Jaki Byard

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Arthur "Jaki" Byard, 1922-2002, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger.

Originally a pianist, he also played tenor and alto saxophones, as well as other instruments.

He was known for his eclectic style, incorporating everything from ragtime and stride to free jazz. Byard performed with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson in the late 1950s and early 1960s and was a member of bands led by bassist Charles Mingus for many years, including on numerous studio and concert recordings.

In 1960, the first of his recordings as a leader was released, but his albums and performances did not gain him much notice.

Byard's 60-year career as a leader and more than 50 as a sideman.

Byard's influence on music results from his mixing of musical styles during performances and his parallel work in teaching. Byard became involved in jazz education from 1969, beginning with studies at the New England Conservatory of Music and then on to work at several other music companies, as well as private students.

He continued performing and recording, mainly in solo and small group settings, but he also led two big bands, one of which consisted of some of his students, and the other of professional musicians.

His death, which was caused by a single gunshot while inside his house, remains an unsolved mystery.

Early life

Byard was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. John Sr and Geraldine Garr and his parents, who were born in Clayton, were living at 47 Street at that time. Both of his parents and grandmothers played musical instruments; his mother played the piano; uncles and grandmother played in theaters during the silent film age; He began piano lessons at the age of six, but the Great Depression soon caught his family. He was also given a trumpet that belonged to his father and tried to imitate the time's greatest players, Roy Eldridge and Walter Fuller. As a child, he used to walk to Lake Quinsigamond to listen to bands playing there. He heard Benny Goodman, Lucky Millinder, Fats Waller, and Chick Webb, as well as other bands of the time on the radio. "Those were the things that inspired me," the author wrote decades later.

Byard began playing professionally on piano at the age of 16, in bands led by Doc Kentross and Freddy Bates. His early lessons were mostly rote, so his theory and further piano instruction continued from the late 1930s to 1941, with harmony at Commerce High School. He was recruited into the army in that year, where he continued with piano lessons and was inspired by pianist Ernie Washington, with whom he was fired, but Byard also took up trombone at this time. He also studied Stravinsky and Chopin, and continued to study classical composers into the 1960s. Part of his military service in Florida was spent in Florida, where he was a mentor to the young saxophonist Cannonball Adderley and his brother, Nat. Byard's musical education continued after leaving the army in 1946, including discussions with others and the use of library resources mixed with music school syllabuses.

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Career as musician

Byard performed with bands from the Boston area, including two years with violinist Ray Perry, who advised Byard to add tenor saxophones to his repertoire of instruments. Earl Bostic's band as a pianist in 1947, and the two bands toured for about a year. Byard formed a bebop band with Joe Gordon and Sam Rivers in Boston, then went on tour for a year with a stage show band. He played for three years with Charlie Mariano in a team in Lynn, Massachusetts, before returning to Boston. They began working together in 1953. Byard, a tenor saxophonist from 1952 to 1955, and met with him in 1957. Byard performed solo piano in Boston from the 1950s to the 1960s and freelanced in the Boston area later in the same decade. In 1959, he joined Maynard Ferguson and stayed until 1962. Byard, one of Ferguson's most popular musicians and arrangers, discovered that his own experimentation in time signatures, harmony, and freer improvisation was limited by other band members' preferences.

In the early 1960s, Byard moved to New York City. The solo piano Blues for Smoke, his first recording as a leader, was released in the United States on December 16, 1960 (but not released in the United States until 1988). Byard played with bassist Charles Mingus for the first time in 1960. He appeared on numerous recordings with Mingus between 1962 and 1964 (includes on the main albums on Impulse! Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Ming Ming Ming Ming Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus M With Eric Dolphy, Booker Ervin, Roland Kirk, and Rivers, Byard made recordings as a sideman between 1960 and 1966. Byard's appearance on Dolphy's Outward Bound put him at the forefront of modern jazz.

During the 1960s, Byard, a leader, released a series of albums for the Prestige brand. Richard Davis on bass and Alan Dawson on drums, a trio combination that critic Gary Giddins described as "the most commanding rhythm section of the '60s, barring the Hancock-Carter-Williams trio in Miles Davis' band," although it was only for recordings. "British Musicaya," a sextet record that featured Byard's composition and arrangement, was one of Jaki Byard's recordings. The title track from Out Front!, which he created after considering fellow pianist Herbie Nichols' touch at the keyboard, is a further example of Byard's often whimsical approach to composition. A popularity with jazz critics did not translate into wider success: a Washington Post article on his last Prestige album, Solo Piano from 1969, said it was by "a man who has been largely ignored outside of the inner circles." Giddins also wrote about the lack of interest that Byard received in the 1970s, adding that his recordings from 1960 to 1972 "are dazzling in scope and in their ability to make the most of limited situations." Following his time with Prestige, Byard performed more solo shows, owing in part to his love for musical companions he had become close to but who had not yet died.

Byard's career continued to grow and be popular with other celebrities. He appeared with Art Blakey's band at a number of concerts in Europe in 1965. Byard, a 1967 guitarist, was a member of a small group with drummer Elvin Jones. Byard released three albums with saxophonist Eric Kloss between 1966 and 1969, and then, in 1970, returned to Mingus' band, including for European tours. In Duke Ellington's orchestra in 1974, Byard was occasionally substituted on piano, but the conductor was unwell. Byard lived at Bradley's in New York from 1974 to 1975. He appeared in the Apollo Stompers, a big band that was formed in the late 1970s. Two versions of the band were released: one made up of musicians in New York, and the other used students from the New England Conservatory of Music, where Byard had taught from 1969.

Anything for Jazz, a short documentary film that starred him performing, teaching, and with his family, was released in 1980. His main instrument by the 1980s had remained the piano, and he continued to play both alto and tenor saxophones, but he had to avoid playing the other instruments he used to play – bass, drums, trombone, and trumpet – although he still taught both of them. He was often heard in New York solo, in duos, or in trios during the same period. The Mingus Big Band, a band established by Mingus' widow, performed the bassist's songs in 1988. From 1989 to 1991, Byard played and taught during the 1990s. Ricky Ford, a former student of his, performed and recorded with him from 1989 to 1991, and continued to play and teach during the 1990s.

Career as teacher

Byard, a charter faculty member of the New England Conservatory of Music's jazz studies program, was named "Afro-American Music" at the beginning. He taught at the Hartt School of Music from 1989 to 1999, the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and lectured for three years at Harvard University.

Byard, both as an instructor and performer, was known for his knowledge of jazz piano history. This meant that several young musicians aspiring young musicians wanted him to teach him as a mentor. At a concert by the Apollo Stompers, pianist Jason Moran was one of these people who recalled their first meeting:

Moran worked with Byard for four years and credits the older man with improving his skills, increasing his jazz appreciation, and encouraging his desire to try new styles. Byard was both organized and chaotic as a teacher, giving his students worksheets and making them study early stride piano, but also behaving eccentrically and missing lessons, according to another student. Bruce Wolosoff, a classical composer, was trained by Byard at the New England Conservatory and regarded as a central figure in New England's history, and he carries a great deal of influence. Grayson Hugh, a pianist and singer-songwriter, began studying with Byard in the 1970s and said, "more than anyone, Jaki Byard exploded my youthful harmonic imagination."

Jamie Baum, a jazz flautist, also studied with Byard, and after his death formed Yard Byard, Jerome Harris, George Schuller, and Ugonna Okegwo, a tribute band made up of his students: Baum, Adam Kolker, Jerome Harris, George Schuller, and Ugonna Okegwo, which used compositions Byard had left with Baum but never performed.

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