Toshio Matsuura | A Jazz Giant Who Forged the Future of Jazz and Connected Eras and Scenes
Toshio Matsuura | From TOKYO MOON, Broadcast March 24
Jazz Giants Who Connected Eras and Scenes
Sunday nights, a personal time of relaxation with sophisticated music, offer a moment of bliss for adults. This time is further enriched by DJ Toshio Matsuura's radio program, 'TOKYO MOON'.──He broadcasts carefully selected music from around the world and topics for adults that stimulate intellectual curiosity every Sunday from 24:00 on Inter FM 76.1MHz. Here, we look back at the program that just aired each week. This week, we focus on the jazz giant Donald Byrd, who passed away in February, to revisit his music.
Text by MATSUURA Toshio
Constantly Forging the Future of Jazz
Donald Byrd, a trumpeter representing the prestigious jazz label Blue Note Records, passed away in February this year.
His father was a pastor, and he grew up listening to Black music, including gospel. On his 1965 album 'I'm Tryin' To Get Home' and its predecessor 'A New Perspective' (1963), he boldly introduced gospel choruses into jazz, creating a collection of innovative yet accessible songs with a large brass ensemble. These works represent the mid-period of his career.
This talent, who constantly forged the future of jazz, began in the hard bop era of the 1950s. In the 1970s, after introducing electric instruments, he collaborated with the Mizell Brothers, Alfonso and Larry, to create the hit album 'Black Byrd' (1973), a fusion of jazz and R&B. The four albums produced with that team subsequently became masterpieces that would profoundly influence the rare groove, hip-hop, and club jazz scenes that followed.
In the early 1990s, he also contributed to connecting music scenes and eras by participating as a co-producer and trumpeter in "Jazzmatazz," a project conceived by rapper Guru from a hip-hop perspective on jazz expression.
Finally, we present a video recently uploaded to YouTube by London DJ Gilles Peterson. It captures Donald's live performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on July 5, 1973. Please enjoy.
Donald Byrd "Black Byrd"
Valuable live recordings, including this track, are also available on the Blue Note Records website. We recommend checking them out as well.
http://www.bluenote.com/spotlight/donald-byrd-live-at-montreux-july-5-1973
Donald Byrd "I'm Tryin' to Get Home"
REVIEW | TRACK LIST
01. Donald Byrd / Noah (Blue Note/EMI Music Japan)
02. James Tatum / Lotta Chant (JTTP)
03. Amp Live / Mister Sarode (Plug Research)
04. Jaco Pastorius / Kuru / Speak Like a Child (Epic)
05. Brandt Brauer Frick / Broken Pieces (!K7)
06. Claudette Soares / Vem E Primavera (Philips)
James Tatum
"James Tatum Live - At Orchestra Hall & The Paradise Theater"
Jaco Pastorius "Jaco Pastorius"
Brandt Brauer Frick "Miami"
Claudette Soares "Claudette"
Toshio Matsuura "TOKYO MOON"
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