Customer Reviews

Electric Byrd

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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I'm a recent but highly enthusiastic devotee of Byrd's musical mania, and his crazy happy energy. Electric Byrd is like none of his other albums and is an atmopsheric trip that begs to be shared with others on your wavelength or alone, where the ephemeral, transporting, otherworldly sounds created in the first three tracks especially will transform any space they're played in. The last track, The Dude, is for me the only track I wish weren't on this CD, especially coming after the utter perfection that is Xibaba, which brilliantly interweaves dreamy sounds reminiscent of those experimented with by Vangelis at around the same time (listen to La Petite fille de la mer from Apocalypse des Animaux, or Reves from Opera Sauvage). If you liked the vibes on Ethiopian Nights, this CD will take you even deeper into Byrd's netherworld.

Donald Byrd is one of those jazzmen who strolled through the genre doing whatever his heart desired. He was doing choral jazz and hard bop in the early 1960s.

In 1970 electirc jazz was in its infancy thanks to Miles Davis who had just made the Brew. Byrd was adventurous enough to take the cue, and made Electric Byrd.

Like B--tche's Brew, this is filled with spacey textures and electrionically treated brass. These are slow numbers. This was right after the moon landing, and indeed the music has the feeling of going into outer space; or was it a hippy student's LSD trip on a rural campus during a dark night 1970 night. This is a smaller band than Davis uses, and so the flute really stands out to create this trippy nuance.


After this Don made an even smarter move. Instead of following Miles' increasingly brooding experments, Byrd created a cheerful, acessable funk that provided a perfect counterpoint to our favorate Dark Magus. One should never be choosen or the other, but be seen as light and shade in a perfect painting.

For that, you have to check out Black Byrd Absolutely essential. But do not miss out on this wonderful detour Don took on the way.

This is a bit different than most of Donald Byrd's other stuff. It's cooler with a slow cerebral, meditative with a touch of funky jazz fusion feel. It's cool when you're ready to chill. Definitely not as funky or boppy as his other stuff, but a nice detour into the contemplative realm.

The sound quality is OK.

Well, what can be said of genius? The artiste stumbles from a dark place into the light of noise and regurgitates the brain in notes. This composition is just that- the puking of prophecy in musical arrangement. The first track could charm snakes from the horn owning serpent trainer and both reptile and scale saler wind up grinning and sinning as tongue waggers usually do. One is lulled into the beginnings of the jazzy acidic (it is timeless and syrupy)and the very thought that this work is over twenty years old seems absurd. Am I that old? Is this album/cd (whatever) that old? Am I this young? Is this album/cd this young? These questions, among others, exist as the art time machine. This music-even without narcotics-will take the listener to different worlds at different times from that which they already understand. It's a magical journey of feeling which leads to elevated thought. The Dude is especially a poigniant piece resembling "Peanuts" like happiness while also depicting a dark grooviness that can only be found in the feeling of a Kerouak novel. I hope it can be enjoyed by all as I have and will again.

The Dude.

Donald Byrd is tight.another great slamming album that covers the wide range of styles&colors that this Man has in him.the arrangements are tight here.i get so many vibes of this set.his work is always challenging.i have dug his work for many years.