First Flight: Yusef Lateef with Donald Byrd

Performer: Donald Byrd
Producer: Robert G. Koester
Distributor: City Hall

Notes: Personnel: Donald Byrd (trumpet); Frank Foster, Yusef Lateef (tenor saxophone); Bernard McKinney (euphonium); Hank Jones , Barry Harris (piano); Frank Gant, Kenny Clarke (drums). Liner Note Author: Joe Segal. Recording information: Detroit, MI (08/23/1955); New World Stage, Detroit, MI (08/23/1955). Photographer: Chuck Stewart. This CD reissue contains trumpeter Donald Byrd's debut on records. Recorded in his native Detroit with such local players as tenor saxophonist Yusef Lateef, pianist Berry Harris and Bernard McKinney on euphonium, Byrd is heard at the age of 22 when he was very much influenced by Clifford Brown. Unlike Byrd, Lateef already had his own style at this early stage. The sextet mostly performs bop originals plus a blues, "Yusef" and "Torsion Level"; all of the music is straightahead and swinging. A fine beginning for the very interesting career of Donald Byrd. ~ Scott Yanow

Donald Byrd set the standard for hard-bop trumpet in his days as a regular on the Prestige and Blue Note labels. His brassy tone and adventurous solos, coupled with a deep sense of the blues, made him one of the most in-demand trumpeters of the 1950s and '60s. Later, Byrd turned to the R&B-influenced side of jazz, which sustained him through several successful years in the late '60s. By the 1970s, Byrd had fully embraced funk and R&B in the form of his popular group, the Blackbyrds. In the '90s, Byrd was introduced to a new crowd when he was a featured performer on rapper Guru's groundbreaking JAZZMATAZZ.

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