CHARLIE BYRD TRIO: BEAUTIFUL BUT LARGELY SOPORIFIC by Eric Myers ______The Charlie Byrd Trio The Basement Sydney Morning Herald, March 13, 1980 ______

ollowing closely on the heels of Stan Getz, who has just completed the first tour of Australia, comes the other giant of the bossa nova — guitarist Charlie Byrd. F Although Getz referred only briefly to Brazilian music, Charlie Byrd still devotes much of his concert to the bossa nova/jazz samba idiom. His performance at The Basement on Tuesday night was a beautiful exhibition of finger-style guitar playing on two instruments: a non-amplified classical or Spanish guitar; and an acoustic guitar wired into an amplifier.

Charlie Byrd: devoting much of his concert program to the bossa nova/jazz samba idiom… PHOTO COURTESY DEFINITIVE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF JAZZ & BLUES

1

Although the Spanish guitar is admirably suited to the gentle Latin music which Charlie Byrd favours, one does not readily imagine that it swings in the jazz sense. Byrd, of course, has no trouble proving that theory wrong, in strong versions of standards such as Jive At Five, Get Happy, Cheek To Cheek, and the Fats Waller tunes Jitterbug Waltz and Blue Turning Gray Over You. His superbly clean and even technique immediately suggests classical training, and it is no surprise to discover that in the 1950s he studied with Andres Segovia in Siena, Italy. His capacity to articulate each note clearly, wherever it was placed on the guitar, was enhanced, I understand, by the use of a graphic equaliser which is relatively new, at least for the classical guitar. As so often happens when overseas stars appear at The Basement, the most exquisite jazz was played during the late set, which ended around 1 am. Here, Charlie Byrd's trio was joined by the distinguished Australian guitarist Don Andrews for spontaneous versions of Satin Doll, Don't Blame Me, Broadway, It Don't Mean A Thing, and One-Note Samba.

Australian guitarist Don Andrews: exquisite jazz during the late set, which ended around 1 am… Although I found much of Charlie Byrd's music soporific, I have to report that his performance was received with the rapt idolatry which Sydney audiences still reserve for overseas artists, even though there are a number of contemporary Australian guitarists whose music is more relevant. ______

2