Don Byas - Don Byas Collection 1939-61 (CD)

Don Byas was one of the most highly-regarded tenor sax players of his generation - he had a distinctive sound and a technique that enabled him to swing with effortless smoothness, yet with the dexterity and dynamics that enabled him to bridge the musical divide between swing and bebop. Hailed as one of the most exciting and brilliant new tenor stars during the early '40s' he became ubiquitous in New York studios on sessions alongside the luminaries of the era, before visiting Europe with Don Redman and deciding to stay there. He became hugely popular with the large audience of jazz enthusiasts in France, where he performed and recorded for 15 years or more - his absence from the USA explains the lower profile his reputation enjoys alongside some of his exalted contemporaries. However, he was one of the great jazz stylists of the era, and this collection brings together examples of his work both with his own small groups and with other leaders' ensembles over more than two decades, and featuring performances by some of the big names of jazz with whom he played

Track List:

Disc: 1

1. Wee Bit of Swing
2. Wham Re Bop Boom Bam
3. Practice Makes Perfect
4. Something New
5. Sugar Blues
6. Breaks
7. On the Sunny Side of the Street
8. Dance of the Tambourine
9. Riffin' and Jivin'
10. 1944 Stomp
11. Swing Street
12. These Foolish Things
13. Memories of You
14. That's the Blues
15. Salt Peanuts
16. Be-Bop
17. You Call It Madness
18. S.K. Blues, Pt. 2
19. Now's the Time
20. I Got Rhythm
21. Out of Nowhere
22. Harvard Blues
23. Slam-In Around
24. Laura
25. Melody in Swing

Disc: 2

1. My Melancholy Baby
2. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
3. Candy
4. Sophisticated Lady
5. Gone with the Wind
6. Ol Man Rebop
7. Cherokee
8. September in the Rain
9. September Song
10. Gloria
11. Body and Soul
12. I Surrender, Dear
13. Walking Around
14. Stormy Weather
15. Yesterdays
16. Lover Man
17. Where or When
18. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
19. Them There Eyes
20. Lullaby of the Leaves
21. Indiana [Jazz Festival Du Cannes "Tenor Conclave"]
22. Jackie My Little Cat