The late sixties and early seventies proved to be a tumultuous period for jazz as rock rendered by Hendrix, Cream, Santana, Sly and The Family Stone and so many others were the rage. Miles Davis of course led the jazz-rock fusion movement with In a Silent Way and more forcibly with Bitches Brew. Hard bop trumpeter Donald Byrd soon surrendered to the fusion movement as well. In the second installment of the Third Man-Blue Note Records 313 Partnership comes the re-release of Byrd’s seminal but largely overlooked Electric Byrd. Leading an 11-piece ensemble of mostly hard bop players and such influential players as Airto Moreira who would later become a vital cog in Chick Corea’s Return to Forever and other fusion units of the period, as well as Brazilian flutist Hermeto Pascoal. Byrd laid the groundwork for his R&B fusion Black Byrd, Street Lady and so many others.
Electric Byrd was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s infamous studio and produced by electric pianist Duke Pearson who was a co-conspirator and principal arranger. The other players here, aside from guitarist Wally Richardson, are they who graced many a hard bop acoustic effort – trombonist Bill Campbell, saxophonist Frank Foster, multi-reedist Jerry Dodgion, saxophonist Lew Tabackin, baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Mickey Roker. Like the Miles Davis albums, three of the four selections here are lengthy, meandering, slithering, largely unpredictable tracks.
Byrd’s Miles-like trumpet soars above guitar wah-wah effects and Pearson’s Rhodes in the opening “Estavanico” which, as the title suggests, has some faint Brazilian tinges owing to the bubbling percussion and Pascoal’s flute. Just as the melody forms and momentum builds, the tune begins to float upon Pascoal’s entrance. From there it becomes less distinctive and a bit hard to pin down, interrupted at certain intervals by bursts from the three woodwind players who collectively work well together employing tenor, alto, soprano, baritone saxophones, flutes, alto and regular clarinet. Another Byrd original, “Essence” follows with another constantly shifting groove with drums placed prominently in the mix. The background work of Richardson, Pearson, and the horns is a bit more subtle and there’s not an overbearing use of effects. We’re never exactly sure where they are headed, and it is arguably a more spacey kind of fusion when compared to the in-your-face approach of Bitches Brew.
Byrd does tip his hand toward funk however in his “The Dude” which is harder-edged, as the hard bop chops of the saxophonists assume the forefront. Richardson’s riffing and Pearson’s pounding combine for a highly danceable passage as it goes out. With three of these four compositions by Byrd, Moreira weighed in with the album’s lengthiest piece, “Xibaba,” which is more distinctly Brazilian than the opener before it becomes a fog of echo effects, and various other ethereal sounds. We finally feel more grounded when a pattern begins to form just shy of the four-minute mark. It’s a sound, through Pascoal’s flute and Moreira’s percolating percussion that foreshadows the Corea RTF approach. Byrd’s electric trumpet floats over this Brazilian bed, making this the most intriguing of the four pieces.
The jazz fusion movement was akin to Dylan going electric. The purists were furious. Yet Byrd never looked back and found tremendous commercial success just a few years later.
