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Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, (born December 9, 1932) is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a pop artist.

In 1973, he created The Blackbyrds, a fusion group consisting of his best students. They scored several major hits including "Happy Music" (#3 R&B, #19 pop), "Walking In Rhythm" (#4 R&B, #6 pop) and "Rock Creek Park".

Biography[link]

Byrd attended Cass Technical High School. He performed with Lionel Hampton before finishing high school. After playing in a military band during a term in the United States Air Force, he obtained a bachelor's degree in music from Wayne State University and a master's degree from Manhattan School of Music.

While still at the Manhattan School, he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, as replacement for Clifford Brown. In 1955, he recorded with Jackie McLean and Mal Waldron. After leaving the Jazz Messengers in 1956, he performed with many leading jazz musicians of the day, including John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, and later Herbie Hancock.

Byrd's first regular group was a quintet that he co-led from 1958-61 with baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, an ensemble whose hard driving performances are captured "live" on At the Half Note Cafe. In June 1964, Byrd jammed with jazz legend Eric Dolphy in Paris just two weeks before Dolphy's death from insulin shock.

In the 1970s, Byrd moved away from the hard-bop jazz idiom and began to record jazz fusion and rhythm and blues. He teamed up with the Mizell Brothers (producer-writers Larry and Fonce) for Black Byrd in 1972. It was highly successful and became Blue Note Records' highest-ever selling album. The title track climbed to #19 on Billboard's R&B chart and reached the Hot 100 pop chart, peaking at #88. The Mizell brothers' follow-up albums for Byrd, Street Lady, Places and Spaces and Steppin' Into Tomorrow were also big sellers, and have subsequently provided a rich source of samples for acid jazz artists such as Us3. Most of the material for the albums was written by Larry Mizell.

In 1994, Byrd appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool. The album, meant to raise awareness and funds in support of the AIDS epidemic in relation to the African American community, was heralded as "Album of the Year" by Time Magazine.

He has taught music at Rutgers University, the Hampton Institute, New York University, Howard University, Queens College, Oberlin College, Cornell University and Delaware State University.

In addition to his master's from Manhattan School of Music, Byrd has two master's degrees from Columbia University. He received a law degree in 1976, and his doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College in 1982.

In September 2009, he was named an artist-in-residence at Delaware State University.^[1] Byrd lives in Teaneck, New Jersey.^[2]

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

• Byrd's Eye View (1955), Transitions
• Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill (1956), Transitions
• Off to the Races (1958), Blue Note
• Byrd in Hand (1959), Blue Note
• Fuego (1959), Blue Note
• Byrd in Flight (1960), Blue Note
• At the Half Note Cafe (1960), Blue Note
• Motor City Scene - with Pepper Adams (1960), Bethlehem
• Chant (1961), Blue Note
• The Cat Walk (1961), Blue Note
• Royal Flush (1961), Blue Note
• Free Form (1961), Blue Note
• A New Perspective (1963), Blue Note
• Up with Donald Byrd (1964), Verve
• I'm Tryin' to Get Home (1964), Blue Note
• Mustang! (1966), Blue Note
• Blackjack (1967), Blue Note
• Slow Drag (1967), Blue Note
• The Creeper (1967), Blue Note
• Fancy Free (1969) Blue Note
• Electric Byrd (1969–70), Blue Note
• Kofi (1969), Blue Note
• Ethiopian Knights (1971), Blue Note
• Black Byrd (1972), Blue Note
• Street Lady (1973), Blue Note
• Stepping into Tomorrow (1974), Blue Note
• Places and Spaces (1975), Blue Note
• Caricatures (1976), Blue Note
• Thank You... for F.U.M.L. (Funking Up My Life) (1978), Elektra
• Love Byrd (1981), Elektra
• Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes (1983) Landmark
• Harlem Blues (1987), Landmark
• Getting Down to Business (1989), Landmark
• A City Called Heaven (1991), Landmark
• Touchstone (2000)
• The Transition Sessions (2002)

As sideman[link]

• 1955 Kenny Clarke - Bohemia After Dark
• 1955 Cannonball Adderley - Discoveries
• 1955 Oscar Pettiford - Another One
• 1955 Hank Jones - Quartet-Quintet
• 1955 Hank Jones - Bluebird - one track only
• 1955 Ernie Wilkins - Top Brass
• 1956 George Wallington - Jazz for the Carriage Trade
• 1956 Jackie McLean - Lights Out!
• 1956 Hank Mobley - The Jazz Message of Hank Mobley
• 1956 Kenny Clarke - Klook's Clique
• 1956 Art Blakey - The Jazz Messengers
• 1956 Rita Reys - The Cool Voice of Rita Reys
• 1956 Elmo Hope - Informal Jazz
• 1956 Phil Woods - Pairing Off
• 1956 Jackie McLean - 4, 5 and 6
• 1956 Gene Ammons - Jammin' with Gene
• 1956 Horace Silver - Silver's Blue
• 1956 Hank Mobley - Mobley's Message
• 1956 Hank Mobley - Jazz Message #2
• 1956 Art Farmer - 2 Trumpets
• 1956 Paul Chambers - Whims of Chambers
• 1956 Phil Woods/Donald Byrd - The Young Bloods
• 1956 Horace Silver - 6 Pieces of Silver
• 1956 Hank Mobley - Hank Mobley Sextet
• 1956 Doug Watkins - Watkins at Large
• 1956 Sonny Rollins - Sonny Rollins, Vol. 1
• 1956 Kenny Burrell - All Night Long
• 1957 Kenny Burrell - All Day Long
• 1957 Gigi Gryce/Donald Byrd - Jazz Lab
• 1957 Art Farmer/Donald Byrd/Idrees Sulieman - Three Trumpets
• 1957 Lou Donaldson - Wailing with Lou
• 1957 Jimmy Smith - A Date with Jimmy Smith Volume One
• 1957 Art Taylor - Taylor Wailer's
• 1957 Gigi Gryce - Gigi Gryce and The Jazz Lab Quintet
• 1957 George Wallington - The New York Scene
• 1957 Various Artists - American Jazzmen Play Andre Hodeir's Essais
• 1957 Kenny Burrell/Jimmy Raney - 2 Guitars
• 1957 Kenny Drew - This is New
• 1957 Hank Mobley - Hank
• 1957 Paul Chambers - Paul Chambers Quintet
• 1957 The Gigi Gryce/Donald Byrd Jazz Lab - At Newport - One side of LP which also features Cecil Taylor
• 1957 Gigi Gryce/Donald Byrd - New Formulas from the Jazz Lab
• 1957 Gigi Gryce/Donald Byrd - Modern Jazz Perspective
• 1957 Sonny Clark - Sonny's Crib
• 1957 John Jenkins - Star Eyes
• 1957 Oscar Pettiford - Winner's Circle
• 1957 George Wallington - Jazz at Hotchkiss
• 1957 Red Garland - All Mornin' Long
• 1957 Red Garland - Soul Junction
• 1957 Red Garland - High Pressure
• 1957 Lou Donaldson - Lou Takes Off
• 1958 John Coltrane - Lush Life - one track only
• 1958 John Coltrane - The Believer - two tracks
• 1958 John Coltrane - The Last Trane - two tracks
• 1958 Johnny Griffin - Johnny Griffin Sextet
• 1958 Pepper Adams - 10 to 4 at the 5 Spot
• 1958 John Coltrane - Black Pearls
• 1958 Michel Legrand - Legrand Jazz
• 1958 Dizzy Reece - Blues in Trinity
• 1958 Art Blakey - Holiday for Skins
• 1958 Jim Timmens - Gilbert and Sullivan Revisited
• 1959 Jackie McLean - Jackie's Bag
• 1959 Thelonious Monk - The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall
• 1959 Chris Connor - Ballads of the Sad Cafe
• 1959 Sonny Clark - My Conception
• 1959 Manny Albam/Teo Macero - Something New, Something Blue
• 1959 Jackie McLean - Vertigo
• 1959 Jackie McLean - New Soil
• 1959 Walter Davis Jr. - Davis Cup
• 1961 Pepper Adams - Out of This World
• 1962 Duke Pearson - Hush!
• 1963 Hank Mobley - No Room for Squares
• 1963 Hank Mobley - Straight No Filter - released 1986
• 1963 Hank Mobley - The Turnaround
• 1963 Jimmy Heath - Swamp Seed
• 1963 Herbie Hancock - My Point of View
• 1964 Dexter Gordon - One Flight Up
• 1964 Cal Tjader - Soul Sauce
• 1964 Solomon Ilori - African High Life
• 1964 Duke Pearson - Wahoo!
• 1965 Dexter Gordon - Ladybird
• 1965 Wes Montgomery - Goin' Out of My Head
• 1967 Stanley Turrentine - A Bluish Bag
• 1967 Sam Rivers - Dimensions & Extensions
• 1967 Hank Mobley - Far Away Lands
• 1977 Gene Harris - Tone Tantrum
• 1978 Sonny Rollins - Don't Stop the Carnival
• 1993 Guru - Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1
• 1995 Guru - Guru's Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality
• 1995 Ahmad Jamal - Big Byrd: The Essence Part 2

References[link]

External links[link]

• Donald Byrd at Allmusic
• Donald Byrd Discogs entry
• Donald Byrd discography at jazzdisco.org

Herbert Lang
Born	(1976-08-01) August 1, 1976 (age 35) Brinkley, Arkansas, U.S.
Nationality	American
Ethnicity	African
Alma mater	Centenary College of Louisiana
Occupation	Basketball player
Television	The Amazing Race 15 (4th place) The Amazing Race 18 (2nd place)

Herbert "Flight Time" Lang (born August 1, 1976) is an American basketball player for the Harlem Globetrotters.

Career[link]

He graduated from Centenary College of Louisiana in 1998, after a season in which he led the Trans-America Athletic Conference in scoring and won the National Association of Basketball Coaches Slam Dunk Contest. The Globetrotters invited him to their training camp in 1999.^[1] He appeared on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader along with his fellow Globetrotters on a special celebrity week. Lang raised $25,000, the most out of all his fellow players. In total, the Globetrotters raised over $45,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation that week.

[edit] Amazing Race 15

Lang and his fellow Globetrotter Nathaniel "Big Easy" Lofton were contestants on The Amazing Race 15 and finished in fourth place. During their leg in Sweden, Lang celebrated his birthday there, he and Lofton won that leg. However in Leg 11, they were unable to complete the Kafka - Esque Challenge in Prague, Czech Republic and took a four hour time penalty.^[2][3] In May 2010 he also appeared on the Spanish show El Hormiguero.^{[citation needed]} He has also appeared on the Spanish show Se lo que hicisteis...

Placements during the Race[link]

• Leg 1: 5th place
• Leg 2: 3rd place
• Leg 3: 1st place (Won a trip for two to Aruba)
• Leg 4: 2nd Place
• Leg 5: 3rd Place
• Leg 6: 6th place
• Leg 7: 3rd Place
• Leg 8: 1st Place (Won a trip for two to the Turks and Caicos Islands)
• Leg 9: 3rd Place
• Leg 10: 3rd Place
• Leg 11: 4th Place / eliminated

[edit] Amazing Race 18

Lang and Lofton competed on The Amazing Race for a second time in its eighteenth season.^[4] They got two first-place finishes; three second-place finishes; one third-place finish; three fifth-place finishes; two sixth-place finishes; and one seventh-place finish. In Leg 3, Flight Time & Big Easy arrived in 3rd but were issued a 30 minute penalty which allowing Ron & Christina moving up to 3rd Place, Kisha & Jen to 4th Place, and they were ultimately dropped to 5th Place. In Leg 5, they were U-Turned by Jaime & Cara on a Double U-Turn, which was the second U-Turn used. In Leg 7, they won a trip for two to Hawaii from Travelocity. In Leg 9, they had no choice but planned to used the U-Turn on the cowboys of Jet & Cord on a Double U-Turn, which was the first U-Turn used. In Leg 10, they won a trip for two to the Cook Islands from Travelocity. In the final leg, "Flight Time" and "Big Easy" were placed 2nd, ultimately losing the one million dollar grand prize and "The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business" winners' title to sisters Kisha and Jen Hoffman.

Placements during the Race[link]

• Leg 1: 5th place
• Leg 2: 2nd place
• Leg 3: 5th place (arrived in 3rd, but were issued a 30 minute penalty)
• Leg 4: 6th place
• Leg 5: 6th place (were U-Turned by Jaime & Cara on a Double U-Turn)
• Leg 6: 7th place
• Leg 7: 1st place (won a trip for two to Hawaii from Travelocity)
• Leg 8: 2nd place
• Leg 9: 5th Place (used the U-Turn on Jet & Cord on a Double U-Turn)
• Leg 10: 1st Place (won a trip for two to the Cook Islands from Travelocity)
• Leg 11: 3rd Place
• Final Leg: 2nd Place

References[link]

External links[link]

This biographical article relating to a United States basketball player, coach, or other figure born in the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Booker Little, Jr (April 2, 1938 – October 5, 1961^[1]) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer.

Biography[link]

Despite his premature death from kidney failure at the age of 23, Little made an important contribution to jazz. Stylistically, his sound is rooted in the playing of Clifford Brown, featuring crisp articulation, a burnished tone and balanced phrasing. He is considered to be one of the first trumpet players to develop his own sound after Clifford Brown.

He was born in Memphis, Tennessee.^[1] He studied at the Chicago Conservatory from 1956 to 1958 and it was during this time that he worked with leading local musicians such as Johnny Griffin. Later, after moving to New York, he became associated with drummer Max Roach and multi-instrumentalist virtuoso Eric Dolphy, recording with them both as a sideman and a leader. With Dolphy, he co-led a residency at the Five Spot club in New York in June 1961, from which three classic albums were eventually issued by Prestige Records. It was during this stint that he began to show promise of expanding the expressive range of the "vernacular" bebop idiom started by Clifford Brown in the mid-1950s. He also appeared on Dolphy's album Far Cry (New Jazz 8270), recorded December 21, 1960. He died of complications resulting from uremia on October 5, 1961 in New York City, New York.^[1][2]

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

• 1958: Booker Little 4 and Max Roach (United Artists)
• 1960: Booker Little (Time)
• 1961: Out Front (Candid Records) with Julian Priester, Eric Dolphy, Don Friedman, Ron Carter, Art Davis, Max Roach
• 1961: Booker Little and Friend (Bethlehem) This album was re-released under the name Victory and Sorrow

As sideman[link]

With Max Roach

• Deeds, Not Words (Riverside, 1958)
• Max Roach Plus Four on the Chicago Scene (EmArcy, 1958)
• We Insist! – Freedom Now (Candid, 1960)
• Percussion Bitter Sweet (Impulse!, 1961)

With Eric Dolphy

• Far Cry (Prestige, 1960)
• At the Five Spot (New Jazz / OJC, 1961)

With John Coltrane

• Africa/Brass (Impulse!, 1960)

With Slide Hampton

• Slide! (Strand, 1959)

With Bill Henderson

• Bill Henderson Sings (Vee Jay, 1959)

With Abbey Lincoln

• Straight Ahead (Candid, 1961)

With Frank Strozier

• The Fantastic Frank Strozier (Vee-Jay, 1960)

References[link]