Don Byron
Don Byron (born November 8, 1958 in New York City ) is an American jazz musician , clarinetist , saxophonist and composer from the Bronx . For many years he has consistently moved in an ever-changing environment and deals with a wide variety of music genres.
Live and act
Byron's parents were active as musicians; the mother was a pianist and the father was a bass player in a calypso band . They recognized and promoted his musical talent early on. So he found good access to classical music , ballet and jazz . He studied music with George Russell at the New England Conservatory in Boston . There he also played in the Klezmer Conservatory Band founded by his fellow student Hankus Netsky (with which he had already made five records by 1988).
Internationally, Byron first appeared in Hamiet Bluett's Clarinet Family in 1983 alongside JD Parran and David Murray at the Berlin Jazz Days . With albums under his own name, he showed that his artistic range, alongside Klezmer ( Plays the Music of Mickey Katz ) and jazz, such as the swing of the small bands of Raymond Scott , John Kirby or Duke Ellington ( Bug Music ), was just as Afro-Caribbean Traditions ( Music for Six Musicians ) includes the soul of Junior Walker such as funk and hip-hop ( Nu Blaxploitation ), but also adaptations by composers of European art music such as Robert Schumann (on his debut album Tuskegee Experiments ) and Gustav Mahler (with Uri Caine ). He is a master of quotations, but always remains a representative of the Modern Creative style.
Over the years he has u. a. Recorded with Craig Harris , Vernon Reid , Ralph Peterson , Bobby Previte , Anthony Braxton , Steve Coleman , Bill Frisell , Joe Henry, Lalo Schifrin and many others. The new music ensemble Bang on a Can recorded a CD with him in 2006 with his compositions.
Don Byron is a member of the Black Rock Coalition.
He currently teaches music theory, saxophone, improvisation and composition as a visiting professor at the State University of New York in Albany .
Prizes and awards
In 1992 he was voted jazz musician of the year by jazz magazine Down Beat . In 2004 his bass clarinet solo for I Want to Be Happy on his album Ivey-Divey was nominated for a Grammy Award .
Discographic notes
- Tuskegee Experiments (Nonesuch, 1992)
- Plays the Music of Mickey Katz (Nonesuch, 1993) with Dave Douglas , Mark Feldman , JD Parran , Josh Roseman , Uri Caine, Steve Alcott, Richie Schwarz, Lorin Sklamberg, Avi Hoffman and Jay Berliner
- Music for Six Musicians (Nonesuch, 1995)
- Don Byron Quintet: No-Vibe Zone: Live at the Knitting Factory (Knitting Factory Works, 1996) with Uri Caine, David Gilmore , Kenny Davis , Marvin Smitty Smith
- Bug Music (Nonesuch, 1996)
- Don Byron & Existential Dred: Nu Blaxploitation ( Blue Note , 1998)
- Romance with the Unseen (Blue Note, 1999)
- A Fine Line: Arias and Lieder (Blue Note, 2000)
- You Are # 6: More Music for Six Musicians (Blue Note, 2001) with James Zollar , JD Parran, Milton Cardona
- Ivey-Divey (Blue Note, 2004) with Lonnie Plaxico , Jack DeJohnette
- Bang on a Can All Stars & Don Byron: A Ballad for Many (Cantaloupe, 2006)
- Do the Boomerang - The Music of Junior Walker (Blue Note, 2006)
- Don Byron & Aruán Ortiz : Random Dances and (A) tonalities (2018)
Recordings of compositions by Byron
- Ethel (string quartet): Four Thoughts on Marvin Gaye , Thought # 3 on Light (2006)
literature
- With Don Byron in the jungle . In: Berliner Zeitung , July 15, 2000
Web links
- Web presence of the artist (English)
- How Don Byron Brought Klezmer Music and Mickey Katz Back to Life
- Interview 2012
- Interview 2000
- Don Byron at Allmusic (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Byron, Don |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz musician (clarinetist, composer) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 8, 1958 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City |