 |
 |
 |
Press
|
|
Kari Gaffney, Publicist
Kari-On Productions |
PO Box 436
Evans, GA 30809
706.294.9996
706.210.9453 fax
karionprod@knology.net
http://www.karionpresskits.com/
ericbyrd/ericbyrd.html |
| |
| |
Brother Ray, Eric Byrd, piano, vocals.
Inspired as a youngster by Ray Charles, for this recording, Eric Byrd chose to concentrate primarily on lesser known RC tunes. A wise decision because nobody does Ray quite as well as Ray. So here we have a soulful voice, but one very unlike that of his idol, playing bluesy, soul-drenched piano and singing such winners as “Let The Good Times Roll,” “I’ve Got News For You,” “Come Rain Or Come Shine,” “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” and “You Don’t Know Me,” among others. On several of the tunes, Byrd has written some earthy, muscular arrangements for trumpet, tenor, alto and baritone saxophones. All in all, this is a nice tribute to Ray Charles, a true crossover artist who had a legit following in jazz, soul, pop and even country-western. His fans will enjoy the fact that Byrd doesn’t try to be Ray, but instead offers a sincere, well conceived tribute. www.ericbyrd.com
Self-produced, 2008, 47:12.
Review ONLINE
posted 05/08/08 |
| |
“At first glance you might think that this is yet another tribute cd to Ray Charles. But this release is much more than that and should not be dismissed off-handedly. Vocalist and pianist Eric Byrd has taken music from Ray’s vast catalogue that inspired Byrd to take up the piano. Byrd’s trio is augmented by 4 horns, additional vocalist Lea Gilmore and guitarist Frank McCreary and boy can these cats swing. From the first bars of “Let the Good Times Roll” you know that you are in for a joyous ride. Of course the musicians are exceptional but more than that you can feel their enthusiasm for the music and it is infectious. This cd will bring pleasure on many levels, if Byrd’s intension was to make the listener sit-up, listen and smile then he has achieved his goals. Oh and did I mention dancing? 5 stars from me”
Mark Robinson KFM Radio New Zealand
posted 04/25/08 |
| |
Hi Eric-I'm a jazz dj at KRZA 88.7 fm in Alamosa, CO and thankfully we received your album Brother Ray-I played three cuts on my last show (especially like "I Got News For You") , and plan to play more my next show.Just wanted you to know that it's being played out here in the Southwest and I think it's the most exciting thing we've gotten in lately. Best wishes on all your projects!!
Suzanne Weiss
posted 04/25/08 |
| |
| CD Reviews: Eric Byrd Trio +4, “Brother Ray” |
A swinging tribute to the late singer Ray Charles, the music in “Brother Ray” can be summed up by the very first tune, “Let The Good Times Roll.” By and large that’s what pianist/vocalist Eric Byrd does here as he lets it all hang out in a rollicking fun time on this CD. Except for the ballad-like “Come Rain Or Come Shine,” the soft “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Cryin’“ and the emotional “You Don’t Know Me,” where Byrd sings and performs solo on piano, the balance of the repertoire is all swing and blues.
See full ejazznews review at ejazznew.com
posted 04/25/08 |
| |
| |
Click on the image for complete list.posted 04/02/08 |
| |
|
See the chart: Chart.
posted 04/02/08 |
| |
|
Read the review online: Full Review.
posted 03/25/08 |
| |
|
Read the review online: Full Review.
posted 03/25/08 |
| |
|
From a radio station:
Hi Eric-I'm a jazz dj at KRZA 88.7 fm in Alamosa, CO and thankfully we received your album Brother Ray-I played three cuts on my last show (especially like "I Got News For You") , and plan to play more my next show.Just wanted you to know that it's being played out here in the Southwest and I think it's the most exciting thing we've gotten in lately. Best wishes on all your projects!! Suzanne Weiss.
posted 03/25/08 |
| |
|
A swinging tribute to the late singer Ray Charles, the music in “Brother Ray” can be summed up by the very first tune, “Let The Good Times Roll.” See Full Review.
posted 03/17/08 |
| |
|
CMJ's Issue #1047 has Brother Ray as #24 on their Jazz Chart. See Full Chart.
posted 03/17/08 |
| |
|
Westminster's Carroll County Times publishes article about Eric Byrd Trio's newest album. See Full Article.
posted 02/26/08 |
| |
|
See the review at http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=28538
posted 02/26/08 |
| |
|
 The Eric Byrd Trio have gained a lot of attention through their musicianship and live performances, leading to them winning a number of local and regional awards and touring around the world. As a trio, Byrd (vocals and piano) Alphonso Young, Jr. (drums), and Bjagwan Khalsa (acoustic bass) are as tight as tight can be. For their new album Brother Ray (Foxhaven) they have expanded their sound by four with the inclusion of a horn section (Brad Clements on trumpuet, Paul Carr on tenor sax, Chris Watling on baritone sax, and Lyle Link on alto sax) to honor the man behind the album title, which of course is the late Ray Charles.
It's jazz and blues rolled into one phat joint, which of course helped create the music that we all know as R&B. It's a chance for Byrd to hit the big time with this music, not only towards gaining a wider audience but musically "big time". Byrd has that kind of sweet soul voice that you can't help but be charmed buy, and along with his piano runs and phrasing this is a musician who is not only confidence about the music he plays, but in himself. Hear him sing "Them That Got" and "Get On The Right Track Baby" and Mr. Charles would be honored to hear these songs done in this manner. The album also returns to the trio lineup, but features the vocals of Lea Gilmore, who helps take "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "Watch Them Dogs" closer to home while raising a few curious eyebrows at the same time. Also impressive is Link's flute work in "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin'", worthy enough to stand out in its own right and definitely one of my favorite songs on the album.
It's good music meant to be revived during any time of the year, and whether it is in a trio setting or +4, these are a set of musicians that should be heard under any circumstances. Eric Byrd is a musician who has the passion to soothe any painful soul, and hopefully with this album he'll be able to do that on a wider scale.
http://therunoffgroove.blogspot.com/2008/02/run-off-groove-191.html
posted 02/20/08
|
| |
|
WSHA-FM 88.9 on 02/13/2008 03:03:22AM
[Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying]
KUNV-FM 91.5 on 02/13/2008 11:38:25AM
[Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying]
KHID-FM 88.1 on 02/13/2008 03:28:11PM
[Get On The Right Track Baby]
KHID-FM 88.1 on 02/13/2008 03:31:07PM
[Baby It's Cold Outside]
WGMC-FM 90.1 on 02/13/2008 04:34:41PM
[I've Got News For You]
KUNV-FM 91.5 on 02/13/2008 05:17:08PM
[Let The Good Times Roll]
KBEM-FM 88.5 on 02/13/2008 06:17:30PM
[Get On The Right Track Baby]
KFAI-FM 90.3 on 02/13/2008 06:21:30PM
[Watch Them Dogs]
posted 02/20/08 |
| |
|
ERIC BYRD TRIO + 4/Brother Ray: Soulful, jazz crew adds some pals to the mix for a real full band sound and tips the cap to Ray Charles with a smoking set that isn’t a tribute set for the sake of a band getting traction. Standing on it’s own as a smart set, this is a crisp date that Charles fans will welcome as a cool interpretation of some great stuff that isn’t over done.
posted 02/20/08 |
| |
| Ben Ohmart from http://soopahmusic.blogspot.com/ Reviews Brother Ray |
Now, by the amount of babys here, you might think it's a blues album. That's just half the fact, jack. It's showcasing a slow grooving jazz combo, helped sometimes by that +4 of horns. Beautiful stuff. "I've Got News for You" is the best of the blues, with Eric stamping the keys in that limbo between raunchy and subtle jazz.
But my personal favorite is the classic "Come Rain or Come Shine." Some people believe that you can't mar certain songs. There are no foolproof songs. And when Eric applies his quiet, old-style jazz to this favorite, you'll never hear better.
posted 02/20/08 |
| |
|
|
posted 02/20/08 |
| |
Go to this link
Behind the Scenes with The Eric Byrd Trio
to see behind the scenes footage of
The Eric Byrd Trio’s new CD, “Brother Ray”!!!!
Leave a comment and share with your friends!!!!
CD released Jan. 2008
New CD, "Brother Ray" TBR 1/2008! |
| |
|
BALTIMORE, MD-WASHINGTON, DC September 21, 2007: The new CD by The Eric Byrd Trio, “Brother Ray”, will be released in early January of 2008. A tribute to Ray Charles, Byrd’s musical hero and major influence, the album is a collection of songs exploring the jazz side of “The Genius”. It also features a 4 piece horn section on half of the tracks, international singing star Lea Gilmore, and Byrd on vocals and piano throughout.
The ERIC BYRD TRIO, together since 1999, has performed for audiences all over the world. Their unique style of jazz has headlined stages from The East Coast Jazz Festival to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. The US State Dept./Kennedy Center Jazz Ambassadors have released 2 internationally known CD’s and have recently performed in Bolivia with Paul Carr and Paris, France with Lea Gilmore.
“I’m musically prepared and a bit more mature”, Byrd says in explaining this ambitious new project. “I wrote the horn arrangements, I’m singing on every track except one, and I feel like this is the CD I was destined to make or deal with on some level.” This program of music augments longtime Trio drummer Alphonso Young, Jr. and bassist Bhagwan Khalsa with a stellar horn section: Brad Clements on trumpet, Paul Carr on tenor sax, Lyle Link on alto sax, and Chris Watling on baritone sax. Guitarist Frank McCreary plays on one track and vocalist Lea Gilmore sings on two songs. The group recorded the CD at Foxhaven Studios with Jon Miller in August of 2007.
While some of the songs may not be immediately recognizable to fans of Ray’s hits, the song choices for “Brother Ray” were by design. Byrd responds, “You can’t beat Ray at Ray, so I had no interest in doing some second class version of ‘What’d I Say’ or ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’. I wanted to pay tribute to the person that inspired me to play the piano in the first place by seeing if I could maybe introduce some of his work to the EBT audience. Also, with each recording we want to try to step our game up and see if the listeners come with us; so far, so good!”
Currently, the group is in negotiations with the high powered Kari-On Productions in Atlanta to handle publicity and press. Their last 2 releases – “The Eric Byrd Trio” and “Triunity” - have sold extremely well and have been especially popular in Japan, selling several thousand units every few months. “We have a good feeling about this project”, Byrd says, “and so, we want to make sure this project gets to the people. A brief documentary on the philosophy and behind the scenes footage of the making of “Brother Ray” in addition to the regular slate of performances will help accomplish the task.”
Here is the song titles included on “Brother Ray”:
Let The Good Times Roll
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home
I Want A Little Girl
Get On The Right Track
Baby It’s Cold Outside
I’ve Got News For You
Watch Them Dogs
Come Rain or Come Shine
Them That Got
Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Cryin’
You Don’t Know Me |
| |
| |
|
| |
|
Go to http://www.myspace.com/theericbyrdtrio
|
| |
|
|
Eric Byrd - The Eric Byrd Trio
|
| |
|
The award winning jazz piano trio combines their unique blend of straight-ahead instrumental jazz with vocals and a flavor of African music.
Click here for full story.
|
|
Thanks for giving me your CD. It sounds great and your drummer swings his butt off! This is good enough to be sent to all the major labels.
 - Grammy Award nominated Jazz Guitarist Mike Stern. |
| |
Man, that thing (the Eric Byrd Trio CD) really swings! Why don't you write a song and have me play on it?
- World class drummer Dennis Chambers. |
| |
Throughout his trio's concert at the Kennedy Center, Eric Byrd sounded as if he were strolling through a southern town, taking in the spiritual sounds of the church house one moment and the earthy rumble of the roadhouse the next. Rousing gospel-tinged chords and trilling blues runs are fundamental elements of Byrd's piano style, along with the principles of swing and bop, and he used these techniques to expressive effect throughout the concert.
- Washington Post Music journalist Mike Joyce. |
| |
For foot-tappin' bebop that grabs you by the shirt collar and won't let go, this is about as good as it gets. The Eric Byrd Trio will hold you prisoner, overtake and possess you!
- CD review by CD BABY, an internet CD store. |
| |
Byrd is an accomplished improviser who prefers to keep the melody in the foreground, deepening and reinforcing it with tasteful single-note runs and the occasional chordal enhancement. He's also a first class writer, contributing his own compositions which are impressive enough to abide without remorse alongside jazz classics.
- Jack Bowers, reviewer for Cadence Magazine. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
