Donald Byrd
trumpet
Donald Byrd was a Detroit trumpeter, a slightly younger peer who came to Barry’s house to jam and learn, and Barry’s bandmate in Max Roach’s group in 1956.
- mentions
- 14
- recordings
- 9
- Barry speaking
- 10
What Barry says
Byrd was one of the young Detroit musicians who came to Barry’s house, knowing they would find him at the piano. Barry names him with Roland Hanna, Sonny Red, Yusef Lateef and Kiane Zawadi, and says they jammed all day.
The last train to Monk: an interview8:26Ep.3 | Everything no one has ever told you about jazz | Barry Harris0:33Interview: Detroit, Bud Powell and the shuffle18:13Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶103Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶32
Barry remembers Byrd saying he wanted to play on the concert stage, not in bars or dance halls. To Barry, pulling the music away from dancing may have been the worst thing that happened to his generation, since the two belong together.
Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶57Ted Panken, For Barry Harris’ 82nd Birthday ¶11
After Clifford Brown and Richie Powell were killed in 1956, Barry and Byrd joined Max Roach’s band together, with Sonny Rollins and the bassist George Morrow. Barry describes this as the time he first left Detroit, and as a lucky break.
Detroit Jazz: Ancient to the Future33:03Ep.3 | Everything no one has ever told you about jazz | Barry Harris2:14Interview on Italian television5:04Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶86Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶149
Barry calls that band with Byrd and Rollins a really good group and regrets that it was never recorded. It lasted about three months; afterwards, Barry thinks, Byrd stayed in New York while he went home to Detroit.
Ep.3 | Everything no one has ever told you about jazz | Barry Harris2:142:46Interview on Italian television5:39Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶161Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶149
Barry loves a 1957 recording of Bud Powell with Byrd, Phil Woods, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor. He says he sits at the piano and plays along with it for the feeling it gives, and he points listeners to Paul Chambers’ solo on it.
The last train to Monk: an interview11:3612:13Believe: a talk to musicians46:50Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶7
Going through his discography, Barry notes that he recorded with Byrd, including a Donald Byrd and Art Farmer session for Prestige.
In his own words
See they all came to my house, Donald Byrd, Roland, Yusuf, Keani.
You should hear Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor, Bud Powell and Phil Woods. Man, you gotta hear that.
That might have been the biggest drag thing that ever happened to us, to separate the music from dancing.
I also dig Donald Byrd and Phil Woods. I especially love their band from 1954-1958, the one with Bud Powell, Phil Woods, and Donald Byrd
So Donald Byrd, Sonny Rollins and myself, we joined Max’s band. Um, we never recorded, which is a drag. We should have.
Every mention
14 moments in the recordings, 10 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
The last train to Monk: an interview
Ep.3 | Everything no one has ever told you about jazz | Barry Harris
Interview: Detroit, Bud Powell and the shuffle
Detroit Jazz: Ancient to the Future
Interview on Italian television
- 5:04
In the 1950s Barry was lucky to go with Max Roach, together with Byrd.
Believe: a talk to musicians
- 46:50
Names Byrd on a Bud Powell record worth hearing for Paul Chambers’ solo.
Interview: Detroit and after
- 1:45
Probably named (‘down Bird’) among the Detroit musicians who came to New York and made it.
Barry Harris Spanish TV
- 7:18
Someone else
A Spanish TV narrator names Byrd among Barry’s good friends, with Hank Mobley and Paul Chambers.
In the interviews and notes
Byrd was one of the young players who came to Barry’s house, knowing he would be at the piano; Roland Hanna and Sonny Red came too.
Barry says older Detroit players showed his circle how to play tunes correctly, and that he jammed all day with Byrd, Sonny Red, Yusef Lateef and Kiane Zawadi.
Barry recalls Byrd saying he wanted the concert stage, not bars or dance halls. For Barry, separating the music from dancing was perhaps the worst thing that happened to them; he points to Monk playing ‘Round Midnight’ at a danceable tempo.
Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶57Ted Panken, For Barry Harris’ 82nd Birthday ¶11
Barry first came to New York in 1956, when he and Byrd joined Max Roach’s band and travelled with it; he then went back to Detroit and left again in 1960 with Cannonball Adderley.
Max Roach’s band with Byrd, Rollins and Barry stayed together for perhaps three months. Barry thinks Byrd stayed in New York while he went home, and that most Detroit musicians left the city later, when he did.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶161Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶163
Asked about favourite records, Barry names Bird, Bud and Monk first, then says he digs Byrd and Phil Woods, especially their band with Bud Powell, Arthur Taylor and Paul Chambers.
Barry says Max Roach hired him for a group that included Sonny Rollins, Byrd and the bassist George Morrow.
Reading through a discography of his work, Barry notes recording with Byrd, including a Byrd and Art Farmer date for Prestige.
Stryker writes that Barry soon became a leader among Detroit’s jazz players and guided musicians a little younger than himself, Byrd among them, who all went on to become stars.
De Lima, citing Paul Berliner, lists Byrd among musicians who studied Barry’s method with him in Detroit.
Recordings that name them
Barry’s performances and records in the archive that credit or name them.
Method ideas nearby
Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.