Word: byard
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Evenings are likewise filled. Concerts, concerts--Jaki Byard, George Russell, various local artists--even a screening of rare films that chronicle the history of jazz dance. The climax of the week-long event is a performance by the Art Ensemble of Chicago at the Church of the Covenant (67 Newbury street) on Friday, May 4th at 8:30 p.m. "If you don't know the Art Ensemble, I can't possibly describe them," Louis Armstrong' said about "jazz", but then the Art Ensemble represents jazz in its most courageous and highly distilled form. Their playing reflects rigorous discipline...
Jazz musicians of Byard's generation found a variety of ways to cope with the lean years of the late '60s and the rampant commercialism of the '70s music scene. A very few were lucky enough to retain some following without compromising their musical ideals. Many were forced to resort to a) "crossing over" to the lucrative popular music field; b) giving up on music and starving as recluses; or c) simply dying young. Jaki Byard represents a growing number of jazz figures who have averted both personal and artistic disaster by "taking it easy" and weathering this hyper decade...
...professional musician for 40 of his fifty-odd years, Byard's background is a panorama of jazz experiences, all at a high level. He was part of the heyday of the big bands of Herb Pomeroy and Maynard Ferguson (this was Maynard's hot '50s group, not the bubblegum combo he leads today.) Byard left the Ferguson band to spend five years working in an entirely different context--the celebrated Jazz Workshop led by bassist Charles Mingus. After leaving Mingus. Byard spent several years working as a solo pianist and, significantly, filling in on piano for the Ellington band when...
Over the yars, Byard has recorded with such diverse talents as Eric Dolphy, Don Ellis, George Benson, Joe Farrell, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. But in this decade, Jaki is content with what he calls "semi-retirement"; a weekly schedule that includes teaching at both the New England Conservatory and the Hartt School of Music in Connecticut, as well as commuting to rehearse and perform with Apollo Stompers bands in both New York and Boston...
...Jaki Byard doesn't like the pressure of travel and extensive touring, and he doesn't enjoy the hassle of bargaining with record companies, so his work rarely receives the recognition that it deserves. It's sad that our culture doesn't offer more alternatives for musicians like Byard, but at least he has been able to eke some sort of livelihood out of noncommercial music. Tonight or any Wednesday you'll find it refreshing to hear a player who places musical integrity before the numerous advantages of "selling out" to the system...