Blackjack (Donald Byrd album)

Blackjack is an album by American trumpeter Donald Byrd featuring performances by Byrd with Sonny Red, Hank Mobley, Cedar Walton, Walter Booker, and Billy Higgins recorded in 1967 and released on the Blue Note label as BLP 4259. The CD reissue included one bonus track recorded in 1963. The title track was sampled by Gang Starr & Dream Warriors in their 1991 collaboration "I've Lost My Ignorance".

Reception

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars and stated "One can sense that Byrd wanted to break through the boundaries and rules of hard bop but had not yet decided on his future directions".

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

Track listing

All compositions by Donald Byrd except as indicated

"Blackjack" - 6:16
"West of Pecos" (Sonny Red) - 5:29
"Loki" (Red) - 5:53
"Eldorado" (Mitch Farber) - 8:00
"Beale Street" (Red) - 5:25
"Pentatonic" - 4:59
"All Members" (Heath) - 4:34 Bonus track on CD reissue

Recorded on May 27, 1963 (track 7) & January 9, 1967 (tracks 1-6).

Personnel

Tracks 1-6

Track 7

Donald Byrd - trumpet
Sonny Red - alto saxophone
Jimmy Heath - tenor saxophone
Herbie Hancock - piano
Eddie Khan - bass
Albert Heath - drums

References

Billboard Mar 9, 1968
Donald Byrd discography accessed September 2, 2010
^ Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed September 2, 2010

v t e Donald Byrd
Years indicated are for the recording(s), not first release.
As leader	Byrd's Eye View (1955) Byrd Jazz (1955) Byrd's Word (1955) Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill (1956) 2 Trumpets (with Art Farmer, 1956) The Young Bloods (with Phil Woods, 1956) Jazz Eyes (and John Jenkins ao, 1957) Fuego (1959) Byrd in Flight (1960) Free Form (1961) A New Perspective (1963) I'm Tryin' to Get Home (1964) Up with Donald Byrd (1964) Mustang! (1966) Blackjack (1967) Slow Drag (1967) Fancy Free (1969) Kofi (1969–70) Ethiopian Knights (1971) Black Byrd (1972) Street Lady (1973) Stepping into Tomorrow (1974) Places and Spaces (1975) Caricatures (1976) Thank You...For F.U.M.L. (Funking Up My Life) (1978) Donald Byrd and 125th Street, N.Y.C. (1979) Love Byrd (1981) Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes (1982) Harlem Blues (1987) Getting Down to Business (1989) A City Called Heaven (1991)
With Pepper Adams	10 to 4 at the 5 Spot (1958) Off to the Races (1959) Byrd in Hand (1959) At the Half Note Cafe (1960) Motor City Scene (1960) Out of This World (1961) Chant (1961) The Cat Walk (1961) Royal Flush (1961) The Creeper (1967) Electric Byrd (1970)
With The Jazz Messengers	The Jazz Messengers (1956) Originally (1956) Art Blakey Big Band (1957) Holiday for Skins (2 volumes, 1958)
With Gigi Gryce	At Newport (and Cecil Taylor, 1957) Gigi Gryce and the Jazz Lab Quintet (Riverside, 1957) Jazz Lab (Columbia album) (1957) Jazz Lab (Jubilee album) (1957 ) Modern Jazz Perspective (with Jackie Paris, 1957) New Formulas from the Jazz Lab (1957)
With Jackie McLean	Lights Out! (1956) 4, 5 and 6 (1956) New Soil (1959) Jackie's Bag (1959) Vertigo (1963)
With Hank Mobley	The Jazz Message of Hank Mobley (Savoy, 1956) Mobley's Message (Prestige, 1956) Jazz Message No. 2 (Savoy, 1957) Hank Mobley Sextet (1956) Hank (1957) No Room for Squares (1963) Straight No Filter (1963) The Turnaround! (1963) Far Away Lands (1967)
With others	Discoveries/Presenting Cannonball Adderley (Cannonball Adderley, 1955) Jammin' with Gene (Gene Ammons, 1956) All Night Long (Kenny Burrell, 1956) All Day Long (Kenny Burrell, 1957) 2 Guitars (Kenny Burrell & Jimmy Raney, 1957) Whims of Chambers (Paul Chambers, 1956) Paul Chambers Quintet (1957) Sonny's Crib (Sonny Clark, 1957) My Conception (Sonny Clark, 1959) Bohemia After Dark (Kenny Clarke, 1955) Lush Life (John Coltrane, 1957–58) The Believer (John Coltrane, 1957–58) The Last Trane (John Coltrane, 1957–58) Black Pearls (John Coltrane, 1957–58) Davis Cup (Walter Davis Jr., 1959) Wailing With Lou (Lou Donaldson, 1957) Lou Takes Off (Lou Donaldson, 1957) This Is New (Kenny Drew, 1957) All Mornin' Long (Red Garland, 1957) Soul Junction (Red Garland, 1957) High Pressure (Red Garland, 1957) One Flight Up (Dexter Gordon, 1964) Ladybird (Dexter Gordon, 1965) Snap Your Fingers (Al Grey, 1962) Johnny Griffin Sextet (1958) Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 (Guru, 1993) Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality (Guru, 1994–95) My Point of View (Herbie Hancock, 1993) Tone Tantrum (Gene Harris, 1977) Swamp Seed (Jimmy Heath, 1963) Informal Jazz (Elmo Hope, 1956) African High Life (Solomon Ilori, 1963) Big Byrd: The Essence Part 2 (Ahmad Jamal, 1994 or 1995) Quartet-Quintet (Hank Jones, 1955) Bluebird (Hank Jones, 1955) TV Action Jazz! (Mundell Lowe, 1959) The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall (1959) Goin' Out of My Head (Wes Montgomery, 1965) Hush! (Duke Pearson, 1962) Wahoo! (Duke Pearson, 1964) Another One/Oscar Pettiford Volume 2 (1955) Winner's Circle (Oscar Pettiford, et al, 1957) Blues in Trinity (Dizzy Reece, 1958) The Cool Voice of Rita Reys (1956) Dimensions & Extensions (Sam Rivers, 1967) Sonny Rollins, Volume 1 (1956) Don't Stop the Carnival (Sonny Rollins, 1978) Silver's Blue (Horace Silver, 1956) 6 Pieces of Silver (Horace Silver, 1956–58) A Date with Jimmy Smith Volume One (1957) A Date with Jimmy Smith Volume Two (1957) Taylor's Wailers (Art Taylor, 1957) Soul Sauce (Cal Tjader, 1964) A Bluish Bag (Stanley Turrentine, 1967) Top Brass (Ernie Wilkins, 1955) Pairing Off (Phil Woods, 1956)

v t e Hank Mobley
Year(s) indicated are for the recording(s), not first release, except for the compilation section
As leader or co-leader	Newark 1953 (1953 ) Hank Mobley Quartet (1955) The Jazz Message of Hank Mobley (1956) Mobley's Message (Prestige, 1956) Mobley's 2nd Message (Prestige, 1956) Jazz Message No. 2 (Savoy, 1956) Hank Mobley Sextet (1956) Hank Mobley and His All Stars (1957) Hank Mobley Quintet (1957) Hank (1957) Hank Mobley (1957) Curtain Call (1957) Poppin' (1957) Peckin' Time (1958) Monday Night at Birdland (1958) Another Monday Night at Birdland (1959) Soul Station (1960) Roll Call (1960) Workout (1961) Another Workout (1961) No Room for Squares (1963) Straight No Filter (1963–65) The Turnaround! (1964) Dippin' (1965) A Caddy for Daddy (1965) A Slice of the Top (1966) Far Away Lands (1967) Third Season (1967) Hi Voltage (1967) Reach Out! (1968) The Flip (1969) Thinking of Home (1970) Breakthrough! (1972)
With others	At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1 (Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers, 1955) At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 2 (Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers, 1955) The Jazz Messengers (Art Blakey, 1956) Originally (Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers, 1956 ) At the Jazz Corner of the World (Art Blakey/The Jazz Messengers, 1959) All Night Long (Kenny Burrell, 1956) K.B. Blues (1957 ) Byrd's Eye View (Donald Byrd, 1955) Byrd in Flight (Donald Byrd, 1960) A New Perspective (1963) Mustang! (Donald Byrd, 1966) Blackjack (Donald Byrd, 1967) Dial "S" for Sonny (Sonny Clark, 1957) My Conception (Sonny Clark, 1957) Someday My Prince Will Come (Miles Davis, 1961) In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete (Miles Davis, 1961) Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall (1961) Afro-Cuban (Kenny Dorham, 1955) Whistle Stop (Kenny Dorham, 1961) This Is New (Kenny Drew, 1957) Undercurrent (Kenny Drew, 1960) Farmer's Market (Art Farmer, 1956) The Opener (Curtis Fuller, 1957) Sliding Easy (Curtis Fuller, 1959) Afro (Dizzy Gillespie, 1954) Dizzy and Strings (Dizzy Gillespie, 1954) Jazz Recital (Dizzy Gillespie, 1954–55) I Want to Hold Your Hand (Grant Green, 1965) A Blowin' Session (Johnny Griffin, 1957) My Point of View (Herbie Hancock, 1963) Informal Jazz (Elmo Hope, 1956) Goin' Up (Freddie Hubbard, 1960) Blue Spirits (Freddie Hubbard, 1965) The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 2 (1955) Together! (Elvin Jones and Philly Joe Jones, 1961) Midnight Walk (Elvin Jones, 1966) I Wanna Talk About You (Tete Montoliu, 1980) Introducing Lee Morgan (1956) Lee Morgan Sextet (1956) Cornbread (Lee Morgan, 1965) Charisma (1966) The Rajah (1966) Tenor Conclave (Prestige All Stars, 1957) Star Bright (Dizzy Reece, 1959) The Cool Voice of Rita Reys (1956) Good Move! (Freddie Roach 1963) The Max Roach Quartet featuring Hank Mobley (1953) Max Roach + 4 (1956) The Max Roach 4 Plays Charlie Parker (1957) MAX (Max Roach, 1958) Yasmina, a Black Woman (Archie Shepp, 1969) Poem for Malcolm (Archie Shepp, 1969) Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (1954–55) Silver's Blue (Horace Silver, 1956) 6 Pieces of Silver (Horace Silver, 1956–58) The Stylings of Silver (Horace Silver, 1957) A Date with Jimmy Smith Volume One (1957) A Date with Jimmy Smith Volume Two (1957) Julius Watkins Sextet (1955)
Compilations	The Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions (1998) The Feelin's Good (2013)
Related articles	Discography

v t e Sonny Red
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release.
As leader or co-leader	Two Altos (with Art Pepper, 1957) Out of the Blue (1959–60) Breezing (1960) A Story Tale (with Clifford Jordan, 1961) The Mode (1961) Images (1961) Sonny Red (1971)
With Donald Byrd	Mustang (1966) Blackjack (1967) Slow Drag (1967) The Creeper (1967)
With others	Curtis Fuller with Red Garland (1957) Jazz ...It's Magic! (Curtis Fuller, 1957) New Trombone (Curtis Fuller, 1957) Saying Something (Bill Hardman, 1961) The Blue Yusef Lateef (Yusef Lateef, 1968) Pony's Express (Pony Poindexter, 1962) On the Sunny Side (Paul Quinichette, 1957)

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