Prestige
2000
Solo Piano/Jaki Byard With Strings
About This Album
Few jazz pianists could honestly claim to be more eclectic than the late Jaki Byard. Depending on the mood he was in, the Bostonian could acknowledge anyone from Dave Brubeck to James P. Johnson to Cecil Taylor. Byard wasn't afraid to take chances, and his open-mindedness served him well. The pianist's eclectic nature is impossible to miss on Solo/Strings, which is the 2000 reissue of his Prestige dates Jaki Byard with Strings (1968) and Solo Piano (1969) on a single 78-minute CD (minus, unfortunately, "Hello, Young Lovers" from Solo Piano). While Solo Piano is exactly that -- an album of unaccompanied solo piano -- Jaki Byard With Strings is somewhat misleading. That title implies that Byard is accompanied by a large string orchestra, but in fact, he leads a sextet that includes four string instruments (George Benson's guitar, Ray Nance's violin, Ron Carter's cello, and Richard Davis' bass) along with Byard's piano and Alan Dawson's drums. Byard is unpredictable in both settings, although Solo Piano is even more of a rollercoaster ride. Unaccompanied, Byard shows his appreciation of different eras of jazz piano and has fun with everything from stride and boogie woogie to modal post-bop, free jazz, and the avant-garde.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9 and 10)

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