Donald Byrd – Street Lady

Repress alert! 180g Gatefold will released on March 31 2023: https://www.musiconvinyl.com/catalog/donald-byrd/street-lady

The fact that this is my LEAST favorite donald byrd funk jazz album is saying something, because it still slaps! just sounds slightly corporate to me if that makes any sense.

Donald Byrd got me into Jazz. This album in particular was an early introduction to that Jazz/Funk/Fusion sound. It all started with Guru's Jazzmatazz and now my 70s Jazz collection is getting large!!

Beautiful album. Brilliant and really enjoyable. Perfect example of Jazz-Funk style. Theo Parrish sampled "Lanzana's Priestress" for his "Early Byrd" (nomen omen) masterpiece.

This is one album where the cover advertises exactly what you're in for. Semi-Frantic summertime sugary sex funk !! No other Donald Byrd album sounds quite like this one. Alchemy of audio brings together some of the great session guys and gals to record a theme to reflect the hot hot heat and hard walk of the 'street lady' aka Prostitute. It's a densely layered sound on some tracks and the groove is non stop. The title track was used very effectively in the early 90's Blue Note compilation "Blue Break Beats" Blue Break Beats Volume Two to introduce a new generation to that era. The recording is also very juicy, not too slick, still sounds raw and banging, before the heavy compression and new mixing desks started to sneak into Funk records, so you get hard edges along with soft.

Imagine if John Shaft and SuperFly took over the Blue Note Jazz Club. The result would be Donald Byrd's 'Street Lady'. Donald and producer Larry Mizell were obviously taking (Blue)notes from Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield when conceiving this album; its shows all through the recording. They enlisted the now-legendary studio musicians Chuck Rainey(bass guitar) and Harvey Mason(drums) to lay down the pocket and boy, do they ever. From the driving groove of 'Lansana's Priestess' to the smoldering funk of 'Witch Hunt', the vibe(and vibraphone) is there. A masterfully arranged funktaperstry that give's Byrd's trumpet and Roger Glenn's flute plenty of freedom to flow over, under, and through. No small wonder that many Acid Jazz musicians have used this record as a framework/archetype for their own music. If you're into lounging or just like that 70s Soul sound, I highly recommend this recording.

This is one Donald Byrd's best albums to date. The style of music which he has combined is the utmost sound ever. He has a great group of Producers, and a great band to back him up. I recommend this album to anyone. Listen to songs like: Miss Kane, and Witch Hunt.
The art work is fantastic, that is why it is called "Street Lady.
Get this album, and add it to your collection.

This is the album that's going to get me into jazz-funk. I own a lot of jazz-fusion records but not much jazz-funk. This one is filled with pure soul and I absoutly love it. I've played the B-side about 4 times in a row one day, which my two favorite tracks are on, Witch Hunt and Woman of the World. The music in this record just fills you with joy and this is the type of jazz that you just sit back, close your eyes and let the music take you away. I'm now on the hunt for more Donald Byrd albums and ones like it. Beautiful!