Jazz-funk/rhythm and blues: “Slop Jar Blues” and “Do It, Fluid”

In 1973, Donald Byrd presented Black Byrd, an incursion into rhythm and blues that caused a popular movement, in which he finds his particular cheerful and danceable version of fusion based on contemporary funk and getting rid of Miles Davis’s dark and chaotic notions; and he does so by giving absolute freedom to producer, arranger and composer Larry Mizell (with the help of his brother Fonze), who draws on the rhythm and blues, soul and funk of singers, composers and producers Curtis Mayfield and Isaac Hayes to create a set of very well-articulated melodic songs, built on simple funk structures and rhythms with irresistible energy.

Byrd’s solos are also melodic, giving funk the spotlight, and Roger Glenn’s flute, Joe Sample’s electric piano and Freddie Perren’s synthesizer equally contribute to the album’s success, creating jazz-funk fusion and defining a new model for the many fusions of jazz, rhythm and blues and funk that would follow thereafter. Black Byrd sold a million copies, transforming Byrd back into a big star and giving Blue Note more profit than it had made on any previous project.

As a result of this success, Byrd founded the rhythm and blues and jazz-funk-fusion band The Blackbirds with his most advanced Howard University students: Allan Barnes on tenor and soprano saxophones, Barney Perry on guitar, Kevin Toney on keyboards and synthesizer, Joe Hall on electric bass and Keith Killgo on drums. Later Jay Jones joined on saxophone and flute, and Orville Saunders on guitar. In 1973 they signed with Fantasy Records, and Larry Mizell and Donald Byrd (who wrote three of the album’s tracks) produced their debut The Blackbirds (1974), one of the best jazz works focused on rhythm ever recorded. Hall and Killgo supply the group with a solid foundation on which to vibrate any dance floor with their heartbreaking explorations.