Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop musicians who successfully explored funk and soul while remaining a jazz artist. As a bandleader, Byrd was an influence on the early career of Herbie Hancock and many others.
Byrd in 1964
Byrd in 1964
Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in saxophone and piano playing.
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, 1960. Pictured are Lee Morgan (left), Jymie Merritt and Wayne Shorter (center), and Art Blakey (right)
Horace Silver Quintet in Amsterdam, 1959
Horace Silver
Wynton Marsalis, an important figure in the revival of mainstream jazz