John Arthur "Jaki" Byard ( June 15, 1922 – February 11, 1999) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. Mainly a pianist, he also played tenor and alto saxophones, among several other instruments. He was known for his eclectic style, incorporating everything from ragtime and stride to free jazz.
Byard played with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and was a member of bands led by bassist Charles Mingus for several years, including on several studio and concert recordings. The first of his recordings as a leader was in 1960, but, despite being praised by critics, his albums and performances did not gain him much wider attention. In his 60-year career, Byard recorded at least 35 albums as leader, and more than 50 as a sideman. Byard's influence on the music comes from his combining of musical styles during performance, and his parallel career in teaching.
Byard was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, and for much of his life was linked professionally with Boston, where he worked and taught. His parents were keen on music and he studied piano. By the time he joined the army in 1941, and certainly when he left three years later, he could perform competently on a range of instruments.
In his early twenties, he was poised to make his mark on the beboppers of New York. However, the non-musical activities linked to New York’s underworld did not appeal, and he returned to Boston. He recorded with saxophonist Charlie Mariano, and toured with rhythm and blues legend Earl Bostic. By the early 1950s, he was revered around Boston as a teacher, and has been credited with crucial early input into the city which has since become probably the jazz education capital of the universe.
He worked and recorded with Herb Pomeroy’s orchestra, playing tenor saxophone as well as writing arrangements. Piano was always his main instrument and his first job with a nationally known leader came when he joined Maynard Ferguson’s big band. The 1960s brought a new kind of jazz, and Byard was in demand. Trumpeter Don Ellis used him on his first albums. The saxophone star Eric Dolphy did likewise, and helped him get a recording contract with Prestige. Dolphy may also have been influential in bringing him and Charles Mingus together, leading to what in terms of audience visibility became the pianist’s most important job.
Here’s “Lullabye Of Birdland” from above album.
He played on Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus and The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady, but is more prominent on concert recordings, including several made during a European tour of 1964. A blues called So Long Eric turns up several times; Byard always throws in bebop and block chords while the left hand takes turns with stride and Erroll Garner-type rhythms. Effortlessly eclectic, he was an ideal colleague for someone passionate about avoiding musical stereotypes, which is probably why he and Mingus stayed together, off and on, until the early 1970s, despite numerous disagreements.
A supremely confident solo pianist, Byard once teamed with Britain’s Howard Riley for a memorable series of duets. He ran an occasional orchestra called the Apollo Stompers and, following the death of Mingus, was part of an early version of the Mingus Big Band. He retained his teaching commitments in New York and Massachusetts, including the New England Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music.
Byard occasionally substituted on piano in Duke Ellington's orchestra in 1974 when the leader was unwell. In 1974–75 Byard had a residency at Bradley's in New York. He also fronted a big band, the Apollo Stompers, which was formed in the late 1970s. There were two versions of the band: one made up of musicians in New York, and the other using students from the New England Conservatory of Music, where Byard had taught from 1969.
In 1980 Byard was the subject of a short documentary film, Anything for Jazz, which featured him playing, teaching and with his family. By the 1980s his main instrument remained the piano, and he still played both alto and tenor saxophones, but he had stopped playing the other instruments that he used to use professionally – bass, drums, guitar, trombone, and trumpet, although he still taught all of them. In the same period, he was often heard in New York playing solo, in duos, or in trios. In 1988 he played with a band founded by Mingus' widow to perform the bassist's compositions – the Mingus Big Band. Byard played and recorded with a former student of his, Ricky Ford, from 1989 to 1991, and continued to play and teach during the 1990s.
Byard died in his home in Hollis, Queens, New York City, of a gunshot wound on February 11, 1999. He was shot once in the head. The police reported that Byard's family, with whom he shared the house, last saw him at 6 pm, that he was killed around 10 pm, that there "were no signs of robbery, forced entry or a struggle", and that no weapon was found. The death was soon declared to be a homicide, but the circumstances surrounding it have not been determined, and the case remains unsolved.
(Edited from Wikipedia & The Guardian)