Blue Note Tone Poet Review: Donald Byrd's - Byrd's Eye view

My thoughts on the latest Blue Note Tone Poet edition of Donald Byrd's Byrd's Eye View, their first in the short Transition Records series

00:00 - Introduction
01:30 - A little history
05:00 - The jacket
10:23 - The music
14:44 - Conclusion

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If you're new to my channel, what you can expect from me is a vinyl collector's approach to the jazz genre. For years, I've only collected vintage pressings and prioritized originals of Blue Note, Prestige, Savoy, Bethlehem, Riverside, New Jazz, and more classic labels. Lately, with the resurgence of the medium and more collectors coming to the space, the music industry has taken notice and prioritized putting out high quality reissues of some of the best albums ever recorded. Subscribe to my channel to watch me navigate how to rationalize how I used to buy vs. how I buy vinyl records today.

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[deanaz]

BYRD’SEYEVIEW is great. I bought a copy today. This will definitely be in my heavy rotation Jazz albums.

[allen-rpgm]

I've found two originals locally in the last 20 years at garage sales.Only Transitions I've ever found in the wild.

[marktubeie]

Great review! Can't wait to get my copy. Normal vinyl pressings have the labels stramped inserted as part of the pressing. As styrene was a mold injected method, the labels had to be pasted on with glue, which explains why they often fall off as they age, a real pity. _(Just FYI, your mike distorts a bit)_ You have a superb channel and look forward to the reviews.

[GastonBulbous]

I know that many vinyl collectors ignore the format altogether, but I own the two-CD reissue of Donald Byrd's Transition Sessions released a few years ago by the Spanish label Fresh Sound. It is one of the best-sounding CDs I own, so good that I am hesitant to shell out the cash for this new Tone Poet. I simply can't imagine there is much room for improvement by going vinyl on this one, at least on my budget hifi gear. But if you don't already have this record, you should definitely get it. Some of the best-recorded trumpet from this era, but Doug Watkins' walking bass is also stunningly well-recorded for 1955.

[bosshogster]

I would have preferred a normal back cover. I think replicating the blank cover of the original is a bit daft. Even so, it’s a mighty fine release. My copy was flat and sounds superb.

[matevigh]

Thank you for the review, it is good to hear your opinion on the later Tone Poets. Maybe I missed it but are you planning a review on the Village Vanguard TP from Sonny Rollins? All the best from Hungary.

[findingwithterry]

The Luxman TT is looking sweet in the background!

[christopherbarker]

I had an opportunity to play the new Kenny Dorham album; Sings and plays, This Is The Moment. This was a very entertaining listen and although Kenny doesn’t sing as well as Chet, this album is very good and show cases why Kenny is right up there with the great jazz trumpeters. The New Land pressing is pretty good although it’s hard to beat a Tone Poet.

[dsonyay]

Byrd’s Eye View has been around on streaming for many years.. and in lossless formats too. Maybe the LP was hard to find but nearly all “rare LPs” are easily found on streaming services.

[drazenbabich]

I wish you focused more on the album content and the music rather than reviewing the quality of the recording and differences with the OG.

[glenmoon]

Surprised in a way it’s even a Don Byrd as leader album since he doesn’t have any original songs composed by him; Hank Mobley wrote 2 of the songs, Doug Watkins wrote 1 and there are 2 standards. Probably should’ve been a Hank Mobley led album.

[p-is-]

Talking of audio quality. My dear man, please check your mic as I think it might be faulty. I winced the whole way through (which is a credit to your content that I stuck with it).

[kguyknow]

What album was behind you with the girl on the cover? It looks great, I am not familiar with that one. The Anita O'Day I have. I love female Jazz singers

[christopherbarker]

I played my new Tone Poet yesterday. Byrd was at his best on this recording and played clear and clean; a really great listen. The packaging was nice too with an insert and booklet; the booklet wasn’t much to write home about but still great to have.😊