Donald Byrd and 125th Street, N.Y.C. - Love Byrd (1981)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 2007 Wounded Bird reissue.

Last fall, I purchased an album by jazz vibist Roy Ayers which sent me on a disco-fusion journey - I purchased/listened to a lot of such music from the late '70s/early '80s, including releases from trumpeter Donald Byrd with the Mizell Brothers. For this love-themed album, Byrd teamed up with Memphis legend Isaac Hayes instead of the Mizells. Oddly, the result reminds me more of Earth, Wind & Fire than either artist's previous work and that's not intended as an insult. Maybe it's just me. There's not much of Byrd's horn playing on the thing, but I dig the tunes and grooves. Overall, an enjoyable album.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "stands as some of Ike Hayes' most tasteful work to date"
• Record World: "Byrd's return to the recording scene is an auspicious one"
• Record Mirror (★★★★): "mighty and inspired"
• Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide (1985): ★★★
• Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #93
• Billboard Jazz: #7
• Billboard R&B: #15
• CashBox: #82
• CashBox Jazz: #3

Tracks: True to the name of the album, 5 of the 7 tracks have the word "love" in their titles. The lead track, Love Has Come Around, peaked at #4 on the dance charts and #15 on the R&B chart. It's a great disco tune and might have even scored higher if it had been released a few years earlier. The other tracks are more in the EWF vein I mentioned earlier, except the final track which has more of an early '70s Marvin Gaye feel. The only misstep is track 6, a version of Cole Porter's Love For Sale, and you really don't realize what's going on for a while because the disco beat is going and there's some funky Clavinet playing. Then about a minute in, the familiar Porter tune enters the game and stops you in your tracks while you scratch your head (how's that for a mixed metaphor?).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Speaking of love, around the time this album was released in 1981, I had a huge crush on a girl who played alto saxophone in the band. In typical adolescent fashion, she was a year older and half a foot taller than me. No matter. I pestered the heck out of her, always sidling up next to her at lunch, band practices, bus rides, Friday night football games. Fortunately for her, my phone game was nonexistent at that point in my life so I didn't bother her at home. I must have been more exasperating than flirtatious, but what did I know? She never told me to get the hell away from her, but it eventually occurred to me that I had taken up permanent residence in the proverbial friend zone, so I quickly moved on to focus my affections on some other unlucky young lady. But that really doesn't have much to do with this Byrd album other than coincidental timing, so never mind. As you were.