Trumpeter
Donald Byrd took a brief vacation from Blue Note to record this one album for Verve. The music is mostly pretty forgettable despite such top sidemen as tenors
Stanley Turrentine and
Jimmy Heath, pianist
Herbie Hancock, and guitarist
Kenny Burrell.
Byrd mostly sticks to current pop tunes, and most of the songs utilize a rather average vocal group listed as "The Donald Byrd Singers." The arrangements by
Claus Ogerman,
Byrd, and
Hancock are unimaginative and these renditions of "House of the Rising Sun," "My Babe," and a few of
Hancock's originals are quite forgettable. A lesser effort. ~ Scott Yanow