Sunshine of My Soul

This High Note Jaki Byard date titled Sunshine of My Soul is not a reissue of the 1967 issue by Prestige. In fact, it was recorded by Todd Barkan in 1978 at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco and produced for release on compact disc by Joe Fields. This is Byard solo, working magic as few other pianists have ever been able to and embodying most of the jazz tradition in his set. From the beautiful, ragged "Tribute to the Ticklers" that opens the set through his medley of Charles Mingus' "Fables of Faubus" and "Peggy's Blue Skylight," to the "Boogie Woogie In and Out" and "Besame Mucho," Byard was an encyclopedia who could effortlessly invoke anything he wanted to -- and here he does. Effortlessly winding blues figures and stride epistles around modal interludes, angular meditations on pop tunes (the Blood, Sweat & Tears' hit "Spinning Wheel") and fiery, bop-drenched left-handed runs, he makes it all swing with the elegance of a master and the funkiness of a barroom pianist more often than not, especially in compositions of his own creation (check "Sunshine"). Byard was a true giant of jazz and this set, in excellent sound, displays all of the reasons. ~ Thom Jurek