Don Byron - A Fine Line: Arias And Lieder

Styles: Clarinet Jazz 
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:57
Size: 115,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:54)  1. Check Up
(2:52)  2. Zwielicht (Twilight)
(8:06)  3. Glitter And Be Gay
(5:06)  4. Basquiat
(2:43)  5. It's Over
(4:55)  6. Creepin'
(4:02)  7. Nessun Dorma
(3:51)  8. Soldier In The Rain
(4:52)  9. Reach Out I'll Be There
(6:16) 10. The Ladies Who Lunch
(2:15) 11. Larghetto

Don Byron continues to fascinate and puzzle jazz listeners with his refusal to be pigeonholed. Even as he completes one project, he's working on the next one, which inevitably will be a departure from all of the CDs that precede it. Yet, each of Byron's CD's enlarge not only the body of his work, but also the fullness of his musical perspective. Possessing interests in jazz, classical works, pop, klezmer, country/western, funk, theatrical repertoire, rap and Latin music, Byron's background is such that his curiosity about various forms can take any direction in future productions. While many jazz artists remain consistent and predictable, Byron naturally and without pretense investigates approaches that few other jazz musicians would attempt. Plus, Byron's dedication to the revival of the jazz clarinet remains admirable, extending the tradition through an original aesthetic, or perhaps a through an imaginative synthesis, that positions a clarinetist as the creative leader of advances in music, and indeed African-American culture.Thus, no one except perhaps Byron' producer Hans Wendl knows where Byron will go next. This unpredictability leads to one inevitability: that Byron'CD's always will present a thematic concept, complete with detailed musical proof of his hypotheses. Byron recorded the music of Mickey Katz not because it would become the flavor of the month, but because he believes in the excellence of the klezmer music that had been overlooked. He brought together modern poetry and rap on Nu Blaxploitation because it asserts a statement about African-American culture that mainstream culture didn't hear as did Tuskegee Experiments. Music For Six Musicians threw out the common view of Afro-Caribbean music as consisting of a regular beat more akin to jazz and introduced the more authentic clavé that Byron heard in his Bronx boyhood neighborhood and in Boston where he played in Latin bands while attending Berklee. Romance With The Unseen assumed an intellectual basis for the notion of "romance" and associated with it anger, longing and unity. So where is Don Byron going with A Fine Line: Arias & Lieder?  Byron'contention this time is that, even though modern music has advanced to the point of non-singability, African-influenced musical concepts have tethered songs to the tradition of the more classical arias of opera and lieder of composers like Schumann. 

Once again, Byron has recorded a thematic album that posits an idea and then makes his point through example. The listener, then, may be taken aback by the proximity of Bernstein's operatic aria of "Glitter And Be Gay" two tracks away from Roy Orbison's "It's Over." In fact, Byron'choice of singers (who have collaborated in the past with pianist Uri Caine as well) is apt. Patricia O'Callaghan seems to be a student not of genre, but of voice, as she exhibits chameleonic versatility by sounding like two distinctively different singers on her extroverted rendition of "Glitter And Be Gay" and then her soft and subtle performance of Stevie Wonder's "Creepin." Singer Mark Ledford proves to be just as versatile, wordlessly singing the melodic lines of Ornette Coleman's "Check Up" in unison with Byron and then lowering his voice an octave in a range closer to Byron's bass clarinet on "It's Over."The one track involving Cassandra Wilson, Stephen Sondheim's "The Ladies Who Lunch," is notable for the fact that it leads the listener to realize the natural next step in her career: the Broadway theater. She is unexpectedly effective in presenting the story-telling nature of the tune, complete with narrative, rhetorical questions, humor and anecdotal descriptions. So where does all of this leave Byron, the intellectual center of the album? Giving Henry Mancini due respect for his unparalleled talent for tunesmithing, Byron is reduced to playing above the background singers on "Soldier In The Rain" after introducing the melody. And how do you work a clarinet into the overwrought tune, "It's Over"? Rather than taking center stage in the vocal numbers, Byron alternates the sung "arias und lieder" with compare-and-contrast clarineting of classical compositions like Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" or Chopin's "Larghetto." Byron has composed one minor-keyed étude, "Basquiat," that he performs in duo with Caine. As usual, Don Byron is uncompromising, thought-provoking and controversial on A Fine Line: Arias & Lieder. Some listeners, especially those who have followed Caine's just-as-challenging work, will endorse it. Some, with demands for consistency and most easily digestible musical consumption, will argue against it. But once again, no one will be neutral about Don Byron's music. ~ AAJ Staff https://www.allaboutjazz.com/a-fine-line-arias-and-lieder-don-byron-blue-note-records-review-by-aaj-staff.php

Personnel: Don Byron: clarinet, bass clarinet; Uri Caine: piano; Jerome Harris: bass guitar, acoustic guitar; Paulo Braga: drums, percussion; Mark Ledford, Patricia O'Callaghan, Dean Bowman, Cassandra Wilson: vocals.

A Fine Line: Arias And Lieder

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Don Byron - Do The Boomerang: The Music Of Junior Walker

Styles: Clarinet Jazz, Post Bop 
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:24
Size: 118,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:08)  1. Cleo's Mood
(4:39)  2. Ain't That The Truth
(3:09)  3. Do The Boomerang
(3:20)  4. Mark Anthony Speaks
(4:53)  5. Shotgun
(7:21)  6. There It Is
(5:21)  7. Satan's Blues
(2:48)  8. Hewbie Steps Out
(3:55)  9. Pucker Up, Buttercup
(3:59) 10. Tally-Ho
(3:51) 11. What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)
(2:55) 12. (I'm A) Roadrunner

Anybody interested in Don Byron gets his range, and his willingness to try almost anything that tickles his fancy, whether it be klezmer, swing, funk, out jazz, blues or funky soul. He explores and leaves his mark on something and moves on. From Music for Six Musicians and Tuskegee Experiments to Nu Blaxploitation and Bug Music, from Fine Line: Arias and Lieder and Plays the Music of Mickey Katz to Ivey-Divey, Byron has explored not usually reverently -- his inspirations and curiosities with mixed results, but it's the investigation that counts for him in the first place. Do the Boomerang: The Music of Junior Walker is a curious outing in that Walker didn't always write his own material, but he wrote enough of it (five cuts on this set) and, like Byron, put an indelible stamp on anything he took on, from singing to blowing the saxophone. Byron assembled a dream band for this offering that includes guitarist David Gilmore, B-3 organist George Colligan, drummer Rodney Jones and bassist Brad Jones as the core group. The guests who augment the proceedings are Curtis Fowlkes, Chris Thomas King and Dean Bowman. Is the music reverent? Nope; but it's totally recognizable as Walker's. Byron doesn't set out to re-create anything exactly. His concern is for that thing he can't put his finger on, and discovering the place where the magic happens. But this is no academic set of Walker tunes, it's funky, it swings, and the grooves are deep and wide. Walker was a killer vocalist and Byron enlisted bluesman King on four cuts (he plays guitar on a pair as well) and Bowman. 

The set begins on a late-night smoky groove with "Cleo's Mood," the B-3 carries it in with Gilmore's guitar playing in the gaps before the tune's melody slithers to the fore with Byron and Bowman, and from here it's the blues as read through post-bop, soul-jazz, and the ghost of Leon Thomas through Bowman's vocal solo that sounds right at home here. Byron is in the pocket with this band. They aren't reaching for margins, but exploring how much was in Walker's music to begin with, there are traces of many things in the tune, and Byron finds them all. Digging into the classic "Shotgun," King's vocal delivery on the title track struts and steps to Byron's clarinet floating in the boundaries as Colligan's B-3 and Gilmore's meaty guitar heighten the groove to the breaking point. On "Shotgun," Byron plays it close to home and King's vocal is brilliant. This, like the title cut, is a dance tune on par with James Brown's; the lyrics are particularly compelling for the times we live in. Walker acknowledged the influence James Brown had on him readily and on "There It Is," both Bowman and King pump themselves to front this band that is so greasy and nasty one would never know that this is Byron's group. This joint burns the house down, baby! While there isn't a dud in the set, other big standouts include "Satan's Blues," "Pucker Up, Buttercup," and the ballad "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love.)" 

Here the bass clarinet is distracting for a moment, but transposing the opening saxophone part and letting King and Gilmore play sweet and slow lays a fine ground for both the hypnotic B-3 chart and King's lonesome vocal. Byron uses clipped, right phrasing with the airiness of his horn, solos around the fringes of the tune, and brings it back inside and underscores the fact that this is a soul tune. King's vocal could have been a bit tougher and leaner, but that's a really small complaint. Ending the set on Holland-Dozier-Holland's "Roadrunner" takes it out on a honking high point. Byron's done justice not only to Walker here, but to his Muse and to the grand tradition of funky jazz records on Blue Note hopefully they'll get it in the A&R department and bring the groove back wholesale. This baby is a smoking slab of greasy soul with a jazzman's sense of adventure. ~ Thom Jurek https://www.allmusic.com/album/do-the-boomerang-the-music-of-junior-walker-mw0000729295

Personnel: Bass Clarinet – Don Byron; Clarinet – Don Byron;  Bass – Brad Jones; Drums, Tambourine – Rodney Holmes; Guitar – Chris Thomas King, David Gilmore; Organ [Hammond B-3] – George Colligan; Saxophone [Tenor] – Don Byron;  Trombone – Curtis Fowlkes; Vocals – Chris Thomas King , Dean Bowman

Do The Boomerang: The Music Of Junior Walker

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Wallace Roney - Prototype

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:43
Size: 123,2 MB
Art: Front

( 7:48)  1. Cyberspace
(10:37)  2. Shadow Dance
( 6:13)  3. Prontotype
( 4:49)  4. Then and Now
( 4:59)  5. Let's Stay Together
( 6:19)  6. Quadrant 329-4-526
( 5:19)  7. Three Views of the Blues
( 7:36)  8. Secret Identity

On Prototype , his first album in four years, trumpeter Wallace Roney continues to develop ideas begun on Village ('97) and No Room For Argument ('00). That is to say, as the liner notes describe, "Miles' playing and his album Nefertiti as one link; Weather Report as the compositional link; Mwandishi (pianist Herbie Hancock groundbreaking early '70s fusion band) as the conceptual link, with John Coltrane as the spiritual link." Roney's links to Miles Davis have been written about and, perhaps, overexaggerated. There is no doubt that Roney's playing and concept of openness stems from Miles and a time in the late '80s when Roney was hanging with the Prince of Darkness. But whereas Miles changed direction countless times during his career, Roney has chosen a starting point for his music that of the transitional Miles period of Nefertiti through Filles de Kilimanjaro and steadfastly evolved the idea, incorporating contemporary technologies and rhythms, painting a picture of where Miles might have gone had he been more evolutionary than revolutionary. Take "Then and Now," with its "I Got Rhythm" changes. It may start out as the most mainstream-sounding piece on the record, but only for about thirty seconds as it quickly breaks down into a freer piece, with wife Geri Allen peppering the song with abstract harmonies while bassist Matt Garrison and drummer Eric Allen play loose and elastic with the time. But while the track unquestionably fits within the context of the album as a whole, it is something of an anomaly. 

"Cyberspace" opens the album with a dark and deep funk groove, Roney and brother Antoine on saxophone stating the attractive yet edgy theme while keyboardist Adam Holzman, who spent time in Miles' late '80s bands, colors the piece with sharp chords and subtle washes. Similarly, "Shadow Dance" finds an expanded horn section building the extended theme over a 3/4 ostinato before heading into more exploratory territory, with guest Don Byron delivering a particularly pungent solo. The title track is a tender ballad, but even though it is one of only two completely acoustic tracks ("Then and Now" being the other), it brings a sense of freedom to the more closely-adhered changes that lends it a consistency with the rest of the record. It is, in fact, this sense of freedom that pervades the whole record, giving it a sense of urgency. That's not to say this is exactly free jazz; rather it is more open-ended jazz where a firm sense of rhythm exists throughout, but with harmonic and thematic liberation the group is less concerned with hanging on specific changes and, instead, uses harmonic devices as a jumping off point, much as early Weather Report did. Prototype continues to evolve Roney's conception of jazz, one that successfully combines inarguable roots with a more contemporary view, incorporating a diversity of influences into a blend where the fundamental notion is that of freedom, but, like Miles before him, with a clearly-defined rhythmic and harmonic basis. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/prototype-wallace-roney-highnote-records-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Wallace Roney: trumpet; Antoine Roney: saxophones; Geri Allen: piano; Adam Holzman: keyboards; Matthew Garrison: basses; Eric Allen: drums; Clifton Anderson: trombone; Don Byron: clarinet; DJ Logic.

Prototype

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Don Byron - Music for Six Musicians

Styles: Clarinet Jazz
Year: 1995
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:16
Size: 143,1 MB
Art: Front

( 1:45)  1. 'Uh-Oh, Chango!' / White History Month
( 5:47)  2. Shelby Steele would be mowing your lawn.
(10:00)  3. (The press made) Rodney King (responsible for the LA riots)
( 5:32)  4. 'I'll chill on the Marley tapes...'
( 6:53)  5. SEX/WORK (Clarence/Anita)
( 2:30)  6. La Estrellita
( 9:49)  7. '...that sucking sound...' (for Ross Perot)
( 4:38)  8. Crown Heights
( 4:31)  9. The Allure of Entanglement
( 8:46) 10. The Importance of being SHARPTON

Like its 2001 sequel, this 1995 outing delves heavily into Latin rhythms and boasts ambitious, well-wrought compositions, not to mention extraordinary playing  particularly from the unsung pianist Edsel Gomez and Byron himself, on both bass and B flat clarinets. The sextet also features Graham Haynes on cornet, Kenny Davis on electric bass, Jerry Gonzalez on congas, and Ben Wittman on drums. Four special guests appear (guitarist Bill Frisell, bassists Lonnie Plaxico and Andy Gonzalez, drummer Ralph Peterson), although the where-and-when particulars aren't spelled out on the disc packaging. Byron is clearly preoccupied with race politics here; most of his titles mention headline grabbers of the 1990s, from Shelby Steele, Clarence Thomas, and Ross Perot to Rodney King and Al Sharpton. The poet Sadiq begins the album with a reading of his tendentious "White History Month," which Byron sets against a winding clarinet chorale, "'Uh-Oh, Chango!'" Ultimately, however, the politics are more of an undercurrent than a central theme. Hip grooves and raucous interplay prevail, although Byron sets a more contemplative tone with "SEX/WORK (Clarence/Anita)," which has the flavor of a classical theme. Byron furthers the classical allusion with a virtuosic, unaccompanied reading of Manuel Ponce's "La Estrellita" and a fabulous duet with Edsel Gomez, "The Allure of Entanglement.~ David R.Adler https://www.allmusic.com/album/music-for-six-musicians-mw0000122190

Personnel:   Clarinet, Clarinet [Bass] – Don Byron; Bass [Electric] – Kenny Davis; Congas – Jerry Gonzalez; Cornet – Graham Haynes;  Drums – Ben Wittman; Piano – Edsel Gomez

Music for Six Musicians

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Don Byron - Love, Peace, And Soul

Styles: Clarinet And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2012
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:51
Size: 169,7 MB
Art: Front

( 6:08)  1. Highway To Heaven
( 6:24)  2. When I've Sung My Last Song
( 7:54)  3. It's My Desire
( 4:49)  4. Sham Time
( 5:19)  5. Consideration
(10:09)  6. Take My Hand, Precious Lord
( 3:54)  7. Beams Of Heaven
( 6:22)  8. Hide Me In Thy Bosom
( 5:30)  9. Himmm
( 7:11) 10. I've Got To Live The Life I Sing About In My Song
( 4:34) 11. Didn't It Rain
( 5:31) 12. When I've Done My Best

Don Byron's catalog reveals him to be a musical chameleon and master conceptualist. The range of music he's had fun melding with jazz Raymond Scott's, Mickey Katz's classical arias and lieder, Blaxploitation funk and more is expansive. It should come as no surprise then, that Love, Peace and Soul is an album of (mostly) classic gospel tunes, primarily written by Thomas A. Dorsey. It was Dorsey who kept the blues and ring-shout lineages inherent in gospel as it evolved, and revolutionized the music in the process. The other inspiration here is master guitarist and vocalist Sister Rosetta Tharpe. While she played primarily sacred music drenched in jazz and blues, she moved effortlessly between it and secular tunes. Byron's New Gospel Quintet are D.K. Dyson on vocals, pianist Xavier Davis, bassist Brad Jones, and drummer Pheeroan akLaff, with guest appearances by guitarists Brandon Ross and Vernon Reid, trumpeter Ralph Alessi, vocalist Dean Bowman, and baritone saxophonist J.D. Parran. Byron’s clarinet and akLaff's tom-toms introduce "Highway to Heaven," adding the spirit of Sidney Bechet's and Louis Armstrong's New Orleans jazz to Dorsey's blues before Dyson cuts loose on the vocals; Jones' funky bassline makes the entire thing pop. The spirit of improvisation on this set is alive and well too, as evidenced by "When I've Sung My Last Song," the very next cut. Byron's clarinet and Dyson's vocal play on and around the melody before the band enters, and while Dyson moves more toward the straighter end of the lyric, akLaff creates a slippery sense of time and establishes a jazz groove, and Davis' piano solo solidifies it. Given the feel of the album's first three sacred numbers, the juxtaposition of Eddie Harris' funky party anthem "Sham Time" feels right at home. Even the more reverential numbers, such as Dorsey's "Take My Hand Precious Lord" (introduced by a beautiful duet between Byron's saxophone and Dyson's vocal) carry blues into melodic jazz improvisation. Charles Tindley's "Beam of Heaven" is drenched in early blues, from Jones' bumping bassline, Byron's swooping clarinet, akLaff's shuffling kit, and Ross' acoustic slide guitar. Dyson's vocal is simply sublime. In Dorsey's “I’ve Got to Live the Life I Sing About," the hard blues in Tharpe's example underscore the message in the lyric. Love, Peace and Soul is another successful Byron experiment, but it's more than that. While its grooves are not a vision of gospel music since Dorsey, the music points to possibilities for the future that, like Dorsey's and Tharpe's examples, never lose sight of the blues. ~ Thom Jurek https://www.allmusic.com/album/love-peace-and-soul-mw0002289389

Personnel: Don Byron: clarinets and saxophones; DK Dyson: voice, choirs; Xavier Davis: piano, choirs; Brad Jones: acoustic and electric bass, choirs; Pheeroan Aklaff: battery. Guests: Brandon Ross: electric and acoustic guitar; Vernon Reid: electric guitar; Dean Bowman: solo voice; Ralph Alessi: trumpet; JD Parran baritone sax.

Love, Peace, And Soul

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Don Byron - Bug Music

Styles: Clarinet And Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:06
Size: 119,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:18)  1. The Dicty Glide
(2:52)  2. Frasquita Serenade
(2:53)  3. St. Louis Blues
(2:52)  4. Wondering Where
(1:41)  5. Bounce of the Sugar Plum Fairies
(2:48)  6. Charley's Prelude
(1:54)  7. Royal Garden Blues
(2:52)  8. Siberian Sleighride
(2:50)  9. The Penguin
(2:51) 10. The Quintet Plays Carmen
(2:55) 11. Powerhouse
(2:36) 12. Tobacco Auctioneer
(2:36) 13. War Dance for Wooden Indians
(2:49) 14. Cotton Club Stomp
(3:25) 15. Blue Bubbles
(9:47) 16. SNIBOR

Bug Music is a tribute to the music of the Raymond Scott Quintette, the John Kirby Sextet and Duke Ellington, headed by the remarkably versatile clarinetist Don Byron. Raymond Scott's legendary compositions feature eccentric song titles (including, on this set, "Siberian Sleighride," "Tobacco Auctioneer" and "War Dance for Wooden Indians"), complex and thoroughly composed arrangements (all of which were originally memorized rather than being written out) and unique melodies. Kirby's brand of swing, which is quite complementary to Scott's novelties, often utilized themes from classical music and had solos, but were also tightly arranged (even "St. Louis Blues" and "Royal Garden Blues"). The CD begins and ends with four Ellington/Strayhorn pieces that fit well into the idiom (particularly "The Dicty Glide" and "Cotton Club Stomp"). In addition to Byron, the key players on the project include altoist Steve Wilson (one of the best of the younger swing stylists), trombonist Craig Harris and pianist Uri Caine, in addition to four other horns and several rhythm sections. Other than a silly rendition of Ellington's "Blue Bubbles" and an adventurous interpretation of "Snibor," the selections are played with respect and great understanding of the somewhat forgotten style. None of the modern musicians sound as if swing were only their second language, making the continually surprising set a major success. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/bug-music-mw0000078877

Personnel:  Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone – Don Byron (tracks: 1, 14);  Alto Saxophone – Steve Wilson (2) (tracks: 1 to 7, 14);  Banjo – Paul Meyers (3) (tracks: 1, 14);  Bass – Kenny Davis (tracks: 1 to 14, 16);  Drums – Billy Hart (tracks: 2 to 7, 16), Joey Baron (tracks: 8 to 13), Pheeroan akLaff (tracks: 1, 14);  Guitar – David Gilmore (tracks: 16);  Piano, Vocals – Uri Craine (tracks: 4);  Tenor Saxophone – Robert DeBellis  (tracks: 1, 8 to 14);  Trombone – Craig Harris (3) (tracks: 1, 14);  Trumpet – Charles Lewis (2) (tracks: 1 to 3, 5, 6, 8 to 14), James Zollar (tracks: 1, 14), Steve Bernstein (tracks: 1 to 4, 7, 14);  Vocals – Dean Bowman (tracks: 14), Don Byron (tracks: 4)

Bug Music

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Don Byron & Aruan Ortiz - Random Dances And (A)tonalities

Size: 128,2 MB
Time: 55:31
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: Contemporary Jazz
Art: Front

01. Tete's Blues (6:37)
02. Black And Tan Fantasy (5:38)
03. Musica Callada Book 1, V. ([M.M.] Crochet = 54) (6:53)
04. Joe Btfsplk (5:45)
05. Numbers (6:04)
06. Dolphy's Dance (4:11)
07. Violin Partita No. 1 In B Minor, Bwv 1002 Ii. Double (2:43)
08. Delphian Nuptials (4:35)
09. Arabesques Of A Geometrical Rose (Spring) (7:11)
10. Impressions On A Golden Theme (5:55)

Ortiz, who grew up in Santiago, Cuba, and has lived in the U. S. since 2002, is among the most creative pianists on jazz’s landscape. As a boy he was performing Cuban popular music. His studies broadened to include jazz, first in Europe, finally New York, where he now lives.
In Byron, Ortiz has found an unparalleled clarinetist, whose classical training and exquisite technique anchor a career spanning an unusually broad range of music that nevertheless reflects a focused line of musical inquiry. Byron was born in The Bronx, into a musical family of Antiguan descent. Some of his work has involved highly refined repertory ensembles devoted to early jazz, gospel or klezmer music. Other works assert unfettered new musical routes owing to no one style.
"Random Dances and (A)tonalities" reveals the imaginative leaps of two free-thinking minds. In both, we feel an implied swing, gentle yet with conviction, and shared values of erudition and compassion. We sense a clearly documented moment between two masterly musicians. ~by Larry Blumenfeld

Random Dances And (A)tonalities

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Bobby Previte's Weather Clear Track Fest - Hue And Cry

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1993
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:55
Size: 133,4 MB
Art: Front

( 4:05)  1. Hubbub
( 5:59)  2. Smack-Dab
( 6:04)  3. Move Heaven And Earth
(14:10)  4. 700 Camels
( 7:03)  5. Valerie
(13:16)  6. Hue And Cry
( 7:15)  7. For John Laughlan And All That We Stood For.

Hue and Cry features an eight-strong, all-star version of Bobby Previte's Weather Clear, Track Fast band and results in one of his finest efforts as a leader. Along with Henry Threadgill, Previte, in the late '80s and early '90s, was one of the leading figures of avant-garde jazz, using mid-sized groups to explore complex compositional ideas more than as solo vehicles. He's also extremely adept at tension-and-release structures, often using what might have been an introductory riff for anyone else as an extended phrase, wringing out every bit of melody from it, and leaving the listener in a juicy state of anticipation for the eventual burst into the central theme. Previte uses an interesting pairing up in this band, with Don Byron and Marty Ehrlich often both playing clarinet, Robin Eubanks and Eddie Allen on brass, and, most prominently, Anthony Davis on piano alongside Larry Goldings' organ. Goldings is particularly out front on many of the pieces here, giving the band a very different cast from their earlier recording. 

Only the ambitious "700 Camels" fails to cohere completely; the remainder of the tracks all have both imaginative writing and (at the least) solid playing and soloing. On the other hand, the similarly lengthy title track pulls all the right switches, layering material in a rich fabric and hurtling toward a satisfying climax. The closing number is an unusual dirge, with Previte playing a martial rhythm, Davis trickling out single notes like rainfall, and Ehrlich keening on soprano. Recommended! ~ Brian Olewnick  https://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1497658/a/hue+and+cry.htm

Personnel: Bobby Previte (drums), Marty Ehrlich (alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet, bass clarinet), Don Byron (baritone saxophone, clarinet), Eddie Allen (trumpet), Robin Eubanks (trombone), Anthony Davis (piano), Larry Goldings (organ), Anthony Cox (bass)

Hue And Cry

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Don Byron - Ivey Divey

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:21
Size: 170.2 MB
Styles: Clarinet jazz
Year: 2004
Art: Front

[8:47] 1. I Want To Be Happy
[7:12] 2. Somebody Loves Me
[5:05] 3. I Cover The Waterfront
[6:00] 4. I've Found A New Baby
[5:27] 5. Himm (For Our Lord And Kirk Franklin)
[3:17] 6. The Goon Drag
[5:03] 7. Abie The Fishman
[6:31] 8. Lefty Teachers At Home
[3:57] 9. Leopold, Leopold...
[7:03] 10. Freddie Freeloader
[9:24] 11. In A Silent Way
[6:28] 12. Somebody Loves Me

Don Byron (clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone), Jason Moran (piano), Jack DeJohnette (drums except on "Himm"), Ralph Alessi (trumpet on "The Goon Drag," "Leopold, Leopold!"), Lonnie Plaxico (bass on "The Goon Drag," "Abie the Fisherman," "Lefty Teachers at Home," "Leopold, Leopold!" "In a Silent Way").

Clarinetist Don Byron has fashioned a career something akin to a great jazz history lesson. With albums like Plays the Music of Mickey Katz and Bug Music , he demonstrated some of its traditional roots, whereas Music for Six Musicians and You are #6 explored the Latin and Afro-Cuban legacies. Tuskegee Experiments and the frighteningly good live record No Vibe Zone demonstrated where jazz might be going, at least in one person's view. Now, with Ivey-Divey , Byron consolidates it all into a recording that tells of the music's past, present and possible future all in one seventy-five minute stretch.

With a core group featuring piano wunderkind Jason Moran and drummer Jack DeJohnette, inarguably one of the most stylistically broad players of the past forty years, Byron pays homage to the similarly bass-less trio of Lester Young, Nat "King" Cole, and Buddy Rich. But this is no mere tribute record; in fact, Byron is quick to point out that "this is less of a repertory record than some of my others, I didn't want this just to be 'Don Byron Plays Lester Young.'" Nor is it. Instead, Byron, Moran and DeJohnette take five pieces commonly associated with Young, and stretch them to their limits. Take "Somebody Loves Me," which is presented in two vastly different takes. Moran's modernistic stride takes both versions to places Cole might only have dreamed of, in particular on the alternate take, where the trio plays loose and free with time in ways that would have been unheard of in the '40s, while still maintaining a reverence that clearly draws a line from the past to the present.

Elsewhere Byron contributes four originals that deliver on everything from the absurd Bugs Bunny-influenced funk groove of "Leopold, Leopold!" with bassist Lonnie Plaxico providing some nice contrast to the trio pieces, to the lyrical "Himm (for Our Lord and Kirk Franklin)," a stately duo between Byron and Moran, which extends gospel into the 21st century. And to draw a link between the distant past and the present/future, Byron tackles two pieces associated with Miles Davis, from two different periods. The bluesy "Freddie Freeloader," another trio piece, begins with a cool yet slightly disjointed groove, but soon picks up steam, heading for reaches farther afield. "In a Silent Way," with Plaxico once again sitting in, is an interesting take on the original, with an approach that is more organic yet, when DeJohnette comes in with his take on Tony Williams' signature drum beat, completely on target.

Ivey-Divey manages to succeed on many fronts, but mostly it's a consolidation of sorts, one that looks to the future without neglecting the past. The clarinet may not be the most popular instrument in jazz these days, although it does seem to be making something of a comeback, but in the hands of Byron, it's as vital and significant as any other. ~John Kelman

Ivey Divey

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