Stepping Into Tomorrow

Born Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, Donald Byrd is a very talented, well trained jazz and blues trumpter. He has played with some of the best in his field, including Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Sonny Rollins, Monk, John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock. His sound during this time period was hard bop jazz.NOW . . . allow yourself to switch gears for a bit. It's the early 70s and Byrd teams up with jazz-funk producers, the Mizell Brothers, Fonce and Larry. Out of this union, FIVE albums are born, giving Byrd a new sound and much commerical success. They are:1972--Black Byrd (biggest selling album in BLUE NOTE label history)1973--Street Lady1974--Stepping Into Tomorrow1975--Places and Spaces1976--CaricaturesFor the most part, if you are a jazz purist, these five albums may not work for you. However, if you are simply a defender and promoter of good music as I am, (especially 70s funk/jazz/soul) dust off your cd player and make space in your music library. These five cds need to be in your collection.Stepping Into Tomorrow, as well as the others listed, has a blended, smooth, layered sound. A sound with texture. The same "type" sound you'd hear when you listen to the 70s music of Roy Ayers, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfied or Isaac Hayes. It's a very sophisticated, down to earth sound. The Mizell Bros were also very successful with two Bobbi Humphrey albums and a Gary Bartz album, all worthy of owning. I love this cd! But then and again, I love Donald Byrd! Along with Roy Ayers, he is one of the most sampled jazz artists, thanks to the Hip-Hop community. Blending of the old with the new. Talkin' about steppin' into tomorrow. Now that's progressive!

For many years the term "rare groove" eluded me. Apparently it's a term,which as with most things musical these days applicable to hip-hop,referring to funky instrumental grooves (particularly ones from the 70's) that make good beds for DJs,rappers and what have you. A lot has been done well with the rare groove genre. Sometimes though I think the personality of some of the people involved in this have tended to "sell" the music onto the newer generation as opposed to genuinely influence them. One could say this was positive exposure either way. Of course this particular album,recorded with different musicians than those on Blackbyrd and a year and a half later,has an important place in Byrd's vast musical catalog as well. Recorded at a time when his group of Howard University students The Blackbyrds were just taking off as a big act there's something especially unique about this album even during this particular period of Donald Byrd's musical output. One reason is the title song. The groove tends to be somewhat more obviously in the pocket funk. And the strong melody is both brooding and somehow optimistic. It evokes a certain type of secular spirituality that charactarized the United Funk sound of the mid/late 1970's and is probably one of the most important Larry Mizel/Donald Byrd collaborations of Byrd's funk period. Throughout the album the grooves are more minor chorded and probing than before. In fact far funkier than poppy or soulfunk on "Design A Nation","Think Twice","Makin' It" and "You Are The World". These songs are built more upon Chuck Rainey's baselines and the melodic sax explorations of Gary Bartz than on major key melodies or electric piano solos. Mizell's synthesizers often create grand textures of sound all their own. One can hear these on the softer numbers such as "Rock And Roll Again" and the closer "I Love The Girl",the only Byrd composition on this album. Even though I am sure it was met with the same critical evil eye as most of Byrds,or any jazz-funk innvator's work was receiving at this time the years ahead would tell a very different story. Of course a lot of that did have to do with hip-hop/DJ related sampling. That probably had to do with this music often failing to gain much recognition on it's own terms. Donald Byrd's period of being produced by the Mizell's was of course the funkiest and most groove laden of his career. But something about this album and just it's overall flavor took it to the next level. Most of the Byrd/Mizell albums contained mainly upbeat material. This one was just a tad bit darker and subversive. And even though the vocals were limited,the instrumentation and repetition of lyrics,important features of funk anyway,are definitely driving home a message here. And that message is actually about futurism. Of art,of the person and life in general. The mid 70's were certainly and interesting canvas from which any artist could draw a lot of inspiration from. Especially when it came to coloration. And this music has colors of many kinds.

I had this on 8-track back in the seventies and I never forgot about it. Someone stole it out of my house and I was heart-broken. I was only 14-years-old at the time and, I loved Donald Byrd then, and now. At age 43, Byrd definately stepped into tomorrow with this album because it sounds just as good today as it did then. The sax's and Byrd's trumpet have some of the most soothing, melodic tones you'd ever want to hear. The vocals are also excellent. I played it for my friend and he fell in love with it too. That's why I have a lot of double orders with Amazon because my partner likes what I like,and I find myself ordering a second copy later and shipping it to him. And ladies, "Think Twice" is something we only wish we had the nerve to say sometimes....that's usually the man's favorite saying. The entire album is sexy; mellow at times and upbeat at others. If you like horn instruments, you'll love this one!

Big Dr. Byrd fan needed three cds to complete my collection and I'm happy as a lark.

If you're a Donald Byrd fan- get this CD. I have the album but adding this was a great idea👍🏾

This cd is no different than the other cd's by Donald Byrd from this era (late sixties to mid seventies): Soulful, jazzy reminders of the era before glitter rock, disco and "blaxplotation" movies (Shaft, etc). The "Electric Byrd" cd is a informative preview to the "BlackByrd" era that he might be best known for.

If you are in the genre than this should have a space in your collection! Great master!

I have the original album and it sounds exactly the same.