Blackjack

Scorpio pressing. I don't have an original to compare . Happy with order. No problems with sound or pressing quality

Great

This was a vintage recording hard to attain and easy to enjoy . These great artist have like the sun of yesterday passed on only to evolve and see another day and spawn a new generation of listeners. ( Jazz America's only true original Art form )

Love it

THANKS!!!

If you only own one Donald Byrd collection, this is a solid musician at the top of his craft.

One of three Donald Byrd albums from 1967 (the end of his hard bop period), this recording features the trumpeter/leader with altoist Sonny Red, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Walter Booker, and drummer Billy Higgins.The six tunes (five of which are originals by Byrd or Red) are all quite obscure and to one extent or another quite explorative. One can sense that Byrd wanted to break through the boundaries and rules of hard bop but had not yet decided on his future directions. The music does swing and highlights include "West of the Pecos" and "Beale Street"; Byrd and Red in particular are in excellent form throughout the date.Track Listing:BlackjackWest of PecosLokiEldoradoBeale StreetPentatonicThe SextetDonald Byrd - TrumpetSonny Red - Alto SaxHank Mobley - Tenor SaxCedar Walton - PianoWalter Booker - BassBilly Higgins - DrumsRecorded 1967 Blue Note BST 84259 and is a Rudy Van Gelder recording.Liner Notes by Nat HentoffOne of the solid finds in his canon. Blackjack proved that he was still totally on top of his craft and this bop album with some of the greats as his sidemen are sheer testament to that fact.This album is pure Byrd captured just before his excursion into fusion, funk and avant garde, which left many of his fans wondering what the hell is going on with Byrd?? Bur he needed to explore those concepts and that he did for most of the 70's and some of the 80's. Then later on he returned to his bebop roots.Donald Byrd is still with us and keeps punching out the music he so loves and we as jazz fans have come to embrace.This is one of those must have albums in his canon. For me this album has that magic touch, that has survived all these years and none of it sound dated at all.

Donald Byrd (trumpet), with Hank Mobley (Tenor sax), Sonny Red (Alto sax), Billy Higgins (Drums), Cedar Walton (Piano) and Walter Booker (Bass).This was Donald's working band at the time of the recording, and the tunes are their favourite 'gigging' tunes.Highlights: (1)'BlackJack' is an incredibly funky piece of music.(2)- Billy Higgins - He's on fire for the entire album.(3)- Sonny Red - excellent swinging alto madness in a James Spaulding manner!

no complaints delivery excellent album out of this world!

Onzième album du trompettiste Donald Byrd pour le label Blue Note, ce "Blackjack", enregistré en 1967, demeure un très bon album, du hard bop de haut niveau, même si l'on sent par moment qu'il cède un peu à la facilité, notamment sur le titre éponyme d'ouverture, un blues un peu plan plan et sans grand relief . Sans doute, Donald Byrd, ressent-il à ce moment là une certaine lassitude à toujours jouer un peu la même chose, ce qui explique que dès l'album suivant, "Slow Drag", il prendra une nouvelle direction, plus funky, à l'image de nombre d'autres artistes de la maison Blue Note (Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver...) .L'album contient pourtant ses morceaux de bravoure avec "West of Pecos" et son rythme shufflesque de locomotive à vapeur, "Eldorado", le meilleur titre de l'album, sobre et inspiré avec ses silences Davisiens de toute beauté, et enfin "Pentatonic" à la structure coltranique des plus modernes, presque avant-gardiste. Donald Byrd s'est entouré pour l'occasion de quelques pointures : Sonny Red (as), Hank Mobley (ts), Cedar Walton (p), Walter Booker (b) et Billy Higgins (d).On trouve en bonus un 7ème titre, "All Members", enregistré en 1963 avec un personnel un peu différent : Sonny Red (as), Jimmy Health (ts), Herbie Hancock (p), Eddie Khan (b) et Albert Heath (d). Trois étoiles c'est un peu léger, j'aurais préféré mettre 3 1/2...