About this episode
WKCR presented a marathon special broadcast saluting Donald Byrd, in December 2024. For my contribution, I prepared a set surveying Donald Byrd’s intersections with John Coltrane. In the period 1956-1958, only shortly before each in their own way were to burst forth separately to a next level of stardom, Byrd and Coltrane appeared together (though not "in tandem") on several recording sessions. They made dates with Elmo Hope, Paul Chambers, Sonny Clark (the classic LP “Sonny’s Crib”), Art Blakey, and Prestige blowing encounters with Red Garland. All nice listening with wonderful extended solos and prime collaboration. originally broadcast on December 10, 2024