Donald Byrd’s Chant Tone Poet LP — Musical Discussion.

Let’s have at it.

I had never heard this album before and I love it. Let’s discuss your thoughts on this one.

 

To my mind, the most revelatory aspect of the Chant LP (a record I hadn't heard before) is how fully formed Herbie Hancock was on what was likely his first ever studio session. I think he lost a step when he first joined Miles, likely out of nerves, and then he learned quite a bit more from Miles and became the legend we know today. This early recording shed new light and made me reconsider Herbie's earliest years.

 

Absolutely. Byrd of this era is kind of hit-and-miss for me but I was really looking forward to this one because of Herbie specifically. Not even a little disappointed.

 

Pepper Adams just growls on this one, too. A terrific choice to bring out for the Tone Poet series.

 

I have all of the Byrd/Adams MMJs, so I look forward to adding this one to my collection. How does the SQ on this session compare to the likes of, say, Royal Flush?

 

I'm guessing it compares favorably. A good excuse to pull Royal Flush back off the shelf. And Herbie's on that one, too!

 

I’m so happy the grungy tone of Pepper’s sax shines through like it does. But I’ve gotten a kick out of listening to Herbie and looking at the picture of what looks like a high school pianist. He swings right with these guys.
I think it’s great that between these two series they seem to release related albums in one way or another. Herbie’s of course on seemingly everything, but it’s been fun to compare and contrast Byrd ten years prior to Ethiopian Knights, which I’ve been enjoying recently.

 

I wish I had that one on LP to compare. Looks like I need to go shopping...

 

Musically I absolutely love this session. It’s very diverse! There’s something about the whole cut that really reminds me of the MM Mobley feelin’s good (outside the similar personnel). Herbie at this young age just sounds so complete. Donald Byrd just sounds so freaking clean and perfect, it’s very George Coleman esque in that it’s so technically clean, like Wynton Marsalis clean lol. Very joyous feeling, these guys are happy to be playing with each other. But pepper brings in the dirt and Herbie does some real funky nasty stuff along the way.

 

Yeah it’s a great mix of styles and lil Herbie (ha) is really the glue. Love it.

 

It's a tough one to find. Beat of luck. I’ve found the forum WTB section the best place to score the OOP titles at good prices. Doesn’t always work out, but I’ve gotten some great deals there

 

Always my first stop!

 

Ha! Nice thread...

Just finished another listen this evening. Of course already been raving about this one and the more I listen the more I hear Pepper and Herbie stealing the show here. Outstanding sound and separation really help make the music shine big time! Easily one of my favorites from the 14 so far.

Edit - might be a good idea to start a separate thread for each release as they hit or maybe not. Thoughts?

 

Chant really bridges the older Byrd In Hand band sound to something like Royal Flush and Free Form. I’m really digging this obscure drummer on Chant. Maybe MrBritt can shed some light on Teddy Robinson.

 

Glad to have you aboard!

It’s funny, it seems like every time a new pair comes out, I think one of them (at least!) is in my top 3. That’s a real mark of quality and shows how well selected these titles have been. I know a lot of the folks have been previewing these albums online before buying titles they don’t know. I’m very purposefully NOT doing that because the joy of hearing them for the first time is, to me, best experienced through these great sounding LPs. Also, from the jump I knew enough of the titles already that I had a feeling my tastes and @Joe Harley were very well aligned. I never would have thought to buy Cassandra Wilson, for example, but here we are and I love it.

And YES to the separation comment. Really helps you appreciate what each individual is bringing with his style.

 

I was going to ask! I have never heard of him either. @MisterBritt can you help us out?

 

Good comparison - I generally used to avoid the old 1979 BN LT stuff - but these two especially were ready to go. Now we have covers to match the level of the music.

 

It's bizarre to me that Chant was left in the vault, but then so were so many great sessions (Lee Morgan's The Procrastinator, anyone?). The music really is just as good, if not better, than any other Donald Byrd LP from those days.

 

And what about those trills from Pepper after Herbie plays an Ellington-like chord near the end Of Sophisticated Lady!

 

Goosebumps!!!

 

I'm right there with you in regards to having another one of my favorites so to speak as they come out. I get excited very easily over getting and hearing a new album. It's been in my blood since I was very young and it helped me make a career out of it. I'm already restless for 10/25 and I'm not making that up.

Do not like streaming either, want to hear my music pure. I did have to sample a few songs from the Cassandra Wilson, because I was so hesitant and especially since it's a double. Really glad I got it. Sounds much better coming from my turntable of course.

 

Yah! Because of the low end growl of it you get some crazy overtones, such a beautiful resonant instrument.

 

Yes! The Procrastinator is top-tier Morgan. I wonder if it was a financial thing or they didn’t want to flood the market or something? Because no one in their right mind would listen to either Chant or Procrastinator (or Shorter’s Etc!) and think they weren’t up to snuff.

 

There has been some discussion about the relationship between Donald Byrd and Herbie Hancock. It's all in Herbie's book, "Possibilities." Donald Byrd basically discovered Herbie and took him under his wing. There was a blizzard in Chicago the night Herbie met Donald. Donald's original pianist snowed out, a jam session pursued later that night with Herbie on piano, and next you know, Herbie's off to Milwaukee with Donald's band. How crazy was that?

After the gig, Donald and I talked again. He knew I had a lot to learn ... "Herbie, I've been talking it over with the band, and we like the way you play. We want you to join the band."

"But you already have a piano player," I said, confused.

"We'll fire him," Donald told me. We want you. But you'll have to move to New York. What do you think?"

" ... So that was that, less than a month later, in January of 1961, I took my very first airplane trip, from Chicago's Midway Airport to New York's Idlewild. I arrived with three bags and a couple hundred dollars in my pocket, and I took a bus in to Manhattan to start my new life." ... Donald had promised my parents he'd take care of me, and he did.

Man, I am leaving out so much great stuff, but these are just some samplings from the book to give you an idea. He goes on to talk about how he came to compose "Watermelon Man." Fantastic story!

In the spring of 1962, at Donald's urging, I went to meet with Alfred Lion and Frank Wolff, whom I'd already met through my work on Donald's record "Royal Flush." Alfred and Frank were German immigrants, childhood friends who migrated to the United States and then founded Blue Note records in 1939.... But we weren't done yet. Donald had given me one other piece of advise [the first was to tell them he was about to be drafted. I won't cover the thinking behind that] before my meeting. "I'll help you set up your own publishing company, because they're gonna tell you that you have to put your compositions into their publishing company," he told me. "And you have to say no." I told Donald I was afraid to do that -- afraid that Blue Note would pull out of any record deal if I did. "No, they won't," Donald assured me. "They're going to record you."

That one piece of advise from Donald probably made Herbie millions of dollars just on the financial strength of the publishing rights to that one tune, Watermelon Man. Moving way forward in the book, here's the transition from Donald's band to Mile's band. Herbie and Donald were roommates. Herbie had met Miles by this time and Miles had asked him to play "Stella by Starlight" one time. Miles said, "Nice Touch." That's the short version.

Despite that compliment, when the rumors started going around the next year that he was looking for me, I still found it hard to believe. Everybody wanted to play with Miles, so it seemed unimaginable that of all the jazz pianist in the world, I was the one he wanted, I didn't put any stock in the rumors, but they kept on buzzing.

Donald must have believed them, because one afternoon in early May, as we were sitting in the apartment, he said "Okay, Herbie. When Miles calls, you've got to tell him you're not working with anybody."

"Come on, Donald," I said. I don't know if he's going to call, but even if he does, how could I do that to you?" Donald had brought me to New York, and I'd been in his band ever since He was like a brother to me, and I told him so. "You've helped me so much, with the record contract and the publishing deal -- "

"Shut up, man!" he snapped. "If I stood in the way of you getting this job, I couldn't look at myself in the mirror." Donald loved to joke around, but he wasn't joking now. "When Miles asks, you do what I told you."

The next afternoon, the phone rang in our apartment. I picked it up and heard the raspy, unmistakable voice of Miles Davis. "Hello, Herbie," he said. "You workin' with anybody right now?" Miles wasn't one to waste words.

This might give the reader some idea of how tight Donald and Herbie were. I'm leaving out huge swaths of the book that demonstrate the relationship between them.

 

You're asking about Teddy Robinson, the drummer on Chant. From Michael Cuscuna's liner notes:

"The drummer on this date is Teddy Robinson, about whom little is known. In fact, this could well be his only record. His work has the verve and drive of Art Blakey, the master of them all."

I'm not sure how far back Michael Cuscuna goes with Blue Note. He would have been about 12 years old when Chant was recorded, April 17, 1961. Wikipedia indicates he did some work for Blue Note as early as 1975 -- but something makes me think that was Mosaic reissue stuff. I don't really know the history of this album. I'm halfway guessing Chant was not released until 1979 (under license by Mosaic?). That's looks like when the original liner notes by Michael Cuscuna were copyrighted. So these Tone Poet liner notes might actually be the original liner notes, albeit from 1979. "The Blue Note Label/A Discography, Revised and Expanded" from which my following notes are derived, was compiled by Michael Cuscuna and Michale Ruppli, but copyrighted in 2001, well after the Chant liner notes.

And back to drummer Teddy Robinson. Here's what I discovered inside the pages of "The Blue Note Label/A Discography, Revised and Expanded:"

Teddy Robinson was back in Rudy's studio February 10, 1967 for an unissued Andrew Hill record that was neither titled nor released. Then again, May 17, 1967, on another ill-fated and unreleased Andrew Hill record. And again, October 31, 1967, on what appears to be a wholly other unissued Andrew Hill record. These Andrew Hill unissued projects appear to be unique because both the personnel and the tunes are changing at each subsequent session. Andrew Hill is not making first, second and third attempts at the same material nor with the same personnel. So Teddy Robinson, originally erroneously listed as Eddy Robinson on BN LT-991, recorded four records for Blue Note. But Chant is the only one to have been released. It would be almost interesting to see if an original copy of Chant lists him as Eddy or Teddy Robinson.