Donald Byrd
Blackjack (Blue Note 21286)

It's blackjack, and Donald Byrd is holding 21! But when the dealer wins, so does the listener with this 1967 Blue Note gem!

Okay, I'll lay off the cheeky sloganeering for a bit. Blackjack finds Donald Byrd in the transition period between his genre-bending groundbreakers like A New Perspective and the wilder experiments of Electric Byrd and all that followed.

Here he is discovering neither deep spiritual wells within traditional jazz nor undiscovered funkiness, but he is laying down some straight-ahead post-hard bop groove.

Everyone's in fine form all around, particularly Donald, Hank Mobley on tenor sax, and Cedar Walton (in Herbie Hancock mode) on piano. The lineup also includes the unheralded Sonny Red on alto sax, Walter Booker on bass, and Billy Higgins' relentlessly delicious drumming.

Standout tracks include the title track and the rollicking "Beale Street," which (if it isn't already) should be ranked up there with "Cantaloupe Island" and "The Sidewinder" as one of Blue Note's very finest blues vamps.

Show me the Blue Note album that sucks and I'll show you a punch in the craw.

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Review by Dana Delirious