Donald Byrd “Kwame” live at Montreux Jazz in ‘73 #jazzzisdead “That summer, Byrd was fresh off the release of his hit crossover fusion album Black Byrd, the first of his innovative and incredibly successful studio collaborations with producer #LarryMizell. But in a live setting the band had a rawer, harder edge, as this searing set attests. Byrd led a 10-piece band that included #LarryMizell on synthesizers, #FonceMizell on trumpet and vocals, #AllanBarneson tenor saxophone and flute, #NathanDav

Donald Byrd was considered one of the finest hard bop trumpeters of the post-Clifford Brown era. He recorded prolifically as both a leader and sideman from the mid-’50s into the mid-’60s, most often for Blue Note, where he established a reputation as a solid stylist with a clean tone, clear articulation, and a knack for melodicism. Toward the end of the ’60s, Byrd became fascinated with Miles Davis’ move into fusion, and started recording his own forays into the field. In the early ’70s, with th