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Don Byron: Cleo's Mood

By Ludovico Granvassu
March 1, 2023
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In addition to being one of its most-forward looking voices, Don Byron has covered the whole gamut of American music—from Mickey Katz to Raymond Scott, from Duke Ellington to Lester Young and Stevie Wonder—and beyond, from Robert Schumann to Giacomo Puccini. He has done so with his signature sound, a deep understanding of those composers' traditions that didn't prevent his experimentation, and a tongue-in-cheek attitude. At the most soulful end of this eclectic range is his 2006 tribute to Junior Walker, Do the Boomerang (Blue Note).

Introduced by George Colligan's Hammond, "Cleo's Mood" is a gem built on the sinuous lines of Don Byron's tenor saxophone, a compelling and singable solo by guitarist David Gilmore, with Dean Bowman's vocals doing the rest towards building a slow simmering crescendo that stays with you well after the end of the song.

Happy listening!

Contact Ludovico Granvassu on All About Jazz.
I'm the Editor-in-Chief of All About Jazz Italia, host of Mondo Jazz on Radio Free Brooklyn and was once visited by Frank Zappa's ghost.... he was funny too.

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