Newly remastered 24 Bit Digitally Remastered This Transition album features the concert the Donald Byrd Sextet gave in Detroit on August 23th, 1955 organized by the New Jazz Society, a group formed under the impetus of Kenny Burrell, one of the key influences in Detroit jazz. In this concert Byrd gave notice that he would be a major jazzman. Playing with intense drive and cohesiveness, allied to relaxed authority and individual conception, the young trumpeter confirmed his muchheralded potential, contributing some excellent soloing. Of the others, tenor Yusef Lateef, big-toned and muscular, swung vehemently, full of emotional force. Bernard McKinney, here on euphonium, was impressively inventive, while pianist Barry Harris, an influential adviser to many young Detroiters, was typically assured, strongly supported by bassist Alvin Jackson and drummer Frank Gant. The music made by these men remains undeniable proof that, at a time when New York, Chicago and the West Coast were the headliners of the jazz scene, much jazz of value was being created in other localities besides these urban hotspots.
