Donald Byrd, when asked about his musical goals a couple of years ago, said: "I'm going to go as far as my emotions, intellect and experience will allow me." Recognizing the corollary need to actively widen and deepen his capacities for musical expression, Donald continually sets himself challenges. His most unique venture so far is this evocative fusion of voices with jazz instrumentalists in a setting which is itself a fresh intertwining of traditional religious feelings with modern, jazz-infused idioms.

Donald has been working toward this album for a number of years. In each of his recent sets, there has been at least one new composition in which Donald has explored his own church background in the context of the way he hears and feels now. There was "Amen" (in Fuego, Blue Note 4026); "Hush" (in Royal Flush, Blue Note 4101); and "Pentecostal Feeling" (in Free Form, Blue Note 4118). Now Donald has felt equipped to undertake an entire album in this vein. It's important to note, however, that this is indeed A New Perspective in terms of a jazz approach to the Afro-American religious heritage. This is not a tongue-in-cheek, oh-how-soulful-l-am session. Nor is it an attempt to somehow mix oldtime religion, rhythm and blues and stomping jazz into a hopeful ride on the best-selling charts.

"I mean this album seriously," Donald emphasizes. "Because of my own background — my father was a Methodist minister — I've always wanted to write an entire album of spiritual-like pieces. The most accurate way I can describe what we were all trying to do is that this is a modern hymnal. In an earlier period, the New Orleans jazzmen would often play religious music for exactly what it was — but with their own jazz textures and techniques added. Now, as modern jazzmen, we're also approaching this tradition with respect and great pleasure."

Donald regards the choral singing in this album as in the tradition — though modernized — of those large spiritual singing groups which used to travel around the country in the late nineteenth and early

twentieth centuries. Among them were the Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Tuskegee Alabama Choir. 'In other words," Donald explains, "the music in this album is basically akin to the spirituals rather than to the later rocking gospel style. As for the absence of words," he continued, "I couldn't think of the exactly proper words for each piece. Rather than compromise with inadequate images, I used syllables." Thereby, each listener can attach his own text - from whatever writings, religious or otherwise, seem to him to reflect the marrow of each piece.

Donald chose Coleridge Perkinson to direct the eight-voice chorus because of his admiration for Perkinson's broad musical knowledge and flexibility. They had first met in 1952 at the Manhattan School of Music, where both were students. Perkinson has since acquired a sizable reputation as a choral conductor, here and in Europe, as well as a vocal coach. "Coleridge,' Byrd adds, "not only knows most of the classical repertory — instrumental as well as vocal — but he's also an impressive jazz pianist. He still occasionally plays with Max Roach and other former colleagues. Therefore, he seemed exactly right for the bridging of disciplines that was required in this assignment.'

For me arranger, Donald chose Duke Pearson, whose lyrical individuality as pianist and composer have been demon-strated in his Blue Note albums under his own name (Profile, Blue Note 4022; Tender Feelin's, Blue Note 4035). For Duke, this was the first major writing assignment he'd had since coming to New York in 1959 from his native Atlanta, Georgia. "I had done," Duke recalls, "a considerable amount of writing for various combinations while I was at Clark College in Atlanta and also during the time I free-lanced at home. I never tried anything quite like this before, and I'm pleased at how naturally it all came out."

The chorus for which Duke wrote consisted of four male (two tenors, two basses) and four female (two sopranos, two altos) singers. Most are graduates of

Manhattan School of Music. Donald Byrd wrote out the preliminary sketches for each track, and then instructed Duke as to how he wanted them to evolve from that point. "I asked Duke to do the scoring," Donald underlines, "because we've worked so well together. We've collaborated on many tunes, and it's sometimes hard to tell which of us did what sections. Duke writes much better than even he knows. The one basic guide I had for Duke was that the writing had to be vocal, really vocal. And the way to test your scoring is to sing it yourself. If, in singing it, the line is too long or the intervals are too tricky, you have to change them. I wanted the parts to feel natural for the singers."

"And what happened," adds Herbie Hancock, another close associate of Donald, "is that the music, to a considerable degree, played itself on the date."

"From my point of view," Donald continued, "I think all writing should sing, including writing for instruments. I always try to play in a vocal manner. For me, that's much more vital than showing how fast or high I can play. In this set, it was particularly important that my playing be vocalized because of the function I wanted the trumpet to perform. For three months before we recorded, I got up at six every Sunday morning and listened for three hours to the religious programs on WLIB in New York so that I could get back into the swing of this music. And wnat my trumpet occasionally does here is to take on the role of the minister who is sometimes preaching and shouting over the congregation. The congregation in this case consists of the instrumentalists and the chorus.

Elijah is named after Donald Byrd's father. The music itself though does not characterize the usual service at his father's church as Donald was growing up. "We had those Methodist hymnals," Donald recalls, "which were based on English tunes and Lutheran adaptations of drinking songs and that sort of thing. But once in a while, when one of the older visiting ministers came through Detroit, we would

DONALD BYRD DONALD BYRD, trumpet; HANK MOBLEY, tenor saxophone; DONALD BEST, vibes;

KENNY BURRELL, guitar; HERBIE HANCOCK, piano; BUTCH WARREN, bass; LEX HUMPHRIES, drums. Voices directed by COLERIDGE PERKINSON. Arrangements by DUKE PEARSON.

abandon the formal hymnal and really go into the traditional, Southern spirituals that were first sung during slavery. It's the latter quality, rather than the sound of the formal Methodist hymnal, that I tried to get into Elijah."

Keeping the spirit buoyant and mellowly joyful is Kenny Burrell, followed by Donald Best, a resourceful vibist whom Donald found at the Manhattan School of Music. After Hank Mobley's own preacher-like solo, Donald takes over the pulpit with assurance and contagious warmth. The emphatic piano witnessing is by the increasingly forceful and personal Herbie Hancock; and in a strikingly exclamatory close, the chorus returns triumphantly.

In the Bible, the beast of burden is the mule. "The title of this one," says Donald, "came, therefore, from the slow, shuffling type of beat that characterizes the piece.' After the undulatingly relaxed choral singing, the band enters playing modern, close narmony under Donald's simple melody; and the effect is refreshingly intriguing. Donald's own solo is one of his most distilled lyrical statements on record. Donald Best is again fluently inventive; and Hank Mobley, like Donald Byrd before him, avoids all excess ornamentation. His message is direct and spontaneous. The same intensity and clarity mark Herbie Hancock's lithe solo.

Duke Pearson wrote "Cristo Redentor" (Portuguese for "Christ The Redeemer") as a result of an experience he had in Brazil in 1961 while he was touring South America with Nancy Wilson. "Coming into Rio," Duke notes, "you see Corcovado peak with its huge white statue of Christ. That sight led me to write this composition right away. I'd never felt that close to religion before." The melody is uncommonly airborne and reflects the awakening of wonder. Donald sustains and deepens the soaring combination of serenity and depth of feeling in the piece.

Note here, as throughout the album, the alertness and stimulating taste of Herbie Hancock's accompaniment patterns.

Donald Byrd's "Black Disciple" is one result of the research he's been doing on African rhythms, a project which has led him into correspondence with musicologists in Africa who have sent him recordings and other material. The impetus for this particular composition, however, came from a Folkways recording of a tribe in the Congo. "The rhythms fascinated me," says Donald, "particularly because of their nervous insistency." Within the framework, therefore, of a modern hymnal based on Afro-American traditions, this is an arresting attempt by Donald to adapt African rhythms to his own diversified musical experiences. The rhythm section communicates the appropriately restless turbulence, and there are heated solos by Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Hancock, and Lex Humphries. The title, incidentally, refers to the one black monarch among the three Kings who came to Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born.

Duke Pearson's "Chant" involves imaginative use of choral inversions; and along with shifting colors, the piece has an engaging quality of relaxed fulfillment — a reeling communicated in their distinctive ways by Donald, Hank Mobley, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Hancock, and the supple chorus.

As a result of the satisfaction felt by all the participants in this unusual joining of forces, Donald Byrd is preparing another vocal album. He is also a newly accepted pupil of Nadia Boulanger, with whom he is studying in the summer of 1963. Byrd will then stay a year in Europe for a private instruction in conducting and composition. Already having earned an M.A. from the Manhattan School of Music, Donald is also working on his doctorate in music education from Columbia University.

During the 1962-63 academic year, he taught at New York's High School of Music and Art. Simultaneously, he planned this album and other projects and continued his research into American history.

Considering his credo — "I'm going to go as far as my emotions, intellect and experience will allow me" — Donald Byrd is certain to be a formidable figure in American music in the years ahead. And not only in jazz.

—Natt Hentoff Original Liner Notes

Produced by Alfred Lion. Original recording and 1998 remastering by Rudy Van Gelder. Recorded on January 12, 1963 at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Cover photograph and design Reid Miles. Liner photograph Francis Wolf. Originally issued as BST 84124 and BLP 4124. ℗2013 Blue Note Records. Blue Note® is a registered trademark of Capitol Records, LLC. ©2013 Blue Note Records. All Rights Reserved.

A NEW PERSPECTIVE ELIJAH THE BLACK DISCIPLE BEAST OF BURDEN CHANT CRISTO REDENTOR 0

Donald Byrd was considered one of the finest hard bop trumpeters of the post-Clifford Brown era. He recorded prolifically as both a leader and sideman from the mid-'50s into the mid-'60s, most often for Blue Note, where he established a reputation as a solid stylist with a clean tone, clear articulation, and a knack for melodicism. Toward the end of the '60s, Byrd became fascinated with Miles Davis' move into fusion, and started recording his own forays into the field. In the early '70s, with the help of brothers Larry and Fonce Mizell, Byrd perfected a bright, breezy, commercially potent take on fusion that was distinct from Davis, incorporating tighter arrangements and more of a smooth soul influence. Opinions on this phase of Byrd's career diverge wildly -- jazz purists utterly despised it, branding Byrd a sellout and the records a betrayal of talent, but enraptured jazz-funk fans regard it as some of the most innovative, enduring work of its kind. In fact, proportionately speaking, Byrd is held in even higher esteem by that audience than by straight-ahead jazz fans who enjoy his hard bop output.

Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II was born in Detroit, MI, on December 9, 1932. His father, a Methodist minister, was an amateur musician, and Byrd was already an accomplished trumpeter by the time he finished high school, having performed with Lionel Hampton. Byrd served a stint in the Air Force, during which time he played in a military band, and subsequently completed his bachelor's degree in music at Wayne State University in 1954. He moved to New York in 1955 to get his master's at the Manhattan School of Music, and soon began performing with pianist George Wallington's group. In December of that year, he was invited to join Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, filling a chair once held by his idol, Clifford Brown, and Kenny Dorham. Byrd also began his recording career during this period, leading several sessions (mostly for Savoy) and working often as a sideman, particularly at the Prestige label. He left the Jazz Messengers in 1956 and joined up with Max Roach; he went on to play with the likes of John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Red Garland, and also co-founded the Jazz Lab Quintet with altoist Gigi Gryce in 1957.

In 1958, Byrd signed an exclusive recording contract with Blue Note, and also formed a band with baritonist Pepper Adams, who would remain

Byrd's regular partner until 1961. Byrd's Blue Note debut was 1958's Off to the Races, and he and Adams collaborated on a series of excellent hard bop dates over the next three years, including Byrd in Hand (1959), At the Half Note Cafe, Vols. 1-2 (1960), The Cat Walk (1961), and Royal Flush (also 1961), among others. Another 1961 recording, Free Form, found Byrd giving a young Herbie Hancock some of his earliest exposure. Following this burst of activity, Byrd took a sabbatical to continue his studies in Europe, where he spent some time under the tutelage of the legendary French music educator Nadia Boulanger.

DONALD BYRD

He returned to the U.S. in 1963 and recorded A New Perspective, a now-classic set that broke new ground by incorporating gospel choirs into its arrangements; its signature piece, "Cristo Redentor," became quite popular.

In the mid-'60s, Byrd focused more of his energies on teaching, and worked diligently to make jazz and its history a legitimate part of the college curriculum. He taught at Rutgers, Hampton, New York University, and Howard in the late '60s, and the last one remained a steady association for much of the '70s. In the meantime, Byrd continued to record occasionally, cutting a final spate of hard bop albums over 1966-1967 that included Mustang! and Blackjack. Byrd also began to study African music, inspired partly by the emerging black-consciousness movement, and became interested in Miles Davis' efforts to woo a younger audience (including Byrd's own students) by experimenting with electronics and funk rhythms. 1969's Fancy Free found Byrd using electric piano for the first time, with a spacy sound that recalled Davis' In a Silent Way. 1970's Electric Byrd had more of a Bitches Brew flavor, and the jams on 1971's Ethiopian Knights were longer, funkier, and more aggressive.

Byrd truly came into his own as a fusion artist when he hooked up with brothers Larry and Fonce Mizell, who began to handle production, writing, and some musical support duties. Their first collaboration was 1972's Black Byrd, an upbeat, funky blend of jazz and R&B. Jazz critics detested the album and called Byrd all sorts of names, but the record was a smash hit; it became the biggest seller in Blue Note history, and just missed hitting number one on the R&B albums chart. In the wake of its

success, Byrd formed a supporting group, the Blackbyrds, who were culled from the cream of his music students at Howard University and recorded through the rest of the '70s. Byrd went on to release a string of successful LPs in partnership with the Mizell Brothers, including the imaginary blaxploitation soundtrack Street Lady (1974), Stepping into Tomorrow (1975), the much-lauded Places and Spaces (1976), and Caricatures (1977). All made the Top Ten on the R&B album charts, and the Places and Spaces single "Change (Makes You Wanna Hustle)" even got substantial play in discotheques. Jazz-funk fans revere this period in general, but usually reserve their highest praise for Street Lady and, especially, Places and Spaces. As a side note to his musical career, Byrd finished law school in 1976, and went on to teach at North Carolina Central University.

Following Caricatures, Byrd parted ways with Blue Note and the Mizell Brothers and moved to Elektra. He recorded several albums over 1978-1983, but even the most commercially successful, 1978's Thank You...for F.U.M.L. (Funking up My Life), didn't match the infectiousness of his Blue Note jazz-funk outings. In 1982, Byrd received his Ph.D. from Columbia Teachers College. He spent a few years in the mid-'80s away from recording, due in part to ill health, but continued to teach, moving on to North Texas State and Delaware State. In the late '80s and early '90s, Byrd returned to the hard bop of his early days on several sessions for the Landmark label. He participated in rapper Guru's Jazzmatazz project in 1993, and with the advent of the jazz-rap movement and England's acid jazz revival, his '70s albums became hugely popular sources for samples. In the meantime, Byrd continued his activities as a jazz educator.

—Steve Huey

DONALD BYRD

With his flair for innovation, Donald Byrd, in late 1963, put together a septet that was recorded with the Coleridge Perkinson Choir providing a capella Gospel support. Duke Pearson provided arrangements which carefully weave eight wordless voices in and out of the septet's blues-derived compositions. Byrd's father was a Methodist minister, so the trumpeter worked with Pearson at, as Byrd states in the liner notes, "approaching this tradition with respect and great pleasure." The recording, which was reissued on

CD in 1988, is one of the first to be acknowledged in this manner. Besides Byrd and a 23-year-old Herbie Hancock, this session

includes saxophonist Hank Mobley, vibraphonist Donald Best, guitarist Kenny Burrell, bassist Butch Warren and drummer Lex Humphries. Frequently making use of a trumpet, tenor sax and vibes unison doubling, "Elijah" is an up-tempo number that features, among other things, some interesting and exciting piano work from Hancock. The slow, bluesy "Beast Of Burden" uses an interesting piano fill for the deliberate and soulful wordless vocals; alternately, the voices and vibes fill behind Byrd's trumpet solo in like manner. "The Black Disciple" features both Burrell and Hancock stretching out with stellar performances, and Mobley's tenor solo offers a fine example of his full tone and fluid technique. Pearson's compositions "Chant" and "Cristo Redentor" are perhaps the best remembered of the session, featuring Byrd's bold, clear, and deliberate trumpet melodies with the voices and piano adding a touch that showed the jazz world one more possibility among the many in improvised music.

—Jim Santella This unusual set (reissued on CD by Blue Note) was one of the

most successful uses of a gospel choir in a jazz context. Trumpeter Donald Byrd and a septet that also includes tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, guitarist Kenny Burrell, and pianist Herbie Hancock are joined by an eight-voice choir directed by Coleridge Perkinson. The arrangements by Duke Pearson are masterful and one song, "Cristo Redentor," became a bit of a hit. This is a memorable effort that is innovative in its own way, a milestone in Donald Byrd's career.

—Scott Yanow

A NEW PERSPECTIVE