Rabble Without A Cause, February 12: Byard Lancaster in Europe, 1973-74
In this second show of Black History Month, I feature new reissues of three Byard Lancaster albums recorded in France
Byard Lancaster was an alto sax and flute player from Philadelphia who moved to New York in the 1960s, where he played with Sun Ra and others. His first recording was with the Sunny Murray Quintet in 1966. His first recording as a leader was “It’s Not Up to Us”, released in 1968.
In 1969, he went to Paris with Sunny Murray, and again in 1971. He went to Paris on his own in 1973, where he met Jef Gilson, the pianist and producer, who encouraged him to record under his own name again. Lancaster eventually released four albums for Gilson’s label, Palm Recordings. We will hear selections from three of those albums - “Us”, “Mother Africa”, and “Exactement”. The fourth release, “Funny Funky Rib Grib”, is a straight-ahead jazz funk release (recommended, but not avant garde jazz). We will also hear “Love Always”, a track recorded in 1974 and released only on an anthology album.
The first album was “Us”, recorded on November 24th, 1973, with Sylvin Marc on electric bass and Steve McCall on drums.
On March 8, 1974, Lancaster recorded “Mother Africa” along with Clint Jackson III on trumpet. Also on this recording were Keno Speller on congas, Jonathan Dickinson on drums, and Jean-Francois Catoire on bass.
“Exactement” was recorded over two studio sessions on February 1st and May 18th 1974. On this album, Lancaster plays piano, alto and soprano sax, flute and bass clarinet. Keno Speller is on percussion.
The fourth album recorded for Palm Records was “Funny Funky Rib Crib” (made up of several sessions dating from the middle of 1974). There is not much avant garde in this release - it’s a straight forward jazz funk vibe. Although I will not be playing any of it, I recommend checking it out.
We will end the show with the delightful “Love Always”, recorded on March 8, 1974 and originally included on the fourth (and last) volume of the Jef Gilson Anthology series released in 1975. This performance includes Jean-François Catoire on bass, Jonathan Dickinson on drums, Keno Speller on percussion and Clint Jackson III on trumpet.
Lancaster eventually returned to his home of Philadelphia, where he continued to perform and to be a jazz educator. Here he is in 2008, as part of Martin Luther King Day. He died in 2012.
You can listen live on Wednesday at 11 p.m. at 93.1 on the FM band or online at CKCUFM.com. The show is also available for on demand streaming.