Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle

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David Byrd, saxophone and vocals;
Grant Levin, piano;
Joe McKinley, bass;
Dylan Garrison, drums.

David Byrd is unique in his penchant for infusing a heavy reggae vibe into his bebop and modal jazz, though just as often he stays right there in solid jazz territory, always with massive respect paid to the influences of Charlie Parker & John Coltrane, Eddie Jefferson, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt and the whole body of Chicago and Detroit players… 

He was born and raised on the musical mecca of 47th street in Chicago, where his uncle, Red Saunders was the drummer and bandleader at the famous Regal Theatre. On the same block of 47th and Drexel Blvd. where he lived, jazz greats like Gene Ammons played at the Southerland Hotel. Mr. Byrd went to the jam sessions that were hosted by Sonny Stitt at the Grass Hut on 79th street and then enrolled in Chicago State University to study under the great Bunky Green, forming a jazz band in 1979, specializing in a jazz vocal tradition called “vocalese” which originated with Eddie Jefferson. He has gone on to carve out a unique musical niche with the combination of jazz and reggae, forming Byrds of a Feather and spreading his jazzreggae message of love.

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