Thanks Karen Jones Meadows Now....Did you know Donald Byrd’s full name is Donaldson Toussaint L’Ouverture Byrd II? Destined for greatness, he was born December 9, 1932, and STARTED his career with John Coltrane. “I met him in the 11th grade in Detroit. I skipped school one day to see Dizzy Gillespie, and that’s where I met Coltrane. Coltrane and Jimmy Heath just joined the band, and I brought my trumpet, and he was sitting at the piano downstairs waiting to join Dizzy’s band. He had his saxophone across his lap, and he looked at me and he said, ‘You want to play?’ “So he played piano, and I soloed. I never thought that six years later we would be recording together, and that we would be doing all of this stuff. The point is that you never know what happens in life.” Donald Byrd also played with Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, and other greats. He was one of the creators of “hard bop” a combo of bebop, jazz, blues, and gospel; was a talent scout, instantly recognizing Herbie Hancock’s piano genius and hiring him; had a masters degree and taught music education at Howard, North Carolina Central, Rutgers, Cornell, UD, and Delaware State; and studied law. His “Black Byrd” a huge crossover hit, brought him scorn at first for selling out, however it is now known as the catalyst for jazz fusion, and jazz rock. He created the Blackbyrds with students at Howard and produced their records, including,“Walking in Rhythm” and “Rock Creek Park,” (doing it in the park, doing it after dark) which has been sampled more than 200 times by rap and hip-hop artists. The recipient of many honors, he passed away at 80 last year. Here is Mr. Byrd. https://youtube/watch?v=tBbph3Umo2A
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 21:43:21 +0000