37 Facts About Jaki Byard

John Arthur "Jaki" Byard was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger.

Jaki Byard was known for his eclectic style, incorporating everything from ragtime and stride to free jazz.

From 1969 Jaki Byard was heavily involved in jazz education: he began teaching at the New England Conservatory of Music and went on to work at several other music institutions, as well as having private students.

Jaki Byard was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on June 15,1922.

Jaki Byard began piano lessons at the age of six, but they ended when his family was affected by the Great Depression.

Jaki Byard was given a trumpet that belonged to his father, and attempted to copy the popular players of the time, Roy Eldridge and Walter Fuller.

Jaki Byard heard Benny Goodman, Lucky Millinder, Fats Waller, and Chick Webb, and listened to other bands of the era on the radio.

Jaki Byard began playing professionally on piano at the age of 16, in bands led by Doc Kentross and Freddy Bates.

In that year, he was drafted into the army, where he continued with piano lessons and was influenced by pianist Ernie Washington, with whom he was barracked, although Jaki Byard took up trombone at this time.

Jaki Byard studied Stravinsky and Chopin, and continued studying classical composers into the 1960s.

Jaki Byard played with bands from the Boston area, including for two years with violinist Ray Perry, who encouraged Jaki Byard to add tenor saxophone to his array of instruments.

Jaki Byard then joined Earl Bostic's band as pianist in 1947 and they toured for around a year.

Jaki Byard then formed a bebop band with Joe Gordon and Sam Rivers in Boston, before touring for a year with a stage show band.

Jaki Byard was a member of Herb Pomeroy's band as a tenor saxophonist from 1952 to 1955, and recorded with him in 1957.

Jaki Byard played solo piano in Boston in the early to mid-1950s and freelanced in that area later in the same decade.

Jaki Byard joined Maynard Ferguson in 1959, and stayed until 1962.

Jaki Byard's first recording as a leader, the solo piano Blues for Smoke, was recorded there on December 16,1960.

Also in 1960, Jaki Byard first played with the bassist Charles Mingus.

Jaki Byard made recordings as a sideman between 1960 and 1966 with Eric Dolphy, Booker Ervin, Roland Kirk, and Rivers.

Giddins commented in the 1970s on the lack of attention that Jaki Byard had received, and stated that the pianist's recordings from 1960 to 1972 "are dazzling in scope, and for his ability to make the most of limited situations".

In 1967 Jaki Byard played in a small group with drummer Elvin Jones.

Between 1966 and 1969 Jaki Byard recorded three albums with the saxophonist Eric Kloss, then, in 1970, returned to Mingus' band, including for performances in Europe.

Jaki Byard occasionally substituted on piano in Duke Ellington's orchestra in 1974 when the leader was unwell.

Jaki Byard fronted a big band, the Apollo Stompers, which was formed in the late 1970s.

In 1980 Jaki Byard was the subject of a short documentary film, Anything for Jazz, which featured him playing, teaching and with his family.

Jaki Byard played and recorded with a former student of his, Ricky Ford, from 1989 to 1991, and continued to play and teach during the 1990s.

Jaki Byard taught at the Hartt School of Music from 1975, the Manhattan School of Music from 1989 to 1999, the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, and lectured for three years at Harvard University.

Jaki Byard had all these toys and whistles and bells and things that he was playing from the piano, and screaming and yelling from the piano in joy.

Jaki Byard said something to the effect of, 'get ready'.

Pianist and singer-songwriter Grayson Hugh studied with Byard in the early 1970s and reported that, "more than anyone, Jaki Byard exploded my young harmonic mind".

Jazz flautist Jamie Baum studied with Byard, and after his death organized a tribute band consisting mainly of his students: Baum, Adam Kolker, Jerome Harris, George Schuller and Ugonna Okegwo, called Yard Byard or The Jaki Byard Project, using compositions Byard had left with Baum but never performed.

Jaki Byard died in his home in Hollis, Queens, New York City, of a gunshot wound on February 11,1999.

Jaki Byard was survived by two daughters, a son, four grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Jaki Byard pointed out that the use of humor did not mean that his music was not serious: "I might do it with humor, but it's still serious because I mean what I'm doing".

Jaki Byard stated that his choice to play in a variety of styles was not imitatory or superficial: "I can't play one way all night; I wouldn't want to and I wouldn't want the public to hear me that way".

Music writer Dan Lander stated that Jaki Byard's playing was ahead of its time, and added that it has influenced 21st-century pianists:.

Jaki Byard's playing on tenor saxophone was influenced by Lester Young; Byard himself cited Ben Webster as an influence on his tenor ballad playing.