Fancy Free (Donald Byrd album)

1969 studio album by Donald Byrd

Fancy Free

Studio album by Donald Byrd

Released

December 1969

Recorded

May 9, June 6, 1969

Studio

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Genre

Jazz, jazz fusion

Length

39:10

Donald Byrd chronology

The Creeper
(1967)

Fancy Free
(1969)

Electric Byrd
(1970)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic

Fancy Free is an album by American jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd that was recorded and released in 1969 by Blue Note Records.

Reception

AllMusic awarded the album with 3 stars and its review by Steve Huey says, "Recorded just a few months after Miles Davis' In a Silent Way, Fancy Free finds Byrd leading a large ensemble prominently featuring Frank Foster on tenor, Lew Tabackin or Jerry Dodgion on flute, and several percussionists. But the most important piece of the puzzle is Duke Pearson's electric piano, the first time Byrd utilized the instrument." Critic Marc Myers described the album in 2018 as "decades ahead of its time". Myers also wrote that the album began a new period in Byrd's career, in which, "Unlike rock fusion, which was popular with sit-down audiences in college dorm rooms and events, Byrd focused more on grooves and beats, accompanying them on his trumpet rather than being driven by them."

Track listing

"Fancy Free" (Donald Byrd) – 12:06
"I Love the Girl" (Byrd) – 8:48
"The Uptowner" (Mitch Farber) – 9:16
"Weasil" (Charles Hendricks) – 9:00

Note

Recorded on May 9 (#2, 4) and June 6, 1969. (#1, 3)

Personnel

Donald Byrd – trumpet
Julian Priester – trombone
Frank Foster – tenor and soprano saxophone
Jerry Dodgion (#1, 3) – flute
Lew Tabackin (#2, 4) – flute
Duke Pearson – electric piano
Jimmy Ponder – guitar
Roland Wilson – bass guitar
Joe Chambers (#2, 4), Leo Morris (#1, 3) – drums
Nat Bettis – percussion
John H. Robinson Jr. – percussion

References

"Best selling Jazz LP's"[sic]], Billboard, February 28, 1970
^ Huey, Steve (2011). "Fancy Free – Donald Byrd". AllMusic. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
^ Myers, Marc (January 22, 2018). "Donald Byrd: Fancy Free". jazzwax.com. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019.

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 Duke Pearson
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release.
As leader or co-leader	Profile (1959) Tender Feelin's (1959) Angel Eyes (1961–62) Dedication! (1961) Hush! (1962) Wahoo! (1964) Honeybuns (1965) Prairie Dog (1966) Sweet Honey Bee (1966) The Right Touch (1967) Introducing Duke Pearson's Big Band (1967–68) I Don't Care Who Knows It (1968–70) Now Hear This (1968) The Phantom (1968) How Insensitive (1969) Merry Ole Soul (1969) It Could Only Happen with You (1970)
With Donald Byrd	Fuego (1959) At the Half Note Cafe (1960) Byrd in Flight (1960) The Cat Walk (1961) A New Perspective (1963) Fancy Free (1969) Kofi (1969–70) Electric Byrd (1970)
With others	Little Johnny C (Johnny Coles, 1963) Idle Moments (Grant Green, 1963) The Kicker (Bobby Hutcherson, 1963) Mean What You Say (Thad Jones and Pepper Adams, 1966)
Arranger only	I'm Tryin' to Get Home (for Donald Byrd]], 1964) Lush Life (for Lou Donaldson, 1967) Am I Blue (for Grant Green, 1963) Boss Horn (for Blue Mitchell, 1966) Heads Up! (for Blue Mitchell, 1968) A Slice of the Top (for Hank Mobley, 1966) Standards (for Lee Morgan, 1967) Rough 'n' Tumble (for Stanley Turrentine, 1966) A Bluish Bag (for Stanley Turrentine, 1967) The Return of the Prodigal Son (for Stanley Turrentine, 1967) The Look of Love (for Stanley Turrentine, 1968)

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