Donald Byrd BLACK BYRD (LP)

Personnel: Donald Byrd (vocals, acoustic & electric trumpets, flugelhorn); Fonce Mizell (vocals, trumpet); Fred Perren (vocals, electric piano, synthesizer); Larry Mizell (vocals); Roger Glenn (saxophone, flute); Joe Sample (acoustic & electric pianos); David T. Walker, Dean Parks (guitar); Wilton Felder, Chuck Rainey (electric bass); Harvey Mason (drums); Bobbye Porter Hall, Stephanie Spruill (percussion).Recorded at the Sound Factory, Los Angeles, California on April 3 & 4 and November 24, 1972. Includes liner notes by Gertrude Gipson.Purists howled with indignation when Donald Byrd released Black Byrd, a full-fledged foray into R&B that erupted into a popular phenomenon. Byrd was branded a sellout and a traitor to his hard bop credentials, especially after Black Byrd became the biggest-selling album in Blue Note history. What the elitists missed, though, was that Black Byrd was the moment when Byrd's brand of fusion finally stepped out from under the shadow of his ch