Getting Funky with Donald Byrd

Donald Byrd--In his younger days before he got funky

Donald Byrd is one of my favorite jazz musicians.  I dig his early, post-bop stuff off of albums like The Cat Walk and Byrd in Hand, but around the era of Electric Byrd and beyond is when Byrd's music gets really interesting.  After teaming up with Mizell Brothers, Donald churned out class Jazz/Funk/Soul/Rare groove album gems like Street Lady, Places and Spaces, Blackbyrd, and Stepping Into Tomorrow.  Though Jazz purists complained that Byrd sold out when he got funky, added keyboards and the backing voices of the Mizell Brothers, personally I think he got more interesting.  Here are a few of my favorite Donald Byrd tracks from the era of 1969-1975, starting with possibly my favorite Byrd track from that era, "Lansanas Priestess", off of Street Lady.  Enjoy!