Oklahoma born tenor saxophonist Don Byas moved easily between swing and bebop with an earthy, blues sound that brings to mind Coleman Hawkins but with a lightness of touch and rhythmic agility reminiscent of Lester Young. He successfully synthesized these two influences, in many ways updating them into the bebop era. Byas mastered the breathtaking tempos associated with Parker and Gillespie but avoided the angular, sharp phrasing- with the result that his up-tempo approach had a more rounded, swing solo sound. Byas reminds us that bebop arose out of the world of swing, and that many of the most significant jazz musicians of the forties were at home in both worlds.
CD1:
01. Riffin' and Jivin' (Byas) - 2:57
02. Free and Easy (Byas) - 2:52
03. Worried 'N Blue (Byas) - 3:15
04. Don's Idea (Byas) - 2:55
05. Savoy Jam Party (Part 2) (Byas) - 3:14
06. Savoy Jam Party (Part 1) (Byas) - 2:59
07. 1944 Stomp (Byas) - 3:01
08. What Do You Want with My Heart (Byas) - 3:01
09. Bass C Jam (Byas) - 2:55
10. Pennies from Heaven (Burke-Johnson) - 3:12
11. Should I? (Brown-Freed) - 2:37
12. You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love (Columbo-Conrad-Gregory-Dubois) - 2:54
13. Jamboree Jump (Byas) - 2:52
14. Little White Lies (Donaldson) - 2:50
15. Deep Purple (De Rose-Parish) - 3:06
16. Them There Eyes (Pinkard-Tracy-Tauber) - 3:04
17. Double Talk (Byas) - 3:31
18. Fruit Salad (Byas) - 3:02
19. Don Juan (unknown) - 2:51
20. Spots (Byas-Shad) - 2:58
21. Please Believe Me (Broonzy) - 2:49
22. Why Did You Do That to Me (Broonzy) - 3:05
23. You Got to Play Your Hand (Broonzy) - 3:19
24. Just a Dream (Broonzy) - 3:06
CD2:
01. Out of Nowhere (You Came Along) (Green-Heyman) - 3:17
02. Three O'Clock in the Morning (Terriss-Robledo) - 3:02
03. One O'Clock Jump (Basie) - 2:47
04. Harvard Blues (Frazier-Smith-Basie) - 3:09
05. Slam-In' Around (Byas) - 2:47
06. Laura (Raskin-Mercer) - 2:50
07. Stardust (Parish-Carmichael) - 3:05
08. Slam, Don't Shake Like That (Byas-Stewart) - 3:04
09. Dark Eyes (Trad.) - 3:03
10. Embraceable You (Gershwin-Gershwin) - 3:04
11. The Sheik of Araby (Smith-Wheeler-Synder) - 3:05
12. Super Session (Byas) - 3:00
13. Melody in Swing (Catlett-Grimes) - 3:18
14. Once in a While (Green-Edwards) - 3:20
15. Avalon (Jolson-DeSylva-Rose) - 3:07
16. Blue and Sentimental (David-Basie-Livingston) - 3:16
17. My Melancholy Baby (Norton-Burnett) - 3:05
18. The Gypsy (Reid) - 2:26
19. Nancy (Silver-Van Heusen) - 2:48
20. Poor Butterfly (Hubbell-Golden) - 3:03
21. Evil Gal Blues (Feather) - 3:05
22. Salty Papa Blues (Feather) - 2:52
23. Albinia's Blues (Jones) - 2:45
24. Don't You Wear No Black (What's the Matter with Me) (Haynes-Ramson-Smith) - 2:47
CD3:
01. Humoresque (Dvorak) - 2:51
02. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (Koehler-Moll-Barris) - 3:01
03. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Kern-Harbach) - 2:50
04. Slamboree (Stewart-Byas-Garner-West) - 3:00
05. Annie Laurie (Scott-Douglas) - 3:00
06. Candy (Davis-Cramer) - 3:19
07. How High the Moon (Hamilton-Lewis) - 2:57
08. Donby (Byas) - 3:13
09. Byas-A-Drink (Byas) - 2:47
10. I Don't Know Why (I Just Do) (Turk-Ahlert) - 3:01
11. London Donnie (Danny Boy) (Trad.) - 2:53
12. Old Folks (Lee-Robinson) - 3:04
13. Cherokee (Noble) - 3:02
14. September in the Rain (Dubin-Warren) - 2:59
15. Living My Life (unknown) - 2:45
16. To Each His Own (Livingston-Evans) - 2:58
17. They Say It's Wonderful (Berlin) - 2:24
18. Cynthia's in Love (White-Gish-Owens) - 2:47
19. September Song (Weill-Anderson) - 2:54
20. St. Louis Blues (Handy) - 3:00
21. I've Found a New Baby (Palmer-Williams) - 2:41
22. Marie (Berlin) - 2:56
23. You Go to My Head (Gillespie-Coots) - 2:54
24. Don't You Know I Care (Ellington) - 2:54
25. Gloomy Sunday (Seress-Javor-Lewis) - 3:07
26. More Than a Mood (Simon) - 2:53
CD4:
01. How High the Moon (Lewis-Hamilton) - 3:55
02. Sarcastic Lady (Hodges) - 4:43
03. Them There Eyes (Tracey-Tauber) - 3:50
04. Penthouse Serenade (Jason-Burton) - 4:43
05. Sweet and Lovely (Amheim-Tobias) - 3:02
06. White Rose Kick (Byas) - 2:33
07. My Deep Blue Dream (Rivera-Troob) - 3:05
08. Byas'd Opinion (Byas) - 2:42
09. Hank's Pranks (Rivera) - 2:49
10. Juke Box Judy (D'Amico) - 2:58
11. Shy Little Witch from Greenwich (Newton) - 3:01
12. Gone at Dawn (Simon) - 2:54
13. Morning Madness (Haynes) - 3:59
14. One Sad Thursday (Haynes) - 3:50
15. Across the Road (Haynes) - 3:48
16. Cedar Manor (Haynes) - 3:45
17. The Jeep Is Jumpin' (Hodges-Ellington) - 4:53
18. I'd Do Anything for You (Hopkins-Williams-Hill) - 2:44
19. Sophisticated Lady (Ellington) - 3:09
20. Armand the Groove (Guarnieri) - 3:03
21. Dot's My Baby (Guarnieri) - 2:54
