In 2023, a Mosaic box set was released containing ten CDs documenting two years in the life of Don Byas: the period between June 1944 and September 1946.
On the same day that he was active in a New York studio for the last time (7 september 1946) he flew to Copenhagen as a member of the Don Redman Orchestra. There, he and his colleagues familiarised themselves with the repertoire that Don Redman had compiled especially for this touring orchestra. After a week of intensive rehearsals in Copenhagen, the fourteen-member big band embarked on a demanding eleven-week tour that would take them through Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and France. When the exhausting job was over, Don Byas decided not to return to New York on the Queen Elizabeth, but to try his luck in Europe.
In this episode we will focus on the collaboration between trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993) and tenor saxophonist Don Byas (1912-1972) in the period of 1941-1946.
At the start of the 1940s, they regularly bumped into each other during jam-sessions in after hours establishments such as Minton’s Playhouse and Clark Monroe’s Uptown House, where, together with numerous other experimenters, they worked hard on creating a new jazz style.
In a later stadium Gillespie started to refocus his activities from Harlem to 52nd Street. When Gillespie was hired by The Onyx, one of the countless jazz clubs on that street, Don Byas was part of the Dizzy Gillespie-Oscar Pettiford Sextet, which caused quite a stir with its surprisingly mature mastery of the bebop style. Dizzy and Don would also perform together several times in other line-ups. You will be pleasantly surprised by their work as members of the backing orchestra for singers Rubberlegs Williams, Trummy Young and Albinia Jones.
Just before his departure to Europe, Don Byas was also involved in the legendary session with which Gillespie made his debut on the esteemed, financially powerful RCA Victor label. Dizzy Gillespie is the big star here, but Don Byas manages to hold his own remarkably well in the presence of this bebop titan: he attacks fiercely with intense, always slightly too flowery contributions, but with an intense, surprisingly modern tone that Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane were able to build on.
Playlist:
Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Don Byas (tenorsax), Kenny Kersey (piano), Charlie Christian (guitar) plus House Band:
# 1. Lips Flips (Improvisation) (4:54)
# 2. Stardust (Hoagy Carmichael) (6:13)
Recording: Clark Monroe’s Uptown House, NYC; 7 May 1941
CD: Charlie Christian/Dizzy Gillespie—After Hours (OJCCD) (originally released on the Esoteric label)
Dizzy Gillespie Sextet: Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet, vocals), Trummy Young (trombone), Don Byas (tenorsax), Clyde Hart (piano), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Shelly Manne (drums)
# 3. Salt Peanuts (D.Gillespie-K.Clarke) (2:58)
# 4. Good Bait (D.Gillespie-T.Dameron) (2:58)
# 5. Be-Bop (D.Gillespie) (3:07)
Recording: NYC; 9 January 1945 (originally released on the Manor label)
current source: Classic Don Byas Sessions 1944-1946 (Mosaic)
Rubberlegs Williams (vocals) accompanied by: Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Trummmy Young (trombone), Charlie Parker (altsax), Don Byas (tenorsax), Clyde Hart (piano), Mike Bryan (guitar), Al Hall (bass), Specs Powell (drums)
# 6. What’s The Matter Now (composer unknown) (2:53)
# 7. G.I.Blues (Rubberlegs Williams) (2:23)
Trummy Young (vocals) plus accompaniment in # 6 en # 7
# 8. Seventh Avenue (S.Powell-I.Higginbotham) (2:56)
# 9. Sorta Kinda (Trummy Young) (2:47)
# 10. Ooh! Ooh! My! My! Oh! Oh! (Paparelli-Toomas-Leveen) (2:49)
Recording: NYC; 4 January 1945 (originally released on the Continental label)
current source: Classic Don Byas Sessions 1944-1946 (Mosaic)
Albinia Jones with Don Byas’ Swing Seven: Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Gene Sedric (clarinet, tenorsax), Don Byas (tenor), Sammy Price (piano), Leonard Ware (guitar), Oscar Smith (bass), Doc West (drums)
# 11. Evil Gal Blues (Leonard Feather) (2:49)
# 12. Salty Papa Blues (Leonard Feather) (2:56)
# 13. Albinia’s Blues (Albinia Jones) (2:50)
# 14. Don’t You Wear No Black (Hayes-Ramson-Smith) (2:47)
Recording: NYC; 14 april 1945 (originally released on the National label)
current source: Classsic Don Byas Sessions 1944-1946 (Mosaic)
Dizzy Gillespie Sextet: Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Don Byas (tenorsax), Milt Jackson (vibraphone), Al Haig (piano), Bill DeArango (guitar), Ray Brown (bass),
J.C.Heard (drums)
# 15. 52nd Street Theme (Thelonious Monk) (3:13)
# 16. Night In Tunisia (Dizzy Gillespie-Frank Paparelli) (3:07)
# 17. Ol’ Man Rebop (Leonard Feather) (2:44)
Recording: NYC; 22 February 1946
source: Dizzy Gillespie-The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (Bluebird, 1995)
