Fancy Free (Donald Byrd album)

Fancy Free
Studio album by Donald Byrd
Released	January 1970
Recorded	May 9 & June 6, 1969 Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs
Genre	Jazz, Jazz fusion
Length	39:10
Label	Blue Note BST 84319
Producer	Duke Pearson
Donald Byrd chronology
The Creeper (1967)The Creeper1967 Fancy Free (1969) Electric Byrd (1969)Electric Byrd1969

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

Fancy Free is an album by the American jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd, recorded and released on Blue Note Records in 1970. In 1993, it appeared for the first time on a digital support, currently out-of-print, and it has not been reissued yet.

Reception

Allmusic awarded the album with 3 stars and its review by Steve Huey states: "Recorded just a few months after Miles Davis' In a Silent Way, Fancy Free finds Byrd leading a large ensemble prominently featuring Frank Foster on tenor, Lew Tabackin or Jerry Dodgion on flute, and several percussionists. But the most important piece of the puzzle is Duke Pearson's electric piano, the first time Byrd utilized the instrument."

Track listing

1. "Fancy Free" (Donald Byrd) – 12:06
2. "I Love the Girl" (Byrd) – 8:48
3. "The Uptowner" (Mitch Farber) – 9:16
4. "Weasil" (Charles Hendricks) – 9:00

Recorded on May 9 (#2, 4) and June 6 (#1, 3), 1969.

Personnel

• Donald Byrd - trumpet
• Frank Foster - tenor and soprano saxophone
• Julian Priester - trombone
• Lew Tabackin (#2, 4), Jerry Dodgion (#1, 3) - flute
• Duke Pearson - electric piano
• Jimmy Ponder - guitar
• Roland Wilson - bass
• Joe Chambers (#2, 4), Leo Morris (#1, 3) - drums
• Nat Bettis, John H. Robinson Jr.- percussion