DONALD BYRD jazz LP BLUE NOTE “Fancy Free” VAN GELDER Liberty ‘70 NM

$

40

Artist:   DONALD BYRD

Title:   “Fancy Free”

Label:   BLUE NOTE  # BST-84319.  Stereo pressing on medium weight vinyl.  Labels are white/blue with blue text. 

Label address is “BLUE NOTE RECORDS * A DIVISION OF LIBERTY RECORDS, INC.”

Label has “R” symbol under Blue Note logo.

“VAN GELDER” is stamped in the runout groove on both sides. 

Personnel:  

Frank Foster – tenor

Lew Tabackin or Jerry Dodgion – flute

Julian Priester – trombone

Duke Pearson – electric piano

Roland Wilson – bass

Jimmy Ponder – guitar

Joe Chambers or Leo Morris – drums

Nat Bettis and John Robinson – percussion.  

Condition: 

DISC:  Vinyl is NEAR MINT with 100% of original gloss, as clean as can be found.  Appears to have been played one or two times at most, and handled with care.  Labels are clean.  Fidelity is superb.  A gorgeous disc you will never need to upgrade.      

JACKET:   Jacket is EXCELLENT with nice bright artwork.   Light wear on seams, spine, and corner tips have been bumped.  Reverse some minor ring wear and sticker residue at bottom right corner.   Overall a very fine jacket to accompany the beautiful disc.  

Track Listing: 

Side One:

• Fancy Free
• I Love the Girl

Side Two:

• The Uptowner
• Weasil       

Review:

“1969's Fancy Free marked the beginning of Donald Byrd's move away from hard bop, staking out fusion-flavored territory that -- at this juncture -- owed more to Miles Davis than the R&B-dominated jazz-funk Byrd would embrace several years down the road.  Recorded just a few months after Davis' In a Silent Way, Fancy Free finds Byrd leading a large ensemble prominently featuring Frank Foster on tenor, Lew Tabackin or Jerry Dodgion on flute, and several percussionists.  But the most important piece of the puzzle is Duke Pearson's electric piano, the first time Byrd utilized the instrument.  Pearson dominates the texture of the group sound, which makes the entirety of the session seem farther outside the realm of funky hard bop than it actually is.   However, that's not to say that Fancy Free isn't a clear break with Byrd's past -- especially the two Byrd originals that open the album.  The title track -- which later became one of Byrd's more covered compositions -- contrasts Pearson's spacy musings with a busy, funky percussion groove, and there's a loose, open feel to the improvisations that breaks with hard bop conventions.  The warm ballad "I Love the Girl" has a similarly airy feel, and at eight and a half minutes, is the shortest cut; clearly Byrd wanted an open framework for exploration.  The other two numbers are more traditional hard bop compositions by former Byrd students, which -- although funky and full of improvisations -- can't help but feel more tethered than their predecessors.  Still, even if it isn't his most adventurous fusion outing, Fancy Free is the rare Donald Byrd album that holds appeal for rare-groove fanatics and traditionalists alike.”

(courtesy Steve Huey, allmusic.com.)

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