Donald Byrd – Kofi LP (Tone Poet Vinyl Series)

Donald Byrd – Kofi (Tone Poet Vinyl Series)

Drawn from two sessions recorded in December 1969 and December 1970, and not first released until 1995, Kofi found Donald Byrd in the early stages of his transformation from top-notch hard bop trumpeter to fusion pioneer. Byrd had already begun to move away from a pure hard bop sound with his album Fancy Free in the Spring of 1969, and the two Kofi sessions straddled the recording of his adventurous fusion album Electric Byrd. The first Kofi session subtly explored a new realm of sounds on Byrd’s originals “Kofi” and “Fufu” with producer Duke Pearson’s electric piano shimmering underneath textured arrangements featuring Lew Tabackin on flute and tenor saxophone, Frank Fosteron tenor saxophone, William Campbell on trombone, Ron Carter on acoustic bass, Bob Cranshaw on electric bass, and Airto Moreira on drums. The following 1970 session produced two more vibey Byrd originals—“Perpetual Love” and “Elmina”—adding Wally Richardson on guitar and Mickey Roker on drums with Moreira playing percussion along with Dom Um Romão.

Blue Note Tone Poet Series

The Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series was born out of Blue Note President Don Was’ admiration for the exceptional audiophile Blue Note LP reissues presented by Music Matters. Was brought Joe Harley, a.k.a. the “Tone Poet,” on board to curate and supervise a series of reissues from the Blue Note family of labels. 

Extreme attention to detail has been paid to getting these right in every conceivable way, from the jacket graphics and printing quality to superior LP mastering (direct from the master tapes) by Kevin Gray to superb 180g audiophile LP pressings by Record Technology Inc. Every aspect of these Tone Poet releases is done to the highest possible standard. It means that you will never find a superior version. This is IT. 

This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Record Technology Inc. (RTI), and packaged in a deluxe tip-on jacket.

Tracklist:
A1: Kofi 
A2: Fufu 

B1: Perpetual Love 
B2: Elmina 

Label: Blue Note Records
Released: 1995/2024