Best of the Concord Years
By the time guitarist Charlie Byrd became one of the charter artists on Concord's roster in 1974, he had more than a decade of major record label pressure demanding more of his 1960s-era bossa nova successes. Concord gave Byrd--who died in November 1999--the freedom to explore the music ofDuke Ellington, W.C. Handy,Louis Armstrong, andBix Beiderbeckehowever he chose. The tribute-minded Charlie Byrd makes up disc one of this compilation. Disc two reflects how much better Byrd sounded late in his career when playing the South American music that made him famous. That's why the second half of this set is infinitely better than the first, and is alone worth the price. There's an experiment with Argentina's tango music and a Spanish carol played by Byrd's Washington Guitar Quartet, but disc two is mostly made up of Brazilian music. Surprisingly, only three compositions come fromAntonio Carlos Jobim, but two are quite noticeable thanks to the wonderful soloists--Ken Peplowski's sax and clarinet on "Dindi," and Maucha Adnet's singing on "So Danco Samba." If it's more late-period Byrd you're after, follow this set with more of the guitarist's work with singer Adnet onMy Inspiration, Music of Brazil.--Mark A. Ruffin