Always a joy Daddy to see on RU-vid. and feel and hear your joy!!!! Your beautiful soulful spirit..we allll Miss.love and.miss.miss.miss you. No body more than me.. N mama. Nobody could know. I M here to tell it. And my dear sister...Denise..DDLJ .forever!!! No one will ever know how happy you made us and everyone in your sphere of life in this world.....
Thank you! 💖 for Jaki Byard. Happy 98th Birthday 🎂!!...We love and miss your spirit, your live music concerts, your presence, your wisdom, your humor, your laughter, your genius, your kindness, mindfulness, and your love of teaching and eagerness to share what you knew!!!. Love is forever!💝
@@dianebyard1498 Many geniuses do not have great relations with their families. It is wonderful to see that in the case of Mr. Byard this was not the case and he had such a great family life. He is among the greatest jazz pianists.
What an incredible musician Jaki was... He morphs from Cecil Taylor to Igor Stravinsky to Art Tatum effortlessly, all while sounding like himself. Mind blown!
Hey Sam, what a huge privillege to have studied with Jaki Byard. Would you share any story, or tell us how he used to conduct his classes, any topic or recommendations that he would ofter cover and work with his students?
Lucky! He was a good friend of my family. I was just thinking about him watching One Night in Miami. I remember he told a story about when he was in NOI and tried to convert Malcolm back when he was known as Red. Jaki said he left because he couldn't give up music, of course.
Jaki's brother and sisters lived in my neighborhood along with drummer Alan Dawson.We'd go hear him play when he was in town at Lennie's on the turnpike.This cat dominated the piano and always blew my mind.
I was so blessed to have had the opportunity to be taught by Sir Jaki Byard in 1983. He would always come to my lesson late but made up for it when my lessons were an hour, and we would end after about 2 and a half hours... He was one of the BEST instructors I've ever had... RIP · Reply · 5m
The jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine given to me by someone that got the book from thrift store for next to nothing brought me to this video. Well deserved Quote "Jaki Byard, the most electic jazz pianist of all, plays great stride. His style spans everyone from James P johonson, whose music he has recorded, through Errol Garner, Bud Powell, Monk and beyond, all mixed together in his own inimitable way. He plays a stride version of Gershwin's "our love is here to Stay" on his album parisian Solos, Futura 05". This was just about stride voicings and was in no way limiting him to just that but giving examples of great voicings on this subject and introducing people like me who didn't know about this Jazz Giant to this great human being and musician. Btw I love 'The Jazz Piano Book" and was given a treasure of a book :) Much respect
Wow Kelly, please share any details and stories of the gigs. How he would rehearse, what tunes, how he would direct the fellow musicians. I'd be very thankfuld
Amazing! He knows every piano vocabulary, from Rachmaninov to Cecil Taylor and in this case, Duke Ellington. Alan Dawson was Tony Williams's teacher. The atmosphere here is really Mingus, or may be Mingus flavors came from Byard most of the time!
Anyone who likes JB should listen to The Jaki Byard Experience, a wonderful album shared with Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Two of the most underrated jazz geniuses at their creative peak.
Thank you for your kind comment, And thank you for playing and moreso for teaaching his music. I believe his spirit just lives in the people he loved and the people who loved and respected him too. He absolutely had great knowledge and passion for his gift, and absolutely loved what he did ,and that is obvious. It gives me great peace to know that can be continued by people like yourself that respected that and him!! so much, and I dearly and truly. Thank you!
This is amazing! That Bud Powell, The Duke, and the Impressionists, all have a part in Byard's improvisation, naturally Mingus procedures, and that all this stands all possible comparison with European New Music, all that was going in Darmstad, Paris, Milano in those years. Underrated he can be no more now, but in the sixties Byard could be seen 'simply' as a 'jazz virtuoso' and so confined. That's why many jazz musicians were opposing jazz as a label.
His music is so beautiful. I've been playing the piano for a couple years now and I'm always overwhelmed with joy and excitement every time i watch this vid. You think, after replaying it several time you'll kinda have a feeling of what going to come next, but it feel new to me every time.
Jaki Byard died (tragically) on February 11, 1999. He was 76 years young I only wish that he could have had his last wish which was to buy a boat. Not a big wish to have. I would like to think that maybe he did buy that boat and that maybe our dreams do not die with us, and that maybe he's just sailing right through heaven now, listening to the music he admired, gigging with his departed fellow musicians and enjoying the high seas of heaven as only he could. . -Diane Byard
What incredible voicing, tonality and inventiveness .. so evocative, the feeling and emotion is there in every note, so rare to find in combination like that. Jaki's work with Mingus is how I learned of his work. Boston also produced one of the greatest percussionists, Alan Dawson. As an amateur bassist, I remember one drum clinic at Dartmouth in the early 70s, watching Alan expound upon the technique of using brushes. That was amazing as well.
Jaki Byard grew up in Worcester, MA and started performing and teaching in Boston after his service in the Army. Musicians in Worcester (including myself) are very proud of him.
Part of the "Jazztage Berlin 1965" set of filmed performances, with Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, John Lewis, Lennie Tristano, Bill Evans, and Jaki Byard -- Jaki and Earl Hines also did "Rosetta" as a duet together which a person can also find on line. This performance is listed as "Free Improvisation."
Byard is fantastic--a virtuoso in every way. His version of "Just Rollin' Along" (the middle section, starting @ 3:15) from "Family Man" features Major Holley on bass/vocal and is great.
Wow! I grew up in Hollis, Queens New York, with Mr. Byard, son Gerald, and his sister's Denise, I forgot the other sister name both whom use to babysit me Laura and my brother Brian. I never knew a genius lived around the corner from where I grew up.
My introduction to the joy and beauty to be found in music as a whole was through Jazz. I was 10 when my parents (who listen to Rock most often, though not exclusively) were in the mood to put on some Jazz. The first track on the mixed Jazz CD they had was The Oscar Peterson Trio playing "Night Train" it was that moment that I finally understood why music elicits so much passion. I heard in that beautiful music the hopes, dreams, struggles, sorrows, passions, love, joy, creativity, beauty and spark of divinity in all humanity. The flame of passion and curiosity had finally been lit within me, so began the journey for knowledge, virtue and beauty. Laid at my feet was an ocean of unexplored music and beauty as far as my eye could see, an ocean that had always been there but I hadn't noticed until now. I dove in and started exploring! I found many wonderful and beautiful musicians along the way, but nothing would ever compare to the gem I found 4 years into my journey. I was 14 when I heard Jaki Byard, the first recording I heard was "New Orleans Strut" from his album "Solo Piano," I will be forever changed by the experience, what a brilliant and expressive musician Jaki was! It was then that I decided I could no longer be satisfied by simply sitting in my armchair listening to music, it was time to start the struggle of making it for myself with my favorite instrument, the piano. It's not simply that Jaki is my favorite pianist, or Jazz pianist, or Jazz musician, he is my favorite musician period! There won't be another talent like Jaki for a century, maybe more, and I owe him a great debt of gratitude for his willingness to share his gift with the world, he inspired me to struggle and find my creative voice. So here I am 13 years after having discovered Jaki's work and it is as fresh and inspirational to me as the first day I heard it, the creative journey he sent me on is still ongoing (as I hope it always will be,) but whenever it gets tough or I get stuck I think of Jaki and keep pushing on. God is most assuredly enjoying the company of one of his best, brightest and most beautiful children.
I met him at a jazz festival in Nice, France. We talked for a solid hour about every thing under the sun. I was shocked when he told me his name. He was one friendly man with a amazing mind.
Hi redsoxjazzfan this is an Alan Pasqua fan! My name is Ron Dickman, I'm a theoretical physicist (and sometime jazzz pianist) living in Brazil. I didn't know Jaki Byard was your mentor, but it makes perfect sense! Used to see him at Bradley's and other spots in NYC, wonderful player. Your Highway 14 is a favorite of mine. I like to think there's some affinity with Fauré, wonder if anyone has suggested this before.
Africa929 I heard him once, in SF, and if he'd played for a week I would have camped out at my table. What a musical genius he was. I'll imagine him just rollin' along on on an ocean of joy in that boat.
Few people I've worked with made a larger impression on me than Jaki. He was a walking encyclopedia of jazz. You can hear the history of jazz in his playing. I spent the summer of 1976 studying and performing with him at Bennington College in Vermont. Years later, I was driving home from a gig when I heard on the radio he had been murdered. I had to pull over and just weep at thought of never seeing him again. His death was a loss from which we will never fully recover.
Sure they read . The drummer , Alan Dawson was Tony Williams' teacher in Boston before T joined Miles . Reggie Workman , Bassist is a renowned teacher . JB wrote for a big band , and taught , So how could he not read ? Just listen : here he runs the whole gamut of Jazz piano history , and ending in a French classical genre . Look at his fingering He studied the European classics too. Many American Jazz musicians love Stravinsky Bartok Kodaly Debussy Ravel. Wise up you guys
On that Mingus at Cornell 1964 disc, Jaki opens with something called ATFW..Art Tatum and Fats Waller. He cuts them both on that one. A great underrated piano talent Jaki Byard.
Hi Alan, Yes I know you by name, and thank you. Thank you so much for your kind comments. Exactly, he did not say what he did not mean to say, or play what he did not mean to play. It was ALL from his great heart and spirit.
Jaki Byard Jaki (John) Byard (June 15, 1922 -- February 11, 1999) was a jazz piano player and composer who also played trumpet and saxophones, among several other instruments. Byard began playing professionally at the age of 15. After serving in World War II he toured with Earl Bostic in the late 1940s, making his recording debut with Charlie Mariano in 1951. Byard recorded extensively with Charles Mingus , the Apollo Stompers.Byard was killed in 1999 by a bullet wound to the head.
I stand behind my opinion. I am more than qualified to speak it. I am a professional pianist. I have more than 50 years of playing experience and Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Music from Indiana University. I was in the US Army Band at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, NY. My job was 02 November, which is the code for piano player. I am 60 now and had a distinguished career as the piano player for the Army Band of New York.
@AFRICA929 Diane, Jaki got his boat. I can guarantee you that if he wished for a boat, he cruised pristine waters soon after releasing from his earthly body. And heaven is way too limited a concept for an innovative genius (like us all, actually, in our own ways less obvious than Jaki) to find creative fulfillment. Mr. Byard is creating much, much more than one body could have on Earth, I assure you, and you may find this out directly when you move outward, as well, with him.
Quest'uomo suonava le cose di Hancock 10 anni prima..è fra i musicisti più sottovalutati della storia del jazz...ascotate che si inventava con Dolphy...
I agree. If you judge musical genius by one's ability to read music, then you win the silly game. We could battle this two-valued logic over what constitutes musicality forever, so I guess the term "artist" would be safer for me to use. I've studied jazz, poetry, and vocal history, and I understand the technical dynamics of each. Moreover I understand your perspective, but I don't suggest arguing over subjects about which you have not given your own full attention.
Nuh uh, all "genres" require their own technical genius. It took a LOT of practice obviously for Byard to get where he was, but also it took a LOT of practice for rappers like Tupac, Eminem, Outkast, and Kanye West to get where they were. Yes, I'd agree that most mainstream rappers are crap and can in no way be considered artists, but those that I mentioned have demonstrated in many of their songs a combination of poetic, rhythemic, and vocal genius.
I guess I never really heard Jaki before. He was young and healthy in those days. To the others you would have to have a trained ear to appreciate this. If you don't even know what an interval is and what to listen for then you are listening on the surface and without any debth of understanding. If you have relative pitch you can appreciate it. If you have absolute pitch then you really can appreciate the styles. He goes from abstract to early and back.
I don't think pitch matters much as that would be the piano tuning. Jaki's art was all about rhythm and the stride that he could do with his left hand now and then. He also had a great sense of melody.
True, but you can still learn the guidelines for how to achieve that effect. In this case, he uses the whole-tone scale to eliminate all harmonic properties.
@janmorez Nothing is inherently wrong with any artform. BUT, you find more genuine expression in the face of adversity in our jazz heritage than you do in most commercially-packaged rap music productions. These men were birthing new freedoms of expression and musical complexity linked to soul. Rap artists are typically, validly expressing something, but very, very often if they have a label, they have a big establisment profit boss, and their work is for sheep that follow fame and glitter.
no infact this isnt music, this is just 4 guys who picked up random instruments and started banging them and found they made sounds, amazing! OF COURSE THEY COULD
