Release Date: November 1975
Label: Blue Note Records
Genre: Jazz, Jazz Funk, Jazz Fusion.
Running Time: 35:34
In 1975 storied jazz veteran Donald Byrd, who had up to then recorded for jazz label Blue Note Records since 1958, wanted to experiment with new sounds that were trending in the jazz landscape. Following his albums “Black Byrd”, “Street Lady” and “Stepping Into Tomorrow”, Byrd had already flirted with the idea of doing a fully fledged Jazz Funk album, and “Places and Spaces” might just be the grooviest album to ever come out of the sub-genre.
At the time of release Jazz Funk was looked down upon by critics and jazz snobs as they saw 20 year veterans crossing over to a barely 5 year old genre of music that was way more commercially friendly than jazz.
The criticism didn’t hurt the album though, as the album became one of Byrd’s biggest hits commercially and sampling of song such as “Wind Parade”, the title track, “Dominoes” and “You And Music” remain popular today, being used by a wide array of hiphop act ranging from 2Pac, Black Moon, Nujabes to Organized Konfusion.
Listen to the album
Key highlights:
Wind Parade
Dominoes
Places and Spaces
You and Music
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