Jaki Byard

Born: June 15, 1922

A musician that has spanned the generations of Jazz is Jaki Byard. Jaki Byard was born John Arthur Byard, Jr. on June 15, 1922 in Worcester, Massachusetts. His father was a member of the marching hands at the turn of the 20th century and played the trombone. His mother played the piano for the African Methodist Episcopalian Zion Church (AME). His maternal grandmother played the piano for the silent picture shows (visual movies without sound before "talking movies" were invented). It was on that piano that Jaki began his musical odyssey.

When he was 8 years old, he started taking piano lessons from a piano teacher named Grace Johnson. The swing rhythm of the time and the lure of the big bands inspired Jaki throughout most of his career. At the age of 16, he played his first professional engagement. During WW II, Jaki was drafted into the army, but with luck and circumstance, he was able to join the army along with Earl Bostic, with whom he would later form a musical alliance with.

Eric McPherson: Double Bass Quartet - Live

by Pierre Giroux
September 1, 2025

Drummer Eric McPherson has long been recognized as a musician who combines rhythmic ingenuity and structural awareness in any project he undertakes. With Double Bass Quartet, recorded before a quietly appreciative New York audience, McPherson has assembled an unconventional line-up of Cuban pianist David Virelles along with bassists John Hébert and Ben Street, that challenges and ...

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by Paul Rauch
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Rob Mazurek, Ches Smith, Steve Lehman, and Joe Fonda

by Jerome Wilson
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This show features recent recordings by Joe Fonda, Steve Lehman and Ches Smith as well as older ones by Rob Mazurek, Kevin Sun, and Emily Remler. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Jethro Tull “Serenade ...

Jed Levy: Faces and Places

by Jack Kenny
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This is a beautiful album that is fired up right from the start. The sound of the tenor is faintly reminiscent of Warne Marsh. There is no seeking after angularity. Jed Levy's way with melody is completely natural and integrated into the quintet, though there are surprises all the way through the improvisations. Jed ...

Jaki Byard: Blues For Smoke

by Fran Kursztejn
April 25, 2025

If Jaki Byard is most commonly categorized as a proud progenitor of the 'new jazz,' as his seminal work with Eric Dolphy on Outward Bound and Charles Mingus on Black Saint and the Sinner Lady would suggest, then a record like Blues for Smoke may throw listeners for a loop. Byard's notoriously difficult to pin down--a ...

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by Adam Beaudoin
April 9, 2025

Winter JazzfestNew York, NYJanuary 9-15, 2025 Impressions of A Love Supreme We are standing in a line outside the venue, waiting in the January chill to listen to nearly two dozen musicians perform and pay tribute to John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, 60 years to the month after its release. People ...

Peter Madsen, Immanuel Wilkins, and the WDR Big Band

by Jerome Wilson
April 9, 2025

This program contains new music from Peter Madsen, the WDR Big Band and the Steve Allee Big Band. It also features Immanuel Wilkins, Jaki Byard, and Taylor Ho Bynum. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 ...

Don Ellis: How Time Passes to Essence Revisited

by Angelo Leonardi
March 24, 2025

Nelle storie del jazz Don Ellis �� ricordato principalmente per l'innovativa big band che guid�� per un decennio, dalla met�� degli anni sessanta. Questa preziosa riedizione ci rammenta i suoi inizi di carriera, quando esplorava nuove soluzioni a partire dalla tromba: accoppia il suo debutto in quartetto (...How Time Passes...) dell'ottobre 1960 con alcuni brani di ...

How Time Passes to Essence Revisited

By Don Ellis

Label: Ezz-thetics
Released: 2024
Track listing: ��How Time Passes; Sallie; A Simplex One; Waste; Improvisational Suite 1; Slow Space; Ostinato; Donkey; Form; Irony.