DONALD BYRD (Rest in Power)

One of the things I loved most about hiphop is the fact it is a wonderful way to pass on great music. This is how I discovered Donald Byrd. The man was a legendary trumpeter, who walked the lines between soul and funk in much of his work while keeping a Jazz sensibility. This made him pure gold for breakbeat hunters like myself because of his sound. Artist Like Donald Byrd, Roy Ayers, Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver etc… always seemed to be amazingly able to bring Jazz to interesting new places using the sonic backdrop of the moment. One of my favorite sample flips is the use of a snippet of his song “Think Twice” by Large Professor to create his Mainsource classic “looking at the front door”(see below). Q-Tip also fliped the sample on “Footprints” from tribes first Album with dope results. Legends Don’t Die