Mustang! (studio album) by Donald Byrd

From Fischman 04/06/2020 20:43

I have always enjoyed Donald Byrds early hard bop outings as well as his later soul jazz and jazz funk fusion releases. So what happened in between? If this album is any indication, some damn fine straight ahead mainstream jazz, that's what! The opening title cut is a hot, swingin' affair fit for toe tappin', head bobbin' and some serious testifyin'!

McCoy Tyner elevates this album with both his strong chording and fleet fingered right hand. The front line is well rounded with both alto (Sonny Red) and Tenor (Hank Mobley), and Byrd makes effective use of all the sounds, styles, and timbres at his disposal, not the least of which is his very own impeccable tone in his lead trumpet. While I'm always happy to hear Mobley, and he doesn't disappoint here, the nice surprise on this album was the delightful contributions of Sonny Red.

Byrd's own "Fly Little Bird, Fly" shreds through a menagerie of "Giant Steps" frequency and complexity of chord changes and accordingly becomes a technical showpiece. He adds a vine if not overly memorable rendition of Ellington's "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" and then moves to a rather by-the-numbers but surprisingly fun, extra groovy 12 bar "Dixie Lee" where his own solo still manages to steal the show from the irrepressible groove. At this point, something I'm not expecting to hear is "On the Trail" from Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite... but there it is, and it fits quite nicely!

This album seems to get as much lackluster love, if any at all, as it does raves. I suppose I can see why if someone is looking for original or seminal hard bop. But I'm gonna' join the few who really praise this album as it does what it does exceptionally well. For me, this is a great album that really scratches that itch to explore a 'tween period in jazz.