[Dixielandjazz] Bassist Joe Byrd, guitarist Charlie's brother, dies at 78. Washington Post

[Norman Vickers]

To:DJML & Musicians and Jazzfans list

From: Norman

 

Saw him only once with guitarist brother, Charlie Byrd, at the Annapolis
Inn.  Sad loss to jazz world.

 

 

Joe Byrd, 78, jazz bassist performed with his famous guitarist brother
Charlie Byrd

By Adam Bernstein, Wednesday, March 7, 4:57 PM 

Joe Byrd, a bassist best known for collaborations with his guitarist brother
Charlie and who helped introduce bossa nova-inflected jazz to the United
States, died March 6 at Anne Arundel Medical Center from injuries in a car
accident that day. He was 78.

Mr. Byrd, who also played guitar and was billed early in his career under
his given name, Gene, was the youngest of four musical brothers who grew up
in Virginia's Tidewater region. They drew national attention and acclaim for
"Jazz Samba," which showcased the jazz saxophonist Stan Getz and was
recorded in 1962 at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Washington. 

Charlie Byrd received top billing with Getz on "Jazz Samba." But the handful
of supporting players - including Joe Byrd on rhythm guitar - were crucial
to the understated melodic expressiveness of the recording and to capturing
the delicate but rhythmically thrilling soulfulness of Antonio Carlos
Jobim's <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k25BJNIqjAE> "Desafinado" and
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-vlX8uRLMQ> "One Note Samba," among other
songs.

Latin-tinged accents in American jazz and pop were hardly novel at the time.
Guitarist Laurindo Almeida and saxophonist Bud Shank had partnered in the
early 1950s on  <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTSvbxfpB9I> recordings
featuring glimmers of bossa nova jazz. 

But "Jazz Samba" was a far greater and enduring commercial success,
appearing at the moment when "bossa nova was starting to percolate," said
author James Gavin, who had written extensively on jazz. 

The 1959 film  <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwDYcyqn7DY&feature=fvst>
"Black Orpheus," a drama set amid Brazil's Carnival and with music by Jobim
and Luiz Bonfa, won the Oscar for best foreign language movie. Charlie Byrd
first was exposed to the burgeoning bossa nova style of jazz on a musical
tour of Latin America in 1961.

"Jazz Samba" remains the only jazz album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard pop
chart, according to JazzTimes magazine. It helped spur an entire subgenre of
jazz featuring some of the leading entertainers of the era, including Peggy
Lee, George Shearing and Sonny Rollins. And Getz went on to make recordings,
such as  <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFM60GT6fjs&feature=fvst> "The Girl
>From Ipanema," that further popularized the style.

Joe Byrd worked steadily with his brother for the next four decades, seldom
in the foreground. They made international trips as goodwill ambassadors for
the State Department. They performed for presidents at the White House and
at local clubs, such as the old Showboat Lounge in Washington and the King
of France Tavern in Annapolis.

Mr. Byrd was a staple of the Charlie Byrd Trio, along with Chuck Redd on
drums and vibraphone. Mr. Byrd and Redd also played in the touring group
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzs3F2RUV64> Great Guitars with his brother
and jazz guitar virtuosos Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis and Tal Farlow. 

Besides his work for his brother, Mr. Byrd also backed visiting musicians on
Washington-area club dates, including saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, pianist
Mose Allison and singer Jimmy Witherspoon. After his brother's
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/2012/03/07/gIQAUi87wR_story.html> death in
1999, at 74, Joe Byrd had led his own trio and recorded several albums,
including "Basically Blues" and "Brazilian Nights."

Gene Herbert Byrd was born May 21, 1933, in Chuckatuck, Va. His father,
Newman, was a tenant farmer who also owned a general store where musicians
gathered. Newman Byrd played guitar and mandolin and introduced his four
children to music. They played as a family band on a Tidewater radio
station. 

After Army service, Mr. Byrd enrolled at the Peabody conservatory in
Baltimore on the G.I. Bill. In 1962, he graduated with a degree in double
bass and a teaching certificate. He soon joined his brother's small group,
replacing bassist
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/07/AR200508070
0935.html> Keter Betts.

Mr. Byrd, an Edgewater resident who had retired from performing a few years
ago, was running an errand when he died. According to Anne Arundel County
police, he had a green light to turn left on Solomons Island Road from Lee
Airpark Drive in Edgewater when another vehicle ran through a red traffic
signal and struck Mr. Byrd's car. The other driver was uninjured. The crash
is under investigation.

In 1977, he married Elana Rhodes, a lawyer. Besides his wife, of Edgewater,
survivors include a stepson, Jeffrey House of Washington; and a brother,
Jack Byrd of Suffolk, Va.

Joe Byrd was, like Charlie, a musician whose Southern drawl and unobtrusive
style masked a refined talent. If Mr. Byrd ever felt overshadowed by his
brother's marquee status, he rarely if ever let on.

"He adored Charlie and they got along so well," Elana Byrd said. "They were
kind of quiet guys who understood each other. There was no rivalry
whatsoever. Joe used to say he was an ensemble player. In jazz, you have to
be. You can't have a bunch of egotists."