Don Byas

The biography of Don Byas by Claude Carrière and Christian Bonnet , illustrated by Lionel Pailler and accompanied by 2 compact discs.

Great among the greats of the tenor saxophone, Don Byas , Don Carlos for the ladies, made generations of dancers swoon, in particular with his interpretations of Laura , the theme of the homonymous film by Otto Preminger . However, he was much more than just voluptuous and languorous sounding. Byas was among the great virtuosos of the genre, a musician open to all adventures, a pioneer without seeming to be one, adopted in the 1940s by the young guns of bebop and whose influence was later felt in John Coltrane and his disciples. It is therefore urgent to rediscover, our two CDs, overflowing with masterpieces, intend to help make it better known.