Artist: Jaki Byard
John Arthur "Jaki" Byard was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. Mainly a pianist, he also played tenor and alto saxophones, among several other instruments. He was known for his eclectic style, incorporating everything from ragtime and stride to free jazz.
Byard played with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and was a member of bands led by bassist Charles Mingus for several years, including on several studio and concert recordings. The first of his recordings as a leader was in 1960, but despite being praised by critics, his albums and performances did not gain him much wider attention.
In his 60-year career, Byard recorded at least 35 albums as a leader, and more than 50 as a sideman. Byard's influence on the music comes from his combining of musical styles during performance, and his parallel career in teaching.
Byard moved to New York City in the early 1960s. His first recording as a leader, the solo piano Blues for Smoke, was recorded there on December 16, 1960 (but not released in the United States until 1988). Also in 1960, Byard first played with the bassist Charles Mingus. He recorded extensively with Mingus in the period 1962–64 (including on the important albums released by Impulse! Records – Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus and The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, and toured Europe with him in 1964.
Between 1966 and 1969 Byard recorded three albums with the saxophonist Eric Kloss, then, in 1970, returned to Mingus' band, including for performances in Europe. Byard occasionally substituted on piano in Duke Ellington's orchestra in 1974 when the leader was unwell.
From 1969 Byard was heavily involved in jazz education: he began teaching at the New England Conservatory of Music and went on to work at several other music institutions, as well as having private students.
In 1980 Byard was the subject of a short documentary film, Anything for Jazz, which featured him playing, teaching and with his family. By the 1980s his main instrument remained the piano, and he still played both alto and tenor saxophones, but he had stopped playing the other instruments that he used to use professionally – bass, drums, guitar, trombone, and trumpet, although he still taught all of them. Further information about Jackie Bayard is found at sssss.
Photography credit: William P. Gottlieb, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
This content was excerpted from the Wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaki_Byard, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).
Jazz Piano Workshop 1965 Jaki Byard
Jackie Bayard: Videos
1965 Jazz Piano Berlin - Lennie Tristano & Jackie Byard
Jaki Byard - Live in Chicago 1992 [audio only]