Don Byas, largely overshadowed, but now finally honored in a 10 CD box set…
Don Byas – Classic Don Byas Sessions 1944-1946 – Mosaic Records #MD- 277 – 10 CD – ****
(Artists include: Don Byas – tenor sax (as leader and sideman); with other artists including Charlie Shavers, Hot Lips Page, Emmett Berry, Frankie Newton, Buck Clayton, Dizzy Gillespie (trumpets); Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, Ben Webster, Earl Bostic, Lucky Thompson (saxophones); Trummy Young, Vic Dickenson, Benny Morton (trombones); Clyde Hart, Johnny Guarnieri, Jimmy Jones, Teddy Wilson, Thelonious Monk, Errol Garner, Pete Johnson (piano); Slam Stewart, Oscar Pettiford, John Levy, Al Hall (bass); Cozy Cole, Denzil Best, J.C. Heard, Shelly Manne (drums) )
Throughout American jazz history there have been many musicians who have largely stayed under the radar screen in recognizing their “greatness.” Whether it be succumbing to poor health, drug addiction, or lack of publicity, they never have received their due while they were living, or didn’t receive their accolades until long after they passed away.
There is another category for lack of recognition. That would be artists with a following overseas that never reaches the States, or those that have left our country for greater acceptance elsewhere in the world. It is in that category that we find tenor saxophonist, Don Byas. Born,Carlos Wesley Byas, on Oct. 21, 1913, in Oklahoma, Don came up in a legendary period of tenor sax legends, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Ben Webster. After playing in the Midwest and California, Don came to New York City in 1937. Possessing “torrent of notes” talents, as well as a muscular tenor tone, and initially influenced by Art Tatum, Byas fit in well with the New York scene, but within the next decade a restlessness set in. Don became disenchanted with the lack of recognition he was receiving. He left for Europe in September, 1946, and largely stayed away, performing on the continent there, for the next 26 years, dying in Amsterdam, on August 24, 1972.
The collectors’ boutique jazz label, Mosaic Records, recently released a huge 10 CD set of a major part of Don’s recordings (studio, club dates, and radio recordings) (Classic Don Byas Sessions- 1944-1946), a prime period when Byas was most active in New York City. These historical recordings, hopefully, will rectify the lack of availability of his recordings stateside, and give his saxophone talents center stage. For recordings of this period, the sound stage is exemplary, with sound restoration and mastering done by Andreas Meyer, using 24-bit technology. The album index was obtained from 78 RPM albums, EP, and 10 and 12 inch LP issues. A major bonus is the inclusion of home recordings of Baron Timme Rosenkrantz, during the autumn of 1944, at Timme’s apartment in New York City. Rosenkrantz had a life long love of jazz, and Don Byas was one of his particular favorites.
Don possessed an intriguing mix of sensuous ballad skills (he aptly described as playing the “sexophone”), as well as the ability to play and improvise complicated chord structures with clean articulation and speed. He could, and did fit in anywhere, whether onboard for the emerging bop idioms, as well as in small group swing sessions, or in big band settings. Charlie Parker was so impressed with Byas, noting that “he could play anything.” That statement is fully evidenced throughout the over 700+ minutes of recordings on this box set.
There are way too many highlights to document, but here are some to whet your appetite:
We begin in 1944, where Mr. Byas plays on “Free and Easy,” showing an early debt and affinity with Ben Webster. “Worried and Blue” has an ethereal Clyde Hart on celeste. The jam session at the Savoy, with two tracks, has trumpeter, Charlie Shavers, hitting his trademark high notes and altoist, Rudy Williams blowing sweetly like Willie Smith. Byas is at his libidinous best on “What Do You Want With My Heart”. “Bass C Jam” channels the Count.
Disc 2 has “Good For Stompin'” with a dream front line of Hot Lips Page, Earl Bostic, Ike Quebec, Vic Dickenson, and Byas. “Hank’s Pranks,” features Hank D’Amico on a sprightly clarinet, and Cozy Cole’s deft brushwork. There is also a Frankie Newton trumpet, and pianist Dave Rivera, feature of “Sly Witch from Greenwich.” “S.K. Blues” has Byas, and Frankie Newton backing barrel house singer, Big Joe Turner and pianist, Pete Johnson.
Discs 4 through early Disc 4, are the apartment recordings of Timme Rosenkrantz. Who wouldn’t want to be a fly on the wall in an intimate setting in a living room, with Don Byas, Lucky Thompson, and a young Thelonious Monk.
Highlights from Chez de Timme include a sublime ballad medley feature from Byas on “My Ideal,” “I Can’t Get Started,” and “Memories of You,” all in a duo setting with pianist, Jimmy Jones. On a Nov. 6, 1944 evening at the apartment, Byas has nearly 17 minutes to re-imagine, and breathe life into “Tea for Two.” Nearly two weeks later Don puts a lighter touch on “Oh, Lady Be Good,” this time backed by Sammy Benskin.
A special meeting occurred that Fall when Lucky Thompson (at age 20!) teams up with Don. At that young age, Lucky was heavily influenced by Coleman Hawkins. It wasn’t a “cutting session,” and Byas’ solos with Thompson tell a likely tale of inspiring his young partner with his improvisational skills. Further “challenges” to impress follow on “Cherokee.”
Then there is the aforementioned meeting with Monk and Thompson, with elder statesman, Hot Lips Page. There is a deference to Monk’s unique keyboard genius on “Crazy Rhythm,” “Lullaby in Rhythm,” and “What is the Thing Called Love.”
The balance of Disc 7, and the following three discs are devoted to club dates, and studio sessions for small labels. Byas is featured with veteran all-stars, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Shavers, and Trummy Young, as well as emerging be-boppers Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Parker (!). Motifs range from Swing- “Comes the Don,” and “Rosetta,” to the be-bop of Dizzy Gillespie’s Sextet from Jan. 1945, where the now standard, “Salt Peanuts” emerges. And we hear from a new generation of future stars like bassist Oscar Pettiford, and drummer, Shelly Manne. They were in their early 20s then, and ready to step up.
A man for all musical seasons, Don Byas, continued to keep busy in his last 18 months in the States, leading his own group with trumpeter, Joe Thomas, as well as with big bands of Benny Carter and Don Redman, and with other small groups, content to take his final bites out of the Big Apple.
August, 1945, found Don playing with a then 23 year old Errol Garner; and Ben Webster entering Byas’ orbit, along with Earl Bostic and Hot Lips Page on “They Raided the Joint.” Byas also had the chance to record with Count Basie and Duke Ellington’s sidemen, Joe Newman, Neal Hefti (on trumpet), Russell Procope, and Flip Phillips. Future West coast stalwart, Shorty Rogers, even makes an appearance.
Byas ended his stay in the U.S. on a Gotham label recording on Sept. 7, 1946, with four tracks backed by Beryl Booker. He left for Europe later the same day, hardly ever to come back to the USA to perform. It certainly was a major musical gain for “across the pond”, while a major loss for jazz fans here.
Luckily, we now have a chance to revisit, and honor Mr. Don Byas with a mega-CD set, as evidence of his well earned status as a jazz tenor sax icon.
—Jeff Krow
CD Time list:
Disc 1: 72:43
Disc 2: 79:10
Disc 3: 71:25
Disc 4: 71:54
Disc 5: 61:52
Disc 6: 76:31
Disc 7: 71:39
Disc 8: 76:19
Disc 9: 75:45
Disc 10: 61:11
Labels Represented:
Savoy, National, Majestic, Plymouth, Caete, Masterseal, Pumpkin, Storyville, King
More information through Mosaic Records
