Charlie Byrd

Charlie Byrd – Latin Byrd (1973/2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:11:11 minutes | 1,30 GB | Genre: Bossa Nova, Latin Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

This single CD reissues two complete Charlie Byrd LPs (Latin Impressions and Charlie Byrd’s Bossa Nova), some of which had been available previously on a 1970s two-fer. Byrd, the master of the acoustic guitar whose gentle and lyrical style perfectly fit bossa nova, is heard in prime form on 23 rather pretty numbers. There are six unaccompanied solos and many workouts with his quartet, which is sometimes augmented by four cellos, a French horn, trumpeter Hal Posey, vibraphonist Tommy Gwaltney, and/or extra percussionists. Surprisingly there are only two Antonio Carlos Jobim songs among the ones performed, but the other selections (which include five Byrd originals) are very much in the idiom. This CD shows that pretty music does not have to be Muzak or new age. Highly recommended.

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Charlie Byrd – The Guitar Artistry of Charlie Byrd (1960/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 46:40 minutes | 459 MB | Genre: Bossa Nova
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

Tasteful, low-key, and ingratiatingly melodic, Charlie Byrd had two notable accomplishments to his credit – applying acoustic classical guitar techniques to jazz and popular music and helping to introduce Brazilian music to mass North American audiences. Born into a musical family, Byrd experienced his first brush with greatness while a teenager in France during World War II, playing with his idol Django Reinhardt. After some postwar gigs with Sol Yaged, Joe Marsala and Freddie Slack, Byrd temporarily abandoned jazz to study classical guitar with Sophocles Papas in 1950 and Andr’es Segovia in 1954. However he re-emerged later in the decade gigging around the Washington D.C. area in jazz settings, often splitting his sets into distinct jazz and classical segments. He started recording for Savoy as a leader in 1957, and also recorded with the Woody Herman Band in 1958-59. A tour of South America under the aegis of the U.S. State Department in 1961, proved to be a revelation, for it was in Brazil that Byrd discovered the emerging bossa nova movement. Once back in D.C., he played some bossa nova tapes to Stan Getz, who then convinced Verve’s Creed Taylor to record an album of Brazilian music with himself and Byrd. That album, Jazz Samba, became a pop hit in 1962 on the strength of the single “Desafinado” and launched the bossa nova wave in North America. Thanks to the bossa nova, several albums for Riverside followed, including the defining Bossa Nova Pelos Passaros, and he was able to land a major contract with Columbia, though the records from that association often consisted of watered-down easy listening pop. In 1973, he formed the group Great Guitars with Herb Ellis and Barney Kessel and also that year, wrote an instruction manual for the guitar that has become widely used. From 1974 onward, Byrd recorded for the Concord Jazz label in a variety of settings, including sessions with Laurindo Almeida and Bud Shank. He died December 2, 1999 after a long bout with cancer. – Richard S. Ginell

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Charlie Byrd – The Great Byrd (1968/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 35:18 minutes | 1,41 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy

Charlie Lee Byrd was an American guitarist. His earliest and strongest musical influence was Django Reinhardt, the gypsy guitarist. This album was released on Columbia Records in 1968. It is a collection of covers, the list of performers includes Bernard Purdie, Herbie Hancock and more.

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Charlie Byrd – Onda Nueva / The New Wave (1971/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 33:03 minutes | 1,36 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy

If you are looking for something different. Something vintage. Something unique. Get this record! you will definitely will not regret it. Such an honor to have this at home.

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Charlie Byrd – Hit Trip (1968/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 31:13 minutes | 1,13 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy

Tasteful, low-key, and ingratiatingly melodic, Charlie Byrd had two notable accomplishments to his credit – applying acoustic classical guitar techniques to jazz and popular music and helping to introduce Brazilian music to mass North American audiences. This album features classic Charlie Byrd doing rather unclassic Charlie Byrd. It was released on Columbia Records in 1968.

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Charlie Byrd – Delicately ‘The Stroke of Genius’ (1968/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 30:14 minutes | 1,06 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy

“Delicately” is an aptly-titled recording that captures the artful acoustic stylings of the legendary guitar master Charlie Byrd, one of the greatest jazz guitarists who was a major influence, alongside Stan Getz and others, on the introduction of the “Bossa Nova” craze to the USA. This performance includes Charlie on 5 richly-voiced solo guitar tracks and 6 tracks by a trio which includes Mario Darpino on flute and Charlie’s talented brother Joe Byrd on double bass violin. Playing familiar and some obscure beautiful ballads from Broadway, movies, and TV, this is a recording of very pleasant, beautiful music that stays close to the thematic contours and includes superb performances of the theme songs from “The Fox”, “The Valley of the Dolls”, and “Two for the Road”, as well as “When I Look In Your Eyes” and a very delicate “Sunrise, Sunset”. But best of all are the performances of Glenn Campbell’s highly-acclaimed “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” by Charlie and Mario, and a marvelous, swinging trio presentation of “Soon It’s Gonna Rain” (from “The Fantasticks”). 2 to 4 minute tracks for direct listening or pleasant background music by a master guitarist in his prime. Very Definitely Recommended.

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Charlie Byrd – Byrd In The Wind (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 37:53 minutes | 390 MB | Genre: Latin Jazz, Bossa Nova
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

Digitally remastered two-fer containing a pair of albums from the Jazz great: Byrd in the Wind and Blues for Night People. Byrd in the Wind was Charlie Byrd’s fourth effort as a leader. Recorded at the beginning of his career, this album clearly shows Byrd’s unique amalgam of Jazz, Blues and Classical music, using the unamplified Spanish guitar as a Jazz instrument.

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Charlie Byrd – Bamba Samba Bossa Nova (1958/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 28:06 minutes | 310 MB | Genre: Bossa Nova
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Everest Records

For this unusual set, guitarist Charlie Byrd is accompanied by what is billed as the Woody Herman Big Band, although it is mostly a studio orchestra sprinkled with a few of Herman’s associates. The first four selections are Byrd originals that almost sound like bossa nova in spots, even though the style had not solidified and been named yet. Byrd’s classical training and interest in Brazilian music are very much in evidence. The final selections are a re-creation of Ralph Burns’ four-part “Summer Sequence,” which at the time was over a decade old. The main difference between this and the original Herman recording is that Byrd is the main soloist throughout much of the extensive work. Although not quite essential, Bamba-Samba Bossa Nova (which has often been reissued under Woody Herman’s name) has its moments of interest and shows how Charlie Byrd sounded before bossa nova took off. AllMusic Review by Scott Yanow

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Charlie Byrd – Aquarius (1969/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 33:51 minutes | 1,49 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy

Tasteful, low-key, and ingratiatingly melodic, Charlie Byrd had two notable accomplishments to his credit – applying acoustic classical guitar techniques to jazz and popular music and helping to introduce Brazilian music to mass North American audiences. Born into a musical family, Byrd experienced his first brush with greatness while a teenager in France during World War II, playing with his idol Django Reinhardt. After some postwar gigs with Sol Yaged, Joe Marsala and Freddie Slack, Byrd temporarily abandoned jazz to study classical guitar with Sophocles Papas in 1950 and Andrés Segovia in 1954. However he re-emerged later in the decade gigging around the Washington D.C. area in jazz settings, often splitting his sets into distinct jazz and classical segments. He started recording for Savoy as a leader in 1957, and also recorded with the Woody Herman Band in 1958-59. A tour of South America under the aegis of the U.S. State Department in 1961, proved to be a revelation, for it was in Brazil that Byrd discovered the emerging bossa nova movement. Once back in D.C., he played some bossa nova tapes to Stan Getz, who then convinced Verve’s Creed Taylor to record an album of Brazilian music with himself and Byrd. That album, Jazz Samba, became a pop hit in 1962 on the strength of the single “Desafinado” and launched the bossa nova wave in North America. Thanks to the bossa nova, several albums for Riverside followed, including the defining Bossa Nova Pelos Passaros, and he was able to land a major contract with Columbia, though the records from that association often consisted of watered-down easy listening pop. In 1973, he formed the group Great Guitars with Herb Ellis and Barney Kessel and also that year, wrote an instruction manual for the guitar that has become widely used. From 1974 onward, Byrd recorded for the Concord Jazz label in a variety of settings, including sessions with Laurindo Almeida and Bud Shank. He died December 2, 1999 after a long bout with cancer.
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Charlie Byrd – Bamba-Samba Bossa Nova (1959/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 28:07 minutes | 545 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

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Charlie Byrd – The Stroke Of Genius (Remastered) (1970/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 48:42 minutes | 1,72 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy

Charlie Byrd played jazz guitar with Django Reinhardt during his World War II army stint in France prior to studying classical music with Andres Segovia. He then applied these classical techniques to jazz for a uniquely academic approach to the instrument. In 1961, he toured Brazil, turning Stan Getz on to that country’s swaying Bossa Nova rhythms. The album they recorded together, Jazz Samba, was an instant smash, ultimately setting off the Bossa Nova craze in the U.S. Byrd’s solo albums in the ’60s often straddle the fence between jazz and easy listening, but his technique always dazzles. In the ’80s, he recorded fine albums with his fellow classical-jazz guitarist, Laurindo Almeida.
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Charlie Byrd – Charlie Byrd Plays the Greatest Hits of the 60’s (1969/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 28:04 minutes | 621 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Columbia – Legacy

Charlie Byrd puts his unique Bossa Nova spin on classic hits of the 1960s. Includes songs by Simon & Garfunkel, Jimmy Webb & Perry Como as well as tracks from popular film soundtracks of the time.
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