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Of the major tenor-saxophonists of the 1940s, which include Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Ben Webster, Illinois Jacquet and Dexter Gordon, Don Byas is easily the least known despite being the equal of the others. The reason for this is clear. In 1946 Byas left the United States to settle in Europe and, other than one visit in 1970, he never returned. While he played great in Europe and recorded fairly often, he was almost totally forgotten by the American jazz world.
Prior to 1946, Byas had had a very productive career in the United States. Born in 1912, he played with many big bands both in California (including Lionel Hampton, Eddie Barefield and Buck Clayton) and New York (Lucky Millinder, Don Redman and Andy Kirk). As Lester Young's replacement with the Count Basie Orchestra during 1941-44, he gained a certain amount of fame. By then he sounded like a modern extension of Coleman Hawkins, employing a similar tone but faster runs and an openness to ideas played by the up-and-coming bebop musicians. After leaving Basie, Byas was a fixture on 52nd Street and during 1944-46 led a series of brilliant recordings in addition to being featured with Dizzy Gillespie and playing with Charlie Parker, Max Roach and Oscar Pettiford.
But after touring Europe with Don Redman's orchestra in mid-1946, Byas decided to stay. He was treated as an artist in Europe and worked steadily, but in America it seemed as if only musicians remembered him. Both Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington were among those visiting Americans who used Byas when they visited Europe. The great tenor stayed busy up until his death in 1973.
Don Byas' Inner City album features him on three sessions from 1953-55. The first six selections are a reunion with pianist Mary Lou Williams in a quartet, three songs team Byas with the Beryl Booker Trio, and the final numbers have him showcased in a French quintet with vibraphonist Fats Sadi.
Throughout these performances, which include several originals by Williams and Booker plus a variety of standards, Byas shows that he had continued to grow while overseas. His tone is huge, he is particularly warm on ballads, and his double time runs are both distinctive and outstanding.
"One of the major jazz tenor-saxophonists of the early 1940s, Don Byas moved permanently to Europe in 1946 and, as a consequence, he never became that famous in the United States. A tenor with a giant tone who built upon the innovations of Coleman Hawkins, Byas was active overseas during his final 25 years. On this Jazz Legacy collection, Byas is heard with three different groups during 1953-55, playing remarkable double time runs on uptempo tunes yet sounding quite romantic during his melodic renditions of ballads. This CD serves as a perfect introduction for today’s jazz listeners to explore the music of the great Don Byas.
Although he would not be winning any polls in the United States by this time, in the mid-1950s, few other tenor-saxophonists were on the level of Don Byas." -Scott Yanow
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