Stepping into Tomorrow
| Stepping into Tomorrow | ||||
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| Studio album by Donald Byrd | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Blue Note Records | |||
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Format (s) |
LP, CD |
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Title (number) |
8th |
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running time |
38:13 |
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| occupation |
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Larry Mizell |
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Studio (s) |
The Sound Factory, Los Angeles , California , October 11 to December 1974 |
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Stepping into Tomorrow (dt .: ins morning kick ) is a jazz-funk album of the American trumpeter Donald Byrd , he in October and December 1974 in Los Angeles recorded and the Blue Note Records published 1975th
background
Stepping into Tomorrow was the third in a series of albums that Byrd recorded with brothers Larry and Fonce Mizell in the early 1970s, which featured strong elements of fusion , funk and rhythm and blues . Though jazz critics panned the albums, the first album in the series, Black Byrd , became the best-selling album in Blue Note Records history. After the first album, Byrd formed a group of young musicians from Howard University , the so-called Blackbyrds, with whom he recorded the following albums. Compared to the first two albums in the series, the focus in Step into Tomorrow is on melodic and relaxed arrangements.
reception
After the first albums were still harshly criticized, the criticisms of Byrd's new style gradually became milder. Andy Kellmann from Allmusic gave the album four stars out of five and wrote:
“As ever, those who pined for the approach of Byrd's' 60s dates would tune out a sublime set of material, but maybe some of those who sniffed at the straightforward nature of some of the rhythms and riffing were won over by the supreme layering of the many components…, not to mention some deeply evocative playing from Byrd himself. "
“As usual, those who poked at Byrd's' 60s approach would disagree with a whole bunch of material, but perhaps some of those who sniffed the simple nature of some of the rhythms and riffs were impressed by the excellent layering of the many components ... not to mention the deeply impressive playing by Byrd himself. "
Richard Cook and Brian Morton , who only gave the album two (out of four) stars in the Penguin Guide to Jazz, are more cautious in their rating ; the authors compared the album to the previous productions Blackbyrd (1974) and Street Lady (1973):
"[...] There's certainly even less worth keeping on both the bubble-brained 'Stepping into Tomorrow' and the soupy 'Places and Spaces' [...]"
"[...] It is certainly even less worthwhile to dwell on the hollow-headed 'Stepping into Tomorrow' and the cheesy 'Places and Spaces' [...]."
Track list
- Donald Byrd - Stepping into Tomorrow (Blue Note - BN-LA368-G)
- Stepping into Tomorrow - 5:06
- Design a Nation - 4:19
- We're Together - 4:23
- Think Twice (Sigidi, Mizell, Mbaji) - 6:10
- Makin 'It (Harvey Mason) - 3:46
- Rock 'n' Roll Again - 6:08
- You Are the World - 4:29
- I Love the Girl (Donald Byrd) - 3:52
- All tracks were composed by Larry Mizell, unless otherwise noted
- The titles Think Twice / We're Together were also released as a single (Blue Note BN-XW 650-X). The tracks Harvey's Tune, Destination and Hash and Eggs, Hold the Eggs , which were also recorded during the sessions, remained unreleased.