Middle Man: Don Byas
(6 downloads)Saturday, Dec 15, 2007
After Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, Don Byas was perhaps the main transitional figure in tenor sax playing when the swing and big band era was waning and Bebop was emerging as the dominant style. Byas, who was very much a stylistic protégée of Coleman Hawkins, was born in Muskogee, OK and came to New York in 1937 at the age of 24 after spending some time playing on the West Coast. He got his big break in 1941 when he was asked to succeed Lester Young in Count Basie’s orchestra. He played with Basie until 1943, after that stint we see him becoming involved with the young up and coming Bebop artists and he is found on some of the earliest recordings of Bebop as a discernible style. In spite of his contributions to Bebop’s genesis, Byas always kept a foot planted solidly in the swing form and its more traditional stylistic parameters. This 1945 recording of ‘Smoke Gets in Your Eyes’ well illustrates this aspect of his playing. Here, Byas is backed by an impressive lineup of Slam Stewart on bass, Errol Garner, piano and Harold ‘Doc’ West on the drums.
In 1946 he went to Europe to tour with Don Redman’s Orchestra and decided not to come back. He relocated first in Paris and then ultimately he moved to Holland, got married and stayed there until his death in 1972. He remained active on the European circuit but his name recognition faded quickly back home in the US.
This recording is a nice example of what was brewing during one of Western music’s significant intermediary periods. Kind of like what the early 70’s were for movies. See the Tony Mottola stuff a couple posts back for some more.
Arista 5001, 1945