Gigi Gryce and Donald Byrd's Laboratory

One of the finest groups of the late 50s, the Jazz Lab was co-led by the inimitable horn players Gigi Gryce and Donald Byrd. Although the group worked extensively from February to September of 1957 it broke up shortly after. However, all of their albums together have become jazz classics. 

Some of the group's creation and history can be read in the chapter "In the laboratory" of the book Rat Race Blues: The Musical Life of Gigi Gryce, co-authored by Noal Cohen and Michael Fitzgerald:

By the measure of recording activity, at least, Gryce's jazz career peaked in 1957. This would be his most productive period nor only as a leader, but as a sideman and writer on several recording sessions of high quality and great importance. It was at this time also that he would solidify his group conception of jazz, utilizing as a unifying element his series of recordings as co-leader of a quintet with Donald Byrd. And having entered the elite group of New York musicians capable of filling roles in a variety of settings, he was now getting sufficient work to ensure financial security.

A very important event occurred in early 1957 when Gryce and Donald Byrd decided to join forces and co-lead the Jazz Lab ensemble. Seven years Gryce's junior, Byrd (1932-2013) relocated from his native Detroit to New York permanently in 1955, and soon thereafter was ensconced in the jazz scene, working and recording with nearly all of the hard bop stalwarts including Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, George Wallington, Art Blakey, and Horace Silver. He shared with Gryce a formal musical training, having received a Bachelor of Music degree from Wayne State University in 1954. Byrd also studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger (1963) and later became an educator, obtaining advanced degrees from Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University. At the time of his death [2013] he was teaching at Delaware State University as a distinguished artist-in-residence.

Fluent and lyrical, Byrd's style, like that of Art Farmer before him, fit beautifully with the conception of Gryce, spinning long, graceful lines in his solos. His facility at very fast tempi was notable, and in general his approach was somewhat more aggressive than that of Farmer, but not to the extent that it conflicted with or overshadowed that of Gryce. Furthermore, Byrd had an interest in writing and would contribute both originals and arrangements of standard tunes to the group's repertoire.

The name "Jazz Lab" might suggest an esoteric or academic approach to ensemble performance, but in reality the music the band offered was most accessible. It consisted of original compositions (many taken from Gryce's publishing company) and cleverly reworked standards. Blues were an important component of the repertoire. Gryce, who appeared to be the more dominant musical force of the two co-leaders, summed up the philosophy the band espoused: The Modern Jazz Quartet will come to a club or concert and play very soft subtle music, and then Blakey will come around like thunder. We're trying to do both, and a few other things he-sides. Insofar as I can generalize, our originals and arrangements concentrate on imaginative use of dynamics and very strong rhythmic and melodic lines. We try to both give the listener something of substance that he can feel and understand and also indicate to the oriented that we're trying to work in more challenging musical forms and to expand the language in other ways.

One advantage, we hope, of the varied nature of our library, which is now over a hundred originals and arrangements, is that in the course of a set, almost any listener can become fulfilled. If he doesn't dig one, he may well dig the next because it will often be considerably different. Several people write for us in addition to Donald Byrd, myself, and others within the group. We have scores by Benny Golson, Ray Bryant, and several more.

A point I'm eager to emphasize is that the title, Jazz Lab, isn't meant to connote that we're entirely experimental in direction. We try to explore-all aspects of modern jazz—standards, originals, blues, hard swing, anything that can be filled and transmuted with jazz feeling. Even our experimentations are quite practical; they're not exercises for their own sake. They have to communicate feeling. For example, if we use devices like counterpoint, we utilize them from inside jazz. We don't go into Bach, pick up an invention or an idea for one, and then come back into jazz. It all stays within jazz in feeling and rhythmic flow and syncopation. In any of our work in form, you don't get the feeling of a classical piece. This is one of the lessons I absorbed from Charlie Parker. I believe that one of the best — and still fresh — examples of jazz counterpoint is what Charlie did on "Chasing the Bird".

We want to show how deep the language is; in addition to working with new forms, we want to go back into the language, show the different ways the older material can be formed and re-formed. We want to have everything covered. My two favorite musicians among the younger players may give a further idea of what I believe. Sonny Rollins and Benny Golson are not playing the cliches, and they play as if they have listened with feeling and respect to the older men like Herschel Evans, Chu Berry, and Coleman Hawkins. They're not just hip, flashy moderns.

In its brief existence of barely a year, the Jazz Lab quintet utilized some of the finest rhythm section accompanists available: pianists Tommy Flanagan, Wynton Kelly, Hank Jones, and the underappreciated Wade Legge (1934-1963), a great talent who passed away at the age of only 29; bassists Wendell Marshall and Paul Chambers; and drummers Art Taylor and Osie Johnson. During this period, the Jazz Lab recorded for no fewer than five different labels, at thirteen sessions, producing a total of six LPs, all of which helped to establish a high standard for ensemble performance within the hard bop genre.

Donald Byrd • Gigi Gryce

The Complete Jazz Lab Sessions

This four-disc collection contains all of the recordings of one of the most interesting jazz groups from the late ‘50s, the Jazz Lab, compiled here for the first time ever on one release. Co-led by Gigi Gryce and Donald Byrd, this set comprises the group’s five original studio albums (including all existing supplementary tunes and alternate takes from the sessions), presented here in their entirety and in chronological order. This edition also includes the Jazz Lab’s only known live performance, taped at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957. As a bonus, a complete Oscar Pettiford LP, which constitutes the only other small group collaboration of Gryce and Byrd, and is a precursor to the Jazz Lab sound, as well as a rare 1955 Gigi Gryce quartet session (with Pettiford on bass) in its entirety, which despite having no real relation to the later Gryce-Byrd formation, was issued under the title of Jazz Laboratory Series (probably Gryce chose the group’s name based on that previous release!). *jazzmessengers.com*

Two front line horns plus a three-piece rhythm section were to hard bop what three guitars and drums were to rock ’n’ roll. The main obstacle for both has always been precisely how to set oneself apart from hordes of similar practitioners. An imaginative composer/arranger as well as a fiery alto sax player, Gigi Gryce put all his energies into setting himself apart from his contemporaries with his Jazz Lab enterprise, sharing top billing with Donald Byrd. Though a major player during the mid-1950s via his work with Brownie, Monk, Lee Morgan and Benny Golson, today Gryce is seldom mentioned in dispatches despite the fact that The Jazz Lab recorded prolifically during an eight-month period. Yet it was to be financial considerations (and lack of regular gigs) opposed to the quality of the product that caused the project to fold prematurely while their closest contemporaries such as The Jazz Messengers and Horace Silver’s Quintet valiantly soldiered on. The Jazz Lab came is all shapes and sizes. The 1957 nonet that taped "Nica’s Tempo", "I Remember Clifford" and "Little Niles"’ among others offers more than just a passing nod and a wink in the direction of both Miles’ Birth Of The Cool and Shorty Rogers’ Giants. However, it’s the five-handed line-up that featured either Hank Jones or Wynton Kelly that wins the day. *jazzwise.com*

This wonderful and well produced compilation is everything this little short lived band recorded. The band was only in existence in 1957 and should be recognized for it's importance to Jazz mainstream of the time. Byrd and Gryce were very distinctive players and Gryce's writing enhances the band's output.

All Music Guide's critic Arwulf Arwulf resumes the Jazz Lab Sessions with the following words:

All this group's music should be studied and sabores over long periods of time, even across decades spanning entire lifetimes. These recordings have matured remarkably well and should endure to be cherished by post-post-post-postmodern jazz heads of the distant future.

*CD  1*

1 - Nica's Tempo

(Gigi Gryce)

2 - Smoke Signal

(Gigi Gryce)

3 - Speculation

(Horace Silver)

4 - Over The Rainbow

(Harod Arlen, E. Y. Harburg)

5 - Sans Souci

(Gigi Gryce)

6 - I Remember Clifford

(Benny Golson)

7 - Little Niles

(Randy Weston)

8 - Blue Concept

(Gigi Gryce)

9 - Love For Sale

(Cole Porter)

10 - Geraldine

(Wade Legge)

11 - Minority

(Gigi Gryce)

12 - Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart

(James F. Hanley)

*CD 2*

1 - Straight Ahead

(Lee Sears)

2 - Wake Up!

(Lee Sears)

3 - Exhibit A

(Lee Sears)

4 - Ergo The Blues (take 2)

(Hank Jones)

5 - Ergo The Blues (take 3)

(Hank Jones)

6 - Capri

(Gigi Gryce)

7 - Splittin' (a.k.a. Ray's Way)

(Ray Bryant)

8 - Passade

(Hank Jones)

9 - Byrd In Hand

(Donald Byrd)

10 - Blue Lights

(Gigi Gryce)

11 - Onion Head

(Donald Byrd)

12 - Isn’t It Romantic?

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

*CD 3*

1 - Batland

(Gigi Gryce, Lee Sears)

2 - Bangoon

(Hank Jones)

3 - Imagination

(Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke)

4 - X-Tacy

(Donald Byrd)

5 - Satellite

(Gigi Gryce)

6 - An Evening In Casablanca

(Gigi Gryce)

7 - Social Call

(Gigi Gryce)

8 - Stablemates

(Benny Golson)

9 - Steppin' Out

(Gigi Gryce)

10 - Medley: Early Morning Blues / Now, Don't You Know

(Cy Coleman, Joe McCarthy)/(Lee Sears)

11 - Early Bird

(Donald Byrd)

12 - Elgy

(Donald Byrd)

13 - Oh Yeah!

(Duke Jordan)

*CD 4*

1 - Splittin' (a.k.a. Ray's Way)

(Ray Bryant)

2 - Batland

(Gigi Gryce, Lee Sears)

3 - Love For Sale

(Cole Porter)

4 - Kamman's A'Comin'

(Oscar Pettiford)

5  Minor 7th Heaven

(Osie Johnson)

6 - Stardust

(Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish)

7 - Bohemia After Dark

(Oscar Pettiford)

8 - Oscalypso

(Oscar Pettiford)

9 - Scorpio

(Mary Lou Williams)

10 - Titoro

(Billy Taylor)

11 - Don’t Squawk

(Oscar Pettiford)

12 - Another One

(Quincy Jones)

13 - Sometimes I'm Happy

(Vincent Youmans, Irving Caesar)

14 - Embraceable You

(George and Ira Gershhwin)

15 - Jordu

(Duke Jordan)

#1 to #8 (CD1): from the album

Jazz Lab (Columbia CL998)

#1, #2, #3

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Benny Powell (trombone),

Julius Watkins (french horn), Don Butterfield (tuba), Sahib Shihab (baritone sax),

Tommy Flanagan (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, February 4, 1957

#4, #5

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

Tommy Flanagan (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, February 5, 1957

#6, #7, #8

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

Benny Powell or Jimmy Cleveland [depending on the source] (trombone),

Julius Watkins (french horn), Don Butterfield (tuba), Sahib Shihab (baritone sax),

Wade Legge (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, March 13, 1957

#9 to #12 (CD1), and #1, #2 (CD2): from the album

Gigi Gryce and the Jazz Lab Quintet (Riverside 12-229)

#9 to #11 (CD1)

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

Wade Legge (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, February 27, 1957

#12 (CD1), #1, #2 (CD2)

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

Wade Legge (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, March 7, 1957

#3 to #9 (CD2): from the album

New Formulas from the Jazz Lab (RCA-Victor Jap RCA6015)

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

(Hank Jones (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, July 30 (#3, #4, #5), July 31 (#6, #7) and August 1 (#8, #9), 1957

#10 to #12 (CD2) and #1 to #4 (CD3):

from the album Jazz Lab (Jubilee JLP1059)

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

(Hank Jones (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, August 9, 1957

#5 to #12 (CD3): from the album

Modern Jazz Perspective (Columbia CL1058)

#5, #6, #7

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

Wynton Kelly (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, August 30, 1957

#8, #9

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Jimmy Cleveland (trombone),

Julius Watkins (french horn), Don Butterfield (tuba), Sahib Shihab (baritone sax),

Wynton Kelly (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums).

Recorded in New York City, September 5, 1957

#10, #11, #12

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Wynton Kelly (piano),

Wendell Marshall (bass), Art Taylor (drums), Jackie Paris (vocal, banjo).

Recorded in New York City, September 3, 1957

#1 to #3 (CD4): from the album

Jazz Laboratory at Newport (Verve MGV8238)

Donald Byrd (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax),

Hank Jones (piano), Wendell Marshall (bass), Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded live at the Newport Jazz Festival,

Freebody Park, Newport, Rhode Island, July 5, 1957

*Bonus Albums*

#4 to #12 (CD4): from the album

Oscar Pettiford (Bethlehem BCP33)

Donald Byrd, Ernie Royal (trumpets); Gigi Gryce (alto sax);

Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone); Jerome Richardson (flute, tenor sax);

Don Abney (piano); Oscar Pettiford (bass, cello); Osie Johnson (drums).

Recorded in New York City, August 12, 1955

#13 (CD3) and #13 to #15 (CD4): from the album

The Jazz Laboratory Series: Do It Yourself Jazz Vol.1 (Signal S101/Savoy MG12145)

Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Duke Jordan (piano), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums):

Recorded at Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey, March 7, 1955