Charlie Byrd
Tasteful, low-key, and ingratiatingly melodic, Charlie Byrd had two
notable accomplishments to his credit -- applying acoustic
classical guitar techniques to jazz and popular music and helping
to introduce Brazilian music to mass North American audiences. Born
into a musical family, Byrd experienced his first brush with
greatness while a teenager in France during World War II, playing
with his idol Django Reinhardt. After some postwar gigs with Sol
Yaged, Joe Marsala and Freddie Slack, Byrd temporarily abandoned
jazz to study classical guitar with Sophocles Papas in 1950 and
Andrés Segovia in 1954. However he re-emerged later in the decade
gigging around the Washington D.C. area in jazz settings, often
splitting his sets into distinct jazz and classical segments. He
started recording for Savoy as a leader in 1957, and also recorded
with the Woody Herman Band in 1958-59. A tour of South America
under the aegis of the U.S. State Department in 1961, proved to be
a revelation, for it was in Brazil that Byrd discovered the
emerging bossa nova movement. Once back in D.C., he played some
bossa nova tapes to Stan Getz, who then convinced Verve's Creed
Taylor to record an album of Brazilian music with himself and Byrd.
That album, Jazz Samba, became a pop hit in 1962 on the strength of
the single "Desafinado" and launched the bossa nova wave in North
America. Thanks to the bossa nova, several albums for Riverside
followed, including the defining Bossa Nova Pelos Passaros, and he
was able to land a major contract with Columbia, though the records
from that association often consisted of watered-down easy
listening pop. In 1973, he formed the group Great Guitars with Herb
Ellis and Barney Kessel and also that year, wrote an instruction
manual for the guitar that has become widely used. From 1974
onward, Byrd recorded for the Concord Jazz label in a variety of
settings, including sessions with Laurindo Almeida and Bud Shank.
He died December 2, 1999 after a long bout with cancer. ~ Richard
S. Ginell Similar artists
Albums
366
albums sorted by Most acclaimed
€4.04
Jazz - Released August 9, 2013 | President Jazz Records
€13.99
Jazz - Released January 1, 1997 | Concord Records
€14.49
Pop/Rock - Released March 22, 1994 | Legacy - Columbia
The arrangements by Tommy Newsom for strings, brass, and woodwinds may be a bit sweet and the 13 performances are often under three minutes, but the resulting music is strangely pleasing. Acoustic guitarist Charlie Byrd always had a strong affinity for Brazilian jazz, and he sticks exclusively to Antonio Carlos Jobim songs (including "Só Danço Samba," "Corcovado," "Dindi," and "The Girl from Ipanema") during this tasteful and melodic effort. Truly beautiful music. ~ Scott Yanow
€10.99
Jazz - Released January 1, 1981 | Concord Records, Inc.
€11.99
€7.99
Jazz - Released January 1, 2015 | Trunk Records
Hi-Res
€14.99
Jazz - Released January 1, 2000 | Fantasy Records
Mild, smooth trio date with Byrd playing light jazz, occasional Afro-Latin, and even a mock classical number, backed by bassist Joe Byrd and drummer Bertell Knox. This sometimes comes close to, but never becomes, mood music. The 2000 reissue approximately doubles the length of the original release with seven previously unissued tracks (none alternate versions) cut at the same live sessions. The extra material is stylistically consistent with the rest of the disc, encompassing pop ("The Way We Were"), classic jazz ("It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"), Vivaldi's "Concerto in G," and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Meditation." ~ Ron Wynn & Richie Unterberger
€4.99
World - Released January 24, 2012 | Balanço
€13.99
Ambient/New Age - Released January 1, 1982 | Concord Records
Charlie Byrd performs 14 Christmas songs on this set as quiet and generally introspective solo guitar recitals. The music is well played, as one would expect, but there is not much variety in mood; all of the renditions are under three minutes, and humor is absent in favor of reverence. Pleasant and sincere background music. ~ Scott Yanow
€10.99
Jazz - Released January 1, 1996 | Concord Records
€3.99
Latin America - Released May 2, 2013 | White
€16.99
€14.49
Jazz - Released January 15, 1968 | Columbia - Legacy
Hi-Res
€4.04
Bossa Nova & Brazil - Released April 8, 2016 | Sector Records
€9.99
Pop - Released January 4, 2013 | Brazilian Classics
€13.99
Jazz - Released January 1, 2003 | Concord Records
Although Charlie Byrd recorded dozens of quality albums, the 1960s weren't one of his best decades. Although his guitar work was excellent, as always, it tended to get buried in awkward arrangements of the latest Beatles' songs. As a result, his music often sounded cheesy. It's a rare pleasure, then, to listen to Solo Flight, which was recorded for Riverside in 1965. With no distracting accompaniment, Byrd cuts to the musical chase and delivers 11 lovely, succinct guitar suites. He combines a smooth blend of chords and solo runs, much as Joe Pass would later do, on favorites like "Satin Doll" and "Easy Living," along with fun oddities like "House of the Rising Sun." Unlike Pass, Byrd approaches a song like "Am I Blue" in a fairly simple, straightforward manner, more interested in the melody than virtuosity. "You Took Advantage of Me," for instance, runs only a bit over three minutes, mostly because the guitarist has developed all the ideas he cared to develop within that time frame. Many fans of more progressive jazz will find this all a bit conservative, but Byrd fans happily note that his best work has a timeless quality. Solo Flight easily fits into that category. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.
€11.98
Pop - Released July 31, 2018 | Marathon Media International
