The Cat Walk

Performer: Donald Byrd
Producer: Alfred Lion
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Composer: Donald Byrd. Personnel: Donald Byrd (trumpet); Pepper Adams (baritone saxophone); Duke Pearson (piano); Laymon Jackson (bass instrument); Philly Joe Jones (drums). Long before he branched into a funky variant of (electric) fusion, trumpeter Donald Byrd was one of the most popular mainstays of hard bop. With an even-tempered but crackling tone, Byrd could (and did) shine (and swing) alongside icons Hank Mobley and Horace Silver. CAT is from the early 1960s, when he co-led a quintet with the fabulous, burly-sounding, and somewhat underrated baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams. Byrd combined the passionate technique of hard bop with the funkier aspects of soul-jazz for a series of smart, vibrantly engaging discs for Blue Note throughout the early and middle 1960s, with CAT WALK being among the finest.

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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