Donald Byrd – Byrd In Flight (UHQCD)

When trumpeter Donald Byrd’s fourth Blue Note album was released, it was clear that his playing had improved over time. “Byrd In Flight” featuring Duke Pearson on piano and drummer Lex Humphries throughout, was complemented by bassists Doug Watkins and Reggie Workman, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley and alto saxophonist Jackie McLean. Most of the tracks were penned by Byrd, but it is pianist Pearson who contributes the strongest compositions to “Byrd In Flight” and helps the quintet soar to musical heights. 

Of the Pearson originals, “Gate City” with Mobley is an attractive soul shuffle. “Bo” with Byrd and McLean is a singing, light blues, and “My Girl Shirl” is a Byrd-led bopper with McLean in the background and a short Latin break. Byrd’s “Ghana,” dedicated to the liberation of the African country, is a hip, modal, and self-assured Afro-Cuban hard bop streaker. “Lex” is again devoted to pure hard bop, while the outstanding version of the ballad standard “Little Boy Blue” sensually rounds off the album.

As part of the extremely popular “Blue Note 85th Anniversary Reissue Series” Universal Music Japan presents the sonically impressive remastering of this jazz classic by the legendary Kevin Gray, who is also responsible for Blue Note US’s analog reissues such as “Tone Poet” and “Classic Vinyl” – as a limited Japan only UHQCD with OBI stripe. The original recording session for “Byrd In Flight” took place on January 17 and 25 and Juli 10, 1960, at Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

UHQCD stands for Ultimate High Quality Compact Disc and is a joint development of the Japanese CD replication company Memory-Tech and the Audio Quality CD Company from Hong Kong. Unlike conventional CDs, UHQCDs are not pressed from polycarbonate, but cast from a photopolymer and cured with UV light. Another layer of high-purity polycarbonate is applied to the softer photopolymer for scratch protection. The combination results in significantly reduced reflection of laser light inside the CD and an unmatched precise edge transition between pits and lands of the CD. UHQCDs are 100% compatible with standard CD players. Musically, the result is a sound image strongly reminiscent of analog master tapes.

While Universal Music Japan’s first UHQCD series relied on the DSD data of previous SHM-SACD releases, with increasing popularity, albums that had not previously been released as SHM-SACD are now appearing. Typically, the Universal Archive master tapes are re-converted to DSD for this purpose. UHQCDs are ideal for music lovers who want to get as close as possible to the sound of the recording, but do not own an SACD player.

Lista pieselor

1.    Ghana
2.    Little Boy Blue
3.    Gate City
4.    Lex
5.    “Bo”
6.    My Shy Girl