Name: Ethiopian Knights
Brand: Donald Byrd

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

7759664

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Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2019-08-09

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Universal

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

0602577596643

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

Artist

Donald Byrd

Genre GB

Jazz

Label GB

Verve

Donald Byrd was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and educator. Born on December 9, 1932 in Detroit, Michigan, he had a prolific career that spanned several decades. Byrd's musical journey began at Cass Tech where he studied classical music under the mentorship of Dr. Harry Begian. He honed his skills playing trumpet in military bands during his time in the Air Force and later graduated from Wayne State University with a degree in music.

Byrd's unique style blended Clifford Brown's warm sound and fluent technique with his own rhythmically loose phrasing. He recorded extensively as both a sideman and leader for labels such as Savoy Records, Prestige, Riverside Records, and Blue Note. Byrd also played alongside baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams and gave pianist Herbie Hancock his first major exposure.

As a composer, Byrd showcased his versatility through church-inspired shouts, blues forms, and structurally interesting originals. His influential album "A New Perspective" merged his small group with a gospel choir. Despite his success in the music industry, Byrd never stopped pursuing education; he earned multiple degrees including a master's degree in music education from Manhattan School of Music and a law degree from Howard University.

In addition to his musical achievements, Byrd taught at various universities including Rutgers, Howard University,and North Carolina Central University. In the early 1970s, he

Verve Records, also known as Verve, is a multinational record label that was founded in 1956 by jazz impresario Norman Granz. The label originated from the consolidation of Granz's earlier labels, Norgran Records and Clef Records. In 1960, Verve was sold to MGM Records and became a subsidiary of the company. Throughout the 1960s, Verve expanded its music genres to include comedy, pop, R&B, rock, and folk music.

During this time, Verve had successful jazz recordings from artists such as Stan Getz, Kai Winding, Astrud Gilberto, Ella Fitzgerald, and Jimmy Smith under the direction of Creed Taylor. In 1972, MGM sold its record division to Polydor which brought Verve into the newly formed PolyGram family of record labels. As a result of this transition, Verve focused primarily on jazz reissues while other non-jazz releases were absorbed into Polydor.

In the late 1980s, PolyGram decided to revive Verve with both reissue programs and new artist signings. This revitalization led to strong sales for both new material and remastered classic recordings. With the merger of PolyGram and Vivendi Universal in 1999 creating Universal Music Group (UMG), Verve Records became part of The Verve Music Group alongside other influential labels such as Blue Note Records and Impulse! Records.

Classic 1972 album. If there’s one word to summarize Donald Byrd’s career, it’s undoubtedly “eclectic.” The trumpet player recorded his share of straight-ahead hard-bop, but he branched out pretty far from that central sound, adding vocal choir experiments on the groundbreaking A New Perspective, dabbling in soul jazz in the late ’60s, zoning out with space-age fusion sounds in the mid ’70s, and carving out a seriously funky groove on Ethiopian Knights. The name, admittedly, is a little misleading — there’s scarcely any trace of the Ethio-jazz sounds of musicians like Mulatu Astatke. Instead, it’s a dense fusion record a la Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, but funkier, catchier, and just fun to listen to all around. It contains only three compositions: 15-minute-plus bookends The Emperor and The Little Rasti, and the shorter Jamie sandwiched in between. While Miles was off on another, nearly untouchable plane, Byrd took influence from the likes of Sly Stone and James Brown and made something infectiously funky. The album’s just under 40 minutes, but the groove never stops.

Ethiopian Knights

Music GB

Buy Donald Byrd - Ethiopian Knights (Vinyl, CD) now from Rough Trade - independent purveyors of great music, since 1976.