Don Byas - Forgotten Legend
Expat comes home
Tenor saxophonist Don Byas marked the transition from the swing era to the bop era. Often compared to his elder Coleman Hawkins for the similarity of their tones, Don Byas played in many top swing bands.
Carlos Wesley "Don" Byas was born in 1912 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. His mother played the piano and his father the clarinet. Byas began his training in classical music, learning to play the violin, clarinet and alto saxophone. He began playing in local bands at the age of 17 and then formed his own college band at Langston College, Oklahoma.
He switched to tenor saxophone in 1933 after moving to the West Coast. He worked with several of the leading bands of the swing period, including those of Lionel Hampton, Eddie Barefield, Buck Clayton, Eddie Mallory, Don Redman, Lucky Millinder and Andy Kirk. He recorded his first solo album in 1939: Is This to Be My Souvenir?
In January 1941, he replaced Lester Young as tenor saxophone soloist in the Count Basie orchestra. He stayed with the band for three years, and was particularly noted for his solo on Harvard Blues.
In the 1940s he shared the stage with bebop pioneers such as Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Although he moved towards bop, Don Byas remained deeply rooted in swing. After making numerous recordings in 1945-1946, he left for Europe with Don Redman's big band and decided to settle there permanently.
Don Byas was known for his virtuosic technique on the tenor saxophone. He had a robust and warm tone, coupled with a command over a wide range of the instrument, which allowed him to play with both power and subtlety.
Byas was one of the key figures in the transition from the Swing era to Bebop. His style combined the smooth, flowing lines of swing with the more complex, harmonically advanced ideas of bebop.
He spent a significant part of his career in Europe, especially in France and Spain, where he influenced the jazz scenes there. His international presence helped in spreading the jazz idiom beyond the United States.
In 1970, after being an Expat in Europe, Don Byas returned to the United States and played at the Newport Jazz Festival, and with the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. The next year, he went on tour of Japan with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.
Don Byas died in 1972 from lung cancer. He was 59.
Newport Jazz Festival 1970. Â Don Byas, tenor saxophone; David Lee, drums; George Davis, guitar; Larry Rockwell, bass; Mike Longo, piano.
Don Byas with the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, Village Vanguard, 1970.
Bret--I enjoyed this, I am the author of a biography of Byas that will come out in April 2025 from University Press of Mississippi. One correction: Don was born in 1913 despite what you may read on-line and elsewhere. I got a copy of his birth certificate when I visited Amsterdam to do research. Don began to fudge his birthdate as World War II approached; the older you were, the less likely you were to get drafted. He corrected it on French documents after the war was over.