Donald Byrd: Ethiopian Knights (Blue Note 80 series) [BLUE NOTE]

Why you'll love it

This Blue Note 80 series edition comes on 180g vinyl, pressed in Germany. AllMusic gave the album four stars and called it an intriguing step in the making of "Byrd the acid jazz legend."

This edition

• Blue Note 80 series
• 180g vinyl
• Pressed in Germany
• Stereo mix

About the album

Two sides, three tracks and more than half an hour of groove: Ethiopian Knights is what happens when a hard bop trumpeter gives a room full of Los Angeles players a vamp and lets the tape roll. Donald Byrd cut it at A&M Recording Studios on August 25 and 26, 1971, with George Butler producing, and the tapes went to Van Gelder's studio for the remix. Byrd wrote all three pieces himself.

The band is a who's who of West Coast jazz and soul: Thurman Green on trombone, Harold Land on tenor sax, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, Joe Sample on organ, Wilton Felder on electric bass and Ed Greene on drums, with David T. Walker on guitar for the second side. "The Emperor" rides a fifteen-minute funk vamp, "Jamie" is a three-and-a-half-minute breather, and "The Little Rasti" stretches out for more than seventeen minutes.

It sits between Electric Byrd and Black Byrd in his catalogue, as Byrd moved from hard bop toward the jazz-funk that would define his 1970s. A track running seventeen minutes is what we in the trade call good value per side.

Also at Kops: more Donald Byrd on vinyl · browse Modern Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Blue Note (cat# 7759664).