musician and a true jazz legend. Very innovative, too. Also well known for inspiring a group of his students at Howard University who formed The Blackbyrds, one of my favorite bands.
RIP Mr. Byrd.
My mother went to high school with Don Byrd, and grew up near Don's long-time friend and musical partner, the late Pepper Adams. Don, Pepper, Kenny Burrell, Louis Hayes, and others, were all from a great generation of Detroit jazz musicians who went to New York and recorded and gigged widely. That generation is now, alas, fading quickly from the scene.
Don was a very deep man, and someone who never seemed to lose his inquisitiveness and spirit to grow, change, and explore. Although he had retired as an active musician many years ago, he was still creating, and still working in music, theater, and dance up to the point where his health would no longer permit it. Even then, from people who knew him a lot better than I, I understand he was still ready to talk, tell stories, and discuss the state of the world around him.
He will be very much missed. Fortunately, he leaves an extensive recorded legacy behind.
He guested at the 2004 Baker's 70th anniversary. By then, his chops were gone, but he still loved to talk, dialogue, debate, interact. He was here a couple years before that and could still sort of play. Donald was a perpetual student, he said when his father got home from work each day, he would ask Don and his brother exactly what they had learned in school. And they had to provide detailed answers. What a creative guy, a musical genius.
I remember playing for him his first recording, done in 1948, and he was a bit embarrassed by it at first but recovered and appreciated the nascent talent.
"We shall not look upon his like again"
Fallin Like Dominoes...R.I.P.
http://youtu.be/EVT9iL8ja0E