"I’ve been waiting over 30 years for this to come out officially" Gilles Peterson
"Donald Byrd in a super rare 1973 public appearance of the Mizell brothers Fonce and Larry… but also Nathan Davis, Keith Kilgo, Kevin Toney and Allan Barnes of the Blackbyrds and Henry Franklin on the bass!!!
"A snapshot of a crucial period in the development of jazz funk… this is ESSENTIAL material … and the final piece of the live at Montreux series that featured concerts by Marlena Shaw, Ronnie Foster, Bobbi Humphrey and Bobby Hutcherson….it’s been a long wait!!" Gilles Peterson
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In 1973 Donald 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 Larry Mizell. 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 Larry Mizell on synthesizers, Fonce Mizell on trumpet and vocals.
The set list includes Larry Mizell’s tune “Black Byrd” along with otherwise unrecorded Byrd originals like “The East,” “Kwame,” and “Poco-Mania,” as well as an excellent cover of Stevie Wonder’s “You’ve Got It Bad Girl.”