Don Byron

Don Byron
Photo by Ed Newman
Background information
Birth name	Donald Byron
Born	November 8, 1958 (1958-11-08) (age 53)
Origin	New York, New York, U.S.
Genres	Avant-garde jazz Post bop M-Base Klezmer
Instruments	Clarinet Bass Clarinet Saxophone
Years active	1980s–present
Associated acts	Hankus Netsky M-Base Collective

Don Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet, but has also used bass clarinet and saxophones.

Though rooted in jazz, Byron's music is stylistically eclectic. He's worked in many different musical genres, ranging from klezmer music and German lieder, to Raymond Scott's "cartoon-jazz," hard rock/metal, and rap. Most of Byron's albums have been conceptual, devoted to works of a particular musician and/or style of music.

Early life

Byron was born in The Bronx, in New York City. Both parents were musicians: his mother a pianist and his father played bass in calypso bands. As well as listening to jazz recordings by Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and others, he was exposed to other styles through trips to the ballet and symphony concerts.^[1]

He studied clarinet with Joe Allard^[2] and studied music at the New England Conservatory in Boston with George Russell.^[2] While in Boston, Byron performed and recorded with the Klezmer Conservatory Band, founded by NEC faculty member Hankus Netsky.

Musical career

Byron is a gifted performer on clarinet, bass clarinet and saxophone (which he only plays occasionally), but on many of his albums he subordinates his own playing to the exploration of a particular style. Byron is representative of a new generation of conservatory-trained jazz musicians who explore and record in a rich array of styles; his first album, Tuskegee Experiments, is a stew of classical avant garde and atonal jazz improvisation, while albums such as Bug Music represent a straight-ahead exploration of the traditional jazz 'tune'.

Byron is a practicing jazz historian, and some of his albums have been recreations (in spirit) of forgotten moments in the history of popular music. Examples are Plays the Music of Mickey Katz, Bug Music,^[3] and Ivey-Divey. Byron has been nominated for a Grammy award for his bass clarinet solo on "I Want to Be Happy" from Ivey-Divey.

Byron is a member of the Black Rock Coalition. He has recorded with Uri Caine, Dean Bowman, Vernon Reid, Bill Frisell, Joe Henry, and others.

Byron was also a judge for the 2nd annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.^[4]

In 2001, Byron performed "Bli Blip" for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Duke Ellington, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease.

Byron was named a 2007 USA Gund Foundation Fellow and awarded a US$50,000 grant by United States Artists, a public charity that supports and promotes the work of American artists.

Discography

As leader

• Tuskegee Experiments (1992)
• Plays the Music of Mickey Katz (1993)
• Music for Six Musicians (1995)
• No-Vibe Zone: Live at the Knitting Factory (1996)
• Bug Music (1996)
• "Puzzle" (1997)
• Nu Blaxploitation (1998)
• Romance with the Unseen (1999)
• A Fine Line: Arias and Lieder (2000)
• You Are #6: More Music for Six Musicians (2001)
• Ivey-Divey (2004)
• Don Byron Trio - Live at Willisau Jazz Festival (2005)
• A Ballad for Many (2006)
• Light, "Four Thoughts on Marvin Gaye, Thought #3", ETHEL, 2006
• Do The Boomerang - The Music of Junior Walker" (2006)

As sideman

With Anthony Braxton

• 4 (Ensemble) Compositions 1992 (Black Saint, 1993)

References

1. ^ "Don Byron". All About Jazz. http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=3807. Retrieved 2010-01-17. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Kelsey, Chris. "Don Byron". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p6222. Retrieved 2010-01-17. 
3. ^ Yanow, Scott. "Bug Music". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r241517. Retrieved 2010-01-17. 
4. ^ Independent Music Awards - Past Judges

External links

• Official Site
• New MusicBox: Don Byron in conversation with Frank J. Oteri, 1999
• Art of the States: Don Byron
• CNN interview with Don Byron
• Gund Foundation
• United States Artists arts advocacy organization.

Persondata
Name	Byron, Don
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Date of birth	1958-11-08
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