Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Charlie Byrd: Byrd's Word

245

Charlie Byrd: Byrd's Word

By

View read count
Charlie Byrd: Byrd's Word
A common critique leveled at Charlie Byrd throughout his career suggested that he was incapable of ‘letting his hair down’ so to speak. His guitar playing was of such consistently high caliber that many critics took his impeccable technique as a sign of pompousness and egotism. The reality is that Byrd was equally adept in a lofty concert hall or smoky jazz club and he viewed either environment as a fitting place to unveil his chops. Byrd’s Word is definitely cut directed at the former setting however, and finds Byrd paying tribute to the Showboat, a venerable D.C. nightspot that was instrumental in his earlier development as a performer.

The album is a mixed bag that suffers some from what seems like a forced diversity of material. On all but three of the numbers Byrd wields amplified strings instead of his usual acoustic ones. Five tracks feature him fronting a sextet with the flexible horns of Hill and Felder. Two more, “Blue Turning Grey Over You” and “Don’t Explain” team him with his wife in vocal/acoustic guitar duets. His regular working trio with Betts and Knox makes appearances on a pair of others. Of the remaining tracks, “Bobby In Bassoonville,” is a vehicle for Pasamanick who sits in for Hill, and is really nothing more than an up-tempo swinger dressed in the novelty of its lead instrument. Hill’s velvety intro and exit work on the delicate reading of “What’s New” is far more effective. The most interesting tune though is “Conversation Piece,” an impromptu duet between Byrd on acoustic guitar, and Betts on cello. Bett’s nimble pizzicato patterns blend seductively with Byrd’s lissome strums and create an engaging blend of Country and chamber influences. Digested in succession the tracks on this disc are all over the map and though intentionally so it still ends up sounding somewhat disjointed and contrived. There’s far better Byrd available for consumption and compared to the master’s standing body of work this offering ends up being something of a disappointment.

Track Listing

Byrd

Personnel

Charlie Byrd- guitar; Bobby Felder- valve trombone; Buck Hill- tenor saxophone; Kenneth Pasmanick-bassoon; T. Carson- piano; Keter Betts- bass, cello; Bertell Knox- drums; Eddie Phyfe- drums; Charlie Schneer- piano. Recorded: 1958, Washington, D.C.

Album information

Title: Byrd's Word | Year Released: 2000 | Record Label: Fantasy Jazz

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.