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I'm your host Kofi Natambu. This online magazine features the very best in contemporary creative music in this creative timezone NOW (the one we're living in) as well as that of the historical past. The purpose is to openly explore, examine, investigate, reflect on, studiously critique, and take opulent pleasure in the sonic and aural dimensions of human experience known and identified to us as MUSIC. I'm also interested in critically examining the wide range of ideas and opinions that govern our commodified notions of the production, consumption, marketing, and commercial exchange of organized sound(s) which largely define and thereby (over)determine our present relationships to music in the general political economy and culture.

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Saturday, April 11, 2020

Don Byas (1912-1972): Legendary, iconic, and innovative musician, composer, arranger, ensemble leader, producer, and teacher

SOUND PROJECTIONS

AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE

EDITOR:  KOFI NATAMBU

WINTER, 2020

 

 

VOLUME EIGHT  NUMBER TWO

 
HERBIE HANCOCK

Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
RICHARD DAVIS
(February 22-28)

JAKI BYARD
(February 29-March 6)

CHARLES LLOYD
(March 7-13)

CHICO HAMILTON  
(March 14-20)

JOHNNY HODGES
(March 21-27)

LEADBELLY
(March 28-April 3)

SIDNEY BECHET
(April 4-April 10)

DON BYAS
(April 11-17)

FLETCHER HENDERSON
(April 18-24)

JIMMY LUNCEFORD
(April 25-May 1)

KING OLIVER
(May 2-8)

WAR
(May 9-15)

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/don-byas-mn0000172350/biography 

Don Byas 

(1912-1972)

Artist Biography by




One of the greatest of all tenor players, Don Byas' decision to move permanently to Europe in 1946 resulted in him being vastly underrated in jazz history books. His knowledge of chords rivalled Coleman Hawkins, and, due to their similarity in tones, Byas can be considered an extension of the elder tenor. He played with many top swing bands, including those of Lionel Hampton (1935), Buck Clayton (1936), Don Redman, Lucky Millinder, Andy Kirk (1939-1940), and most importantly Count Basie (1941-1943). An advanced swing stylist, Byas' playing looked toward bop. He jammed at Minton's Playhouse in the early '40s, appeared on 52nd Street with Dizzy Gillespie, and performed a pair of stunning duets with bassist Slam Stewart at a 1944 Town Hall concert. After recording extensively during 1945-1946 (often as a leader), Byas went to Europe with Don Redman's band, and (with the exception of a 1970 appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival) never came back to the U.S. He lived in France, the Netherlands, and Denmark; often appeared at festivals; and worked steadily. Whenever American players were touring, they would ask for Byas, who had opportunities to perform with Duke Ellington, Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke, Dizzy Gillespie, Jazz at the Philharmonic (including a recorded tenor battle with Hawkins and Stan Getz), Art Blakey, and (on a 1968 recording) Ben Webster. Byas also recorded often in the 1950s, but was largely forgotten in the U.S. by the time of his death.


Don Byas Don Byas



Don Byas was one of the most respected and recorded tenor players of the 1940’s. In that fruitful period he had few peers in the the area of prolific productivity. Byas was a masterful swing player with his own style, an advanced sense of harmony, and a confidence and adventurousness that found him hanging around the beboppers and asking to play. He held his own and did so while insistently remaining himself: he never picked up the rhythmic phrases, the lightning triplets, which are indigenous to bop. Yet Charlie Parker said of him that Byas was playing everything there was to play.

 Born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, in 1912, he played alto as a teenager, subbing in territorial bands like Bennie Moten's and Walter Page's Blue Devils. As a student at Langston College, he led his own band, Don Byas and the Collegiate Ramblers. Between 1933, when he switched to tenor, and 1941, he worked with a variety of bands, first in California and then New York--among them: Buck Clayton, Lionel Hampton, Eddie Barefield, Eddie Mallory, Lucky Millinder, Andy Kirk and Redman. In January '41, he became Lester Young's successor in the Count Basie band and quickly established his abilities, cementing his reputation.

 Byas' style evolved in the lush, full-bodied tenor tradition of Coleman Hawkins, but his sound was unmistakably his own, immediately recognizable. A master of technique, he accomplished both tender warmth and the most strident sting. His sense of drama coupled with a brilliant use of dynamics and timbre, a deeply-felt romanticism, and an innate sense of swing made his improvisations unique.

 When he left for Europe in the fall of 1946 with the Don Redman band, his reputation was at its peak. Admired by the modernists and the traditional swingers, he was celebrated as a tireless, original and influential saxophonist. His solo on Basie's “Harvard Blues” had created a stir in 1941 and he followed it with a remarkable series of recordings for small labels. In his romantic approach to “Laura,” he had something of a hit.

 He stayed in Europe, where he was quite the star in France, then the Netherlands, becoming the first in a continuously expanding family of expatriate jazzmen. Although Byas was much in demand by the jazz-appreciative Europeans, he was largely forgotten back home. Few of his records were available here and without personal appearances it is difficult, if not impossible, to sustain a following. He returned to the U.S. once, in the summer of 1970, received little of the money or adulation he might have expected, and returned to Holland where he died in August 1972 of lung cancer. He was 59. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Byas

Don Byas


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
DON BYAS

 Carlos Wesley "Don" Byas (October 21, 1912 – August 24, 1972) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, most associated with bebop. He played with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others, and also led his own band. He lived in Europe for the last 26 years of his life. 

Biography

Oklahoma and Los Angeles

 

Byas was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Both of Byas' parents were musicians. His mother played the piano, and his father, the clarinet. Byas started his training in classical music, learning to play violin, clarinet and alto saxophone,[1] which he played until the end of the 1920s.
Benny Carter, who played many instruments, was his idol at this time. Byas started playing in local orchestras at the age of 17, with Bennie Moten, Terrence Holder and Walter Page. He founded and led his own college band, Don Carlos and His Collegiate Ramblers, during 1931-32, at Langston College, Oklahoma.[2]
Byas switched to the tenor saxophone after he moved to the West Coast and played with several Los Angeles bands. In 1933, he took part in a West coast tour of Bert Johnson's Sharps and Flats. He worked in Lionel Hampton's band at the Paradise Club in 1935 along with the reed player and arranger Eddie Barefield and trombonist Tyree Glenn. He also played with Buck Clayton, Lorenzo Flennoy and Charlie Echols. 



New York City

 

In 1937, Byas moved to New York to work with the Eddie Mallory band, accompanying Mallory's wife, the singer Ethel Waters, on tour, and at the Cotton Club. He had a brief stint with arranger Don Redman's band in 1938 and later in 1939-1940. He recorded his first solo record in May 1939: "Is This to Be My Souvenir?" with Timme Rosenkrantz and his Barrelhouse Barons for Victor. He played with the bands of such leaders as Lucky Millinder, Andy Kirk, Edgar Hayes and Benny Carter. He spent about a year in Andy Kirk’s band, recording with him between March 1939 and January 1940, including a short solo on "You Set Me on Fire".[citation needed]
In September 1940, he had an eight bar solo on "Practice Makes Perfect", recorded by Billie Holiday. He participated in sessions with the pianist Pete Johnson, trumpeter Hot Lips Page, and singer Big Joe Turner. In 1941 at Minton's Playhouse he played with Charlie Christian, Thelonious Monk and Kenny Clarke in after hours sessions.[3][4]
In early 1941, after a short stay with Paul Bascomb, he had his big break when Count Basie chose him to succeed the post of Lester Young in his big band. Byas recorded "Harvard Blues" with the Basie orchestra on November 17, 1941 on Jimmy Rushing's vocal version of George Frazier's tune. He was part of a small group session on July 24, 1942 with Buck Clayton, Count Basie, and his rhythm section (Freddie Green, Walter Page, Jo Jones) recording "Royal Garden Blues" and "Sugar Blues".
In August 1942, the band went to Hollywood record for the film Reveille with Beverly, to be followed by another film, Stage Door Canteen, in February 1943. He stayed with Basie until November 1943.[citation needed]
He played in small bands in New York clubs, including the Coleman Hawkins orchestra (1944), and he associated with beboppers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, George Wallington, Oscar Pettiford and Max Roach at the Onyx Club from early 1944. He recorded with the latter under Hawkins on what is said to be the first bebop issue, "Woody 'n You", on February 16 and 22, 1944. In May 1944, he shared tenor duties with Hawkins in the latter's Sax Ensemble, as well as leading his own band on performances at the Three Deuces club. After recording for a number of small labels (Savoy, Jamboree, National, Disc, Arista, Super, American, Hub, Gotham) in this period, Byas had a major hit with "Laura" by David Raksin, the title tune of Otto Preminger's movie of the same name (1944).[citation needed]
On January 4, 1945, Byas recorded with Clyde Hart, singer Rubberlegs Williams, Gillespie, Parker, Trummy Young, and on January 9, 1945, Gillespie, Byas and Young recorded "Be Bop", "Salt Peanuts", and "Good Bait" for Manor. On June 9, Byas and Slam Stewart played a live duet at The Town Hall. Byas led a small group for several sessions for Savoy during 1945–46. He was second-place winner in tenor sax of the Esquire All-American Awards in January 1946, and in February, he recorded again with Gillespie on "52nd Street Theme" and "Night in Tunisia".[5]
Despite his bebop associations, Byas remained deeply rooted in the sounds of swing. He started out by emulating Coleman Hawkins, but Byas cited Art Tatum as his greater influence: "I haven't got any style! I just blow like Art".[6]

 

Paris

 

In September 1946 Byas went to Europe to tour with Don Redman's big band in Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany. They were the first civilian jazz big band to tour the old continent after the war.[7][8] Byas remained in Europe. After playing in Belgium and Spain, he finally settled in Paris, and was able to record almost immediately.[citation needed]
While still in Geneva, Byas recorded "Laura" and "How High the Moon". In December 1946 he recorded for the first time in France, with Redman, Tyree Glenn and Peanuts Holland. He recorded for the Swing and Blue Star labels in 1947, working with Eddie Barclay. In 1947-48, he lived in Barcelona, due to the lower cost of living and the thriving atmosphere.[9] Pianist Tete Montoliu sneaked into the Copacabana Club in Barcelona to hear the great saxophone player.[9]
Byas played with Bill Coleman in early 1949; touring that autumn with Buck Clayton. From 1948 onward, Byas became a familiar figure not only around the Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, but also on the Riviera, where he could be seen in Saint-Tropez sporting a mask, tuba, flippers and an underwater spear-gun.[10] Byas collaborated again with Andy Kirk and recorded together on Vogue in 1953. Byas also recorded with Beryl Booker in the same year.[citation needed]
 

Netherlands

 

Byas moved to the Netherlands in the early 1950s; in 1955 he married Johanna "Jopie" Eksteen.[11]
He worked extensively in Europe, often with touring American musicians. He also recorded with fado singer Amália Rodrigues during his time in Europe. Byas did not return to the U.S. until 1970, appearing at the Newport Jazz Festival.[citation needed] He died in Amsterdam in 1972 from lung cancer, aged 59.

 

Trivia

 


Discography

Don Byas is leader, except as noted, in parentheses.

Early years

  • The Immortal Charlie Christian, (1939-1941 recordings, released, Legacy, 1980)
  • Quintessential Billie Holiday, Volume 8 (1940 date led by Billie Holiday, Columbia Records)
  • "Harvard Blues" (with Count Basie, 1941 on America's No. 1 Band: The Columbia Years)
  • "Sugar Blues" (with Basie, 1942, also on America's No. 1 Band)
  • "Indiana", "I Got Rhythm" and "Laura" (Various Artists, Town Hall Concert, 1945, Commodore Records)
  • Midnight at Minton's (1941)
  • Savoy Jam Party: The Savoy Sessions (1944–45)
  • Please Believe Me and Why Did You Do That To Me", Don Byas Quartet, with Little Sam (Big Bill Broonzy), Hub Records 3003 (December, 1945)

 

Exile years

 


 

As sideman

 

With Dizzy Gillespie

With Coleman Hawkins

  • Rainbow Mist (Delmark, 1944 [1992]) compilation of Apollo recordings

 

Notes








  • Don Byas 1941-1954 (liner notes). BD Jazz. 2006. ISBN 2-84907-032-7. BDJZ032.

  • Giddins, Gary (1979). A Tribute to Cannonball (liner notes). Columbia. CK 65186.

  • Morgenstern, Dan (1999). Midnight at Minton's (liner notes). High Note. HCD 7044.

  • Valdes, Leo (1997). "Charlie Christian Solography". Leo Valdes. Archived from the original on 2013-08-28. Retrieved 2013-08-01.

  • "Dizzy Gillespie Discography".

  • Taylor, Arthur (1977). Notes and Tones: Musician-to-Musician Interviews. New York: Perigee Books. ISBN 0399505849. [as told by Byas to drummer Art Taylor during an interview in Paris in 1969, see [https://web.archive.org/web/20130615070207/http://www.jazzwax.com/2007/09/don-byas-lived-.html Archived 2013-06-15 at the Wayback Machine here]

  • Panassié, Hugues; Gautier, Madeleine (1956). "Byas, 'Don' Wesley Carlos". Dictionnaire du Jazz. p. 189. OCLC 555049254.

  • "Don Redman's 1946 European Tour". Retrieved August 1, 2013.

  • Schenker, Anatole (Feb 2002). Don Byas 1947—1951 (CD liner notes). Chronological Classics. 1239.

  • Tercinet, Alain (2000). Laura (CD liner notes). Jazz in Paris. Don Byas. Gitanes. 4400130272.

  • "Carlos Wesley Byas". CCM (composers-classical-music.com). October 9, 2002. Retrieved November 21, 2013.

  • "Digital Exhibit from the Instruments Collections". Institute of Jazz Studies. Retrieved August 1, 2013.

  • Chip Chandler (January 15, 2014). "Musician in long-term love affair with sax". Amarillo Globe-News. Retrieved August 7, 2015.


    1. "Inductees". Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 1, 2013.

     

    References

     

    Living My Life: The Music of Don Byas featuring James Carter & the Jazzorchestra of the Concertgebouw, conducted by Henk Meutgeert 

    Don Byas
    Listen to JazzSet Listen to Part 1

    Listen to JazzSet Listen to Part 2

     Born in 1912 in Oklahoma, Carlos Wesley Byas learned to play tenor saxophone in the Coleman Hawkins style, with a full-bodied tone and fierce swing. Working with a band that accompanied singer Ethel Waters, "Don" Byas first landed in New York in 1937. In 1941, he took over for Lester Young in the Count Basie Orchestra ("the hottest chair in jazzdom," writes historian Dan Morgenstern). With Basie, Byas recorded a breakthrough solo on "Harvard Blues" -- a solo that every tenor worth his or her salt learned by heart.

    In 1944, Byas leapt an emerging stylistic gap and played bebop -- before that style even had a name -- with Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach. He recorded "A Night in Tunisia" with Dizzy in 1946. Then Byas moved to Amsterdam, where he lived and worked until he died in 1972. So it's fitting that a tribute to Don Byas comes from the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, July 2006.
    James Carter
    A decade after Byas' death, young James Carter (born in 1969 in Detroit) was taping Byas' music off public radio, listening to it over and over on his Walkman with a determine zeal to figure out every note on his horn. James took it further; he absorbed the Byas seriousness and competitiveness, at any tempo. Onstage at North Sea, Carter nails his mentor's sound, speed and repertoire. James stops and talks briefly about Byas, calling him the link between Hawkins (1904-1969) and John Coltrane (1926-1967). James Carter is the ideal contemporary player for a tribute to Don Byas, for whom he feels "mad respect."


    PERSONNEL

     James Carter, tenor sax
    Ralphe Armstrong, bass
    Gerard Gibbs, piano
    Leonard King, drums

    MUSIC

     (All music by Byas unless otherwise noted)

    "Living My Life"
    "Free and Easy" - with trumpet solo by Jan van Duikeren
    "Worried and Blue"
    "1944 Stomp"

     With Jazzorchestra of the Concertgebouw
    "Savoy Jam Party"
    "Byas a Drink"

    "Laura" (Johnny Mercer): Dan Morgenstern remembers that when he saw Byas in Copenhagen in 1946, "Laura" was the high point of every set. It started with those gorgeous first notes gliding into the theme. And even in a big concert hall, you could hear Don's deep breaths between phrases.
    "Cherokee" (excerpt) (Ray Noble) - with Sjoerd Dijkhuizen, tenor saxophonist
    "Don's Idea"

    LINKS

     James Carter's Site
    James Carter on Wikipedia
    For a portrait of James Carter, read Kelly Bucheger's "James Carter Ruined My Life"
    North Sea Jazz 2007 - Dee Dee Bridgewater performs
    Jazz Tours - A trip to North Sea for JazzSet listeners 
    CREDITS
     
    Thanks to Dan Morgenstern, who wrote the liner notes to the double LP and CD Don Byas Savoy Jam Party (Savoy SJL 2213).

     Thanks to Producer Manon Miessen, recording engineers Marc Broer and Martijn van Leeuwen Mark Brewer, and liaison Noah Waxman of Radio Netherlands. Beautiful recording!

     Our crew is Ginger Bruner of KUNV Las Vegas, Producer Becca Pulliam, Technical Director Duke Markos, Executive Producer Thurston Briscoe III of WBGO Newark.

     https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15295550

    Concerts

    The Music of Don Byas Featuring James Carter




    FromWBGO



    The Music of Don Byas featuring James Carter 

    on JazzSet


    James Carter.


    Personnel



    James Carter, tenor sax
    Ralphe Armstrong, bass
    Gerard Gibbs, piano
    Leonard King, drums


    Set List




    • (All music by Byas unless otherwise noted)
    • "Living My Life"
    • "Free and Easy"
    • "Worried and Blue"
    • "1944 Stomp"
    • With Jazzorchestra of the Concertgebouw
    • "Savoy Jam Party"
    • "Byas a Drink"
    • "Laura" (Johnny Mercer)
    • "Cherokee" (excerpt) (Ray Noble)
    • "Don's Idea"

    Born in 1912 in Oklahoma, Carlos Wesley Byas learned to play tenor saxophone in the Coleman Hawkins style, with a full-bodied tone and fierce swing. Working with a band that accompanied singer Ethel Waters, "Don" Byas first landed in New York in 1937. In 1941, he took over for Lester Young in the Count Basie Orchestra ("the hottest chair in jazzdom," writes historian Dan Morgenstern). With Basie, Byas recorded a breakthrough solo on "Harvard Blues" — a solo that every tenor worth his or her salt learned by heart.


    In 1944, Byas leapt an emerging stylistic gap and played bebop — before that style even had a name — with Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach. He recorded "A Night in Tunisia" with Gillespie in 1946. Then Byas moved to Amsterdam, where he lived and worked until he died in 1972. So it's fitting that a tribute to Byas comes from the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, July 2006.


    A decade after Byas' death, young James Carter (born in 1969 in Detroit) was taping Byas' music off public radio, listening to it over and over on his Walkman with a determine zeal to figure out every note on his horn. James took it further; he absorbed the Byas seriousness and competitiveness, at any tempo. Onstage at North Sea, Carter nails his mentor's sound, speed and repertoire. James stops and talks briefly about Byas, calling him the link between Hawkins and John Coltrane. James Carter is the ideal contemporary player for a tribute to Don Byas, for whom he feels "mad respect."


    Don Byas was a masterful swing player with his own style, an advanced sense of harmony, and a confidence and adventurousness that was unmistakably his own, immediately recognizable. His sense of drama coupled with a brilliant use of dynamics and timbre, a deeply-felt romanticism – accomplished both the tenderest warmth and the most strident sting. He never picked up the rhythmic phrases, the lightning triplets, that are indigenous to bop. Yet Charlie Parker said of him that Byas was playing everything there was to play.

    Byas’ style evolved in the lush, rococo, full-bodied tenor tradition of Coleman Hawkins, but his sound was unmistakably his own, immediately recognizable. A master of technique, he accomplished both the tenderest warmth and the most strident sting. His sense of drama coupled with a brilliant use of dynamics and timbre, a deeply-felt romanticism–which on occasion dripped into sentimentality, his worst pitfall–and an unsurpassable sense of swing made his improvisations unique.

     One of the greatest of all tenor players, Don Byas’ decision to move permanently to Europe in 1946 resulted in him being vastly underrated in jazz history books. His knowledge of chords rivalled Coleman Hawkins, and, due to their similarity in tones, Byas can be considered an extension of the elder tenor.

    Whenever American players were touring in Europe, they would ask for Byas, who had opportunities to perform with Duke Ellington, Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke, Dizzy Gillespie, Jazz at the Philharmonic (including a recorded tenor battle with Hawkins and Stan Getz), Art Blakey, and (on a 1968 recording) Ben Webster. Byas also recorded often in the 1950s, but was largely forgotten in the U.S. by the time of his death.

    Despite his bebop associations, Byas always remained deeply rooted in the sounds of swing. He started out by emulating Coleman Hawkins, but Byas always cited Art Tatum as his greater influence: “I haven’t got any style, I just blow like Art”.

    “Years ago the game was vicious, cut-throat. Can you imagine Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Chu Berry, Don Byas, and Ben Webster on the same little jam session? And guess who won the fight? That’s what it was – a saxophone duel. Don Byas walked off with everything.”   … Sonny Stitt


    https://donbyas.jazzgiants.net/biography/

    Biography

    Don Byas (tenor saxophonist) was born October 21, 1912  in Muskogee, Oklahoma and passed away on August 24, 1972  in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Both of Byas’ parents were musicians. His mother played the piano, and his father, the clarinet. Byas started his training in classical music, learning to play violin, clarinet and alto saxophone, which he played until the end of the 1920s. Benny Carter, who played many instruments, was his idol at this time. He started playing in local orchestras at the age of 17, with Bennie Moten,Terrence Holder and Walter Page. He founded and led his own college band, “Don Carlos and His Collegiate Ramblers”, during 1931-32, at Langston College, Oklahoma.

     Byas switched to the tenor saxophone after he moved to the West Coast and played with several Los Angeles bands. In 1933, he took part in a West coast tour of Bert Johnson’s Sharps and Flats. He worked in Lionel Hampton’s band at the Paradise Club in 1935 along with the reed player and arranger Eddie Barefield and trombonist Tyree Glenn. He also played with Eddie Barefield, Buck Clayton, Lorenzo Flennoy and Charlie Echols.

     In 1937, Byas moved to New York to work with the Eddie Mallory band, accompanying Mallory’s wife, the singer Ethel Waters, on tour, and at theCotton Club. He had a brief stint with arranger Don Redman’s band in 1938 and later in 1939-1940. He recorded his first solo record in May 1939: “Is This to Be My Souvenir” with Timme Rosenkrantz and his Barrelhouse Barons for Victor. He played with the bands of such leaders as Lucky Millinder, Andy Kirk, Edgar Hayes and Benny Carter. He spent about a year in Andy Kirk’s band, recording with him between March 1939 and January 1940, including a short solo on “You Set Me on Fire”. In September 1940, he had an eight bar solo on “Practice Makes Perfect”, recorded by Billie Holiday. He participated in sessions with the pianist Pete Johnson, trumpeter Hot Lips Page, and singer Big Joe Turner. In 1941 at Minton’s Playhouse he played with Charlie Christian, Thelonious Monk and Kenny Clarke in after hours sessions.
    Don_Byas3
    In early 1941, after a short stay with Paul Bascomb, he had his big break when Count Basie chose him to succeed the post of Lester Young in his big band.
    • “Harvard Blues”, Jimmy Rushing’s vocal version of George Frazier’s tune, recorded November 17
    • July 24, 1942, small group session with Buck Clayton, Count Basie, and his rhythm section (Freddie Green, Walter Page, Jo Jones) recording “Royal Garden Blues” and “Sugar Blues”
    • August 1942 went to Hollywood with Basie’s band to record for the film Reveille with Beverly
    • January 1943, another film Stage Door Canteen
    • November 1943, last recording with Basie
    • Started to play in small bands in New York clubs
    • He played with Coleman Hawkins at the Yacht Club (1944)
    • Associated with Beboppers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, George Wallington, Oscar Pettiford and Max Roach at the Onyx Club from early 1944
    • Recorded with the above under Coleman Hawkins six sides, which are said to be the first bebop recordings: “Woody ‘n You”, February 16 and 22, 1944.
    • May 1944, shared tenor duties with Hawkins in the latter’s “Sax Ensemble”
    • May 1944 leader of his own band, performances at the “Three Deuces”
    • Recorded for small labels (Savoy, Jamboree, National, Disc, Arista, Super, American, Hub, Gotham)
    • Had a hit with “Laura” by David Raksin, the title tune of Otto Preminger’s movie of the same name (1944)
    Despite his bebop associations, Byas always remained deeply rooted in the sounds of swing. He started out by emulating Coleman Hawkins, but Byas always cited Art Tatum as his greater influence: “I haven’t got any style, I just blow like Art”. January 4, 1945 – Clyde Hart, singer “Rubberlegs” Williams, Gillespie, Parker, Trummy Young.
    Don_Byas4
    • January 9, 1945: Gillespie, Byas and Young record “Be Bop”, “Salt Peanuts”, and “Good Bait” for Manor
    • Town Hall concert, duet with Slam Stewart in 1945
    • Savoy sessions in 1945-46
    • January 11, 1946, Esquire magazine, 2nd place in tenor sax
    • February 22, recorded with Gillespie, “52nd Street Theme”, “Night in Tunisia”
    In September 1946 Byas went to Europe to tour with Don Redman’s big band in Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany. They were the first all-black American orchestra to appear in the French capital since the liberation.Byas remained in Europe. After playing in Belgium and Spain, he finally settled in Paris, and was able to record almost immediately.

     While still in Geneva he recorded “Laura” and “How High the Moon”. In December 1946 he recorded for the first time in France, with Redman, Tyree Glenn and Peanuts Holland. He recorded for the Swing and Blue Star labels in 1947, working with Eddie Barclay. In 1947 and 1948 Byas lived in Barcelona, where he moved to enjoy the lower cost of living and the thriving atmosphere.The pianist Tete Montoliu sneaked into the Copacabana Club in Barcelona to hear the great saxophone player.Byas was at the top of his form in these years, performing with Bernard Hilda’s orchestra (August 1947), Francisco Sanchez Ortega, and Luis Rovira.

     He played with Bill Coleman in early 1949; touring that autumn with Buck Clayton. From 1948 onwards, Byas became a familiar figure not only around the Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, but also on the Riviera, where he could be seen in Saint-Tropez sporting a mask, tuba, flippers and an underwater spear-gun. The tenor found work, could record regularly and had many friends. They adored not only his musical talent but his skills at the pool table, as a sportsman (fishing and diving) and a chef who who cooked Cajun and Creole food.

     Byas played in the Andy Kirk band in 1939-40 and later in 1944. They recorded together on Vogue in 1953. Byas also recorded with Beryl Booker in the same year.

     Don_Byas5

     Byas relocated to the Netherlands and married a Dutch woman. He worked extensively in Europe, often with such touring American musicians as Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Jazz at the Philharmonic, Bud Powell, and Ben Webster. He also recorded with Fado singer Amália Rodrigues during his time in Europe. Byas did not return to the U.S. until 1970, appearing at the Newport Jazz Festival.

     Byas’ style evolved in the lush, rococo, full-bodied tenor tradition of Coleman Hawkins, but his sound was unmistakably his own, immediately recognizable. A master of technique, he accomplished both the tenderest warmth and the most strident sting. His sense of drama coupled with a brilliant use of dynamics and timbre, a deeply-felt romanticism–which on occasion dripped into sentimentality, his worst pitfall–and an unsurpassable sense of swing made his improvisations unique.

     Byas was a masterful swing player with his own style, an advanced sense of harmony, and a confidence and adventurousness that found him hanging around the beboppers and asking to play. He held his own and did so while insistently remaining himself: he never picked up the rhythmic phrases, the lightning triplets, that are indigenous to bop. Yet Charlie Parker said of him that Byas was playing everything there was to play.

     Byas died in Amsterdam in 1972 from lung cancer, aged 59.

     Byas’ Dolnet tenor saxophone (purchased from his widow) is on display at Rutgers University’s Institute of Jazz Studies.

     Byas was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall Of Fame in 1997.

    http://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2015/03/don-byas.html

    Sunday, March 29, 2015


    Don Byas



    © -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.

    Don Byas was one of the few musicians of his era to strike a compromise between swing and bebop. In addition to the rhythmic feeling of modern jazz, he incorporated elements of Coleman Hawkins's harmonic advances and Lester Young's lyrical style. He often played with a relaxed subtone embroidered with gentle vibrato, reserving the boisterous "Texas tenor" sound for the climax of his solos. Lucky Thompson and Benny Golson claim him as an influence, and most modern tenor players are aware of his work as a bebop pioneer. The Byas influence of Golson’s phrasing is particularly strong.
    Born to musical parents, Don studied violin and clarinet prior to the alto sax. In his teens, he worked in territorial bands based in Oklahoma City and then led his own band at Langston University (1931—32). After switching to tenor, Byas left Oklahoma in 1933 for California and spent four years in Los Angeles working for Lionel Hampton and Buck Clayton, among others.
    In 1937 Byas traveled to New York City, where he worked as an accompanist for Ethel Waters. He next worked for Don Redman, Lucky Millinder, and Andy Kirk. Following tours with Benny Carter, Byas joined the Count Basie Orchestra (1941-43) as a replacement for Lester Young. On his most celebrated tune of this period, Harvard Blues, Byas proved that he could work in the twelve-bar form and that he shared the Basie sense of understatement (Blues by Basie, Columbia).
    After jamming with the modernists at Minton's, Byas joined the innovative Dizzy Gillespie—Oscar Pettiford band in 1944. Over the next three years, he performed in many modern groups on Fifty-second Street. He was featured on numerous titles recorded for Savoy through the mid-1940s, but his best small-group work was done in the animated company of Gillespie (The Greatest Hits of Dizzy Gillespie, RCA Victor).
    Another example of Byas's best playing occurred during a pair of impromptu duets on "Indiana" and "I Got Rhythm," recorded with bassist Slam Stewart, as the two waited for a 1945 Town Hall concert to begin. "I Got Rhythm" appears on The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz (Smithsonian) and is a virtuoso performance that reveals both excitement and restraint. Byas explores every harmonic nook and cranny in his memorable eighth-note lines, which do not swing as easily as bebop, but at the same time do not ride as closely to the leading edge of the beat as Hawkins's aggressive phrases.
    At his artistic peak in 1946, Byas left for France as a member of Don Redman's band. He later settled in Holland with his family, appearing regularly at European jazz festivals, and recording. Another Byas trademark, the patient, soothing ballad, is included in Jazz at the Philharmonic in Europe (Verve).
    During the 1960s, Byas was intrigued by the innovations of John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, although he did not alter his own style in response. In 1970 he returned to the United States for the Newport Jazz Festival, but he returned to Europe shortly afterward because he felt more I abroad than at home.
    He died in Amsterdam in 1972 at the age of sixty [60]. Sadly, his passing garnered little attention in the Jazz press.
    The following video tribute features Don Byas and bassist Slam Stewart on their classic treatment of I Got Rhythm.

    Don Byas Dies in Europe; Jazz Tenor Saxophonist

     

    AMSTERDAM, Aug. 24 (Reuters)—Carlos Wesley Don Byas, American jazz tenor saxophonist, who had lived here since 1955, died today of lung cancer. He was 59 years old.
    Mr. Byas, born in Muskogee, Okla., first worked with Lionel Hampton and in the 1940's played with Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Dan Carter and Duke Ellington. After a tour of Europe with Don Redman's Orchestra, he stayed in Europe, first in France.
    Two years ago, Mr. Byas made a comeback in the United States, among other places at the Newport Jazz Festival. Last year he made a tour of Japan with Art Blakey.

    https://www.npr.org/sections/ablogsupreme/2012/11/26/165596190/100-years-of-don-byas-and-teddy-wilson

    A Blog Supreme

    From NPR Jazz

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    This fall marks the centennial birthday anniversaries of two all-time great improvisers, pianist Teddy Wilson and tenor saxophonist Don Byas. Born about a month apart in 1912, they're both revered by those who familiar with jazz prior to the LP era. They swung madly; they had sparkling rhythmic command; they prioritized melodic finesse and warmth.
    They didn't collaborate a ton, but they certainly traveled in similar orbits. So I thought it worth considering them as peers. And like many fellow greats, they tend to crop up at many trend-setting junctures in history. Here are a few of them.
    1912: Don Byas was born in Muskogee, Okla. Teddy Wilson was born in Austin, Texas (and grew up in Tuskegee, Ala.).
    1933: Wilson moves to New York City, joining the Chocolate Dandies, a band led by pioneering saxophonist, trumpeter and composer-arranger Benny Carter. Previously, he had been working in Chicago, including with Louis Armstrong.
    Teddy Wilson (center) and drummer Zutty Singleton in 1940. William Gottlieb/The Library Of Congress  
    1935: Wilson joins clarinetist and big-bandleader Benny Goodman's small group. Goodman was a teen idol at the time, making this the first racially integrated touring band of prominence: Wilson and vibraphonist Lionel Hampton were black, and Goodman and drummer Gene Krupa were white.
    1937: Byas moves to New York City. Within years, his first big break comes when he's hired to replace Lester Young in the Count Basie Orchestra.
    1940: Wilson and Byas appear together on a Billie Holiday recording session on Sept. 12, resulting in four tunes. Wilson had already been working with Holiday for years, their careers blooming together.
    1944: Byas is part of the February recordings generally recognized as the first bebop sessions, featuring Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins and Max Roach.
    1945: Wilson records with bebop pioneers Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie in a one-off session for vibraphonist Red Norvo.
    1946: Byas moves to Europe, where he resides permanently. Wilson takes employment as a musician for CBS Radio.
    Early 1950s: Wilson starts teaching at The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music. Previously, he had already run a mail-order "school for pianists."
    1972: Don Byas dies, age 59.
    1986: Teddy Wilson dies, age 73.


    Both musicians came to New York City buoyed by the many opportunities of the Swing Era, many of them involving big bands. Both also had the sheer force of talent to work with bebop musicians as they developed a revolutionary and virtuosic new style, even if it wasn't the way they grew up playing. And both found other ways to support their careers as times and tastes changed, working in institutions and foreign countries as well as touring. The story of their generation comes out in their shared histories.
    The clip at the beginning features Teddy Wilson playing "Honeysuckle Rose" in a trio featuring the Count Basie drummer Jo Jones. Below is a clip of Don Byas playing "Perdido," supported by both French and American musicians. Both reflect impeccable facility and distingué mannerisms — a stride left hand; a fat tone and arpeggiated approach.
    The Wilson clip is from 1963, the Byas clip from 1958. They're after many of the historical developments related above. But you can't say they aren't killin'.
    Don Byas (tenor saxophone) with his Sextet in Europe, 1958
    Teddy Wilson (piano) with Jo Jones (drums) in 1963








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