About

Donald Byrd’s 1974 fusion masterpiece Stepping Into Tomorrow was a high-water mark of the legendary trumpeter’s vibrant latter Blue Note years. Byrd had begun recording for Blue Note in 1958, and over the course of his tenure evolved from a top-notch hard bop trumpeter into a pioneer of R&B/Funk fusion, leading the label’s own creative direction along a similar path. Byrd began to introduce elements of fusion to his music with his 1969 album Fancy Free and shadowed Miles Davis early-1970s moves with experimental sessions like Electric Byrd and Ethiopian Knights.

When Byrd hooked up with visionary producer Larry Mizell for his landmark 1972 album Black Byrd a new sound coalesced: funky and sultry, sophisticated yet accessible, with intricate arrangements that allowed Byrd’s trumpet to soar over top. A string of commercial successes followed, the third of which was Stepping Into Tomorrow featuring the standout title track and “Think Twice,” which would become touchstones for future hip-hop generations including artists like J Dilla, Madlib, and A Tribe Called Quest. The album featured contributions from saxophonist Gary Bartz, multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Fonce Mizell, bassist Chuck Rainey, drummer Harvey Mason & others.

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal. — (via Label)
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Beginning with a crack of thunder, like it was made to trail Gary Bartz's "Mother Nature" (actually recorded at a slightly later date), Stepping into Tomorrow contains almost all of the Mizell trademarks within its title track's first 30 seconds: a soft and easy (yet still funky) electric-bass-and-drums foundation, silken rhythm guitar, organ and piano gently bouncing off one another, light synthesizer shading, and coed group vocals to ensure true liftoff. It's only one in a line of many magnetic '70s sessions led by Fonce and Larry Mizell, and it differs from their two previous Donald Byrd dates - the polarizing and groundbreaking Black Byrd and the deceptively excellent Street Lady - by not featuring any of Roger Glenn's flute, and by focusing on heavily melodic and laid-back arrangements. Even the speedy "You Are the World," by some distance the most energetic song, seems more suited for relaxing in a hammock than shooting down a freeway.

Many of the musicians present on the previous Byrd-Mizell meetings are here, including drummer Harvey Mason, bassist Chuck Rainey, keyboardist Jerry Peters, and guitarist David T. Walker. As ever, those who pined for the approach of Byrd's '60s dates would tune out a sublime set of material, but maybe some of those who sniffed at the straightforward nature of some of the rhythms and riffing were won over by the supreme layering of the many components (the way in which "Think Twice" lurches forward, peels back, and gathers steam is nothing short of heavenly), not to mention some deeply evocative playing from Byrd himself. — (via Andy Kellman // AllMusic)

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Label: Blue Note
Series: Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series
Reissued: 2025 / Original: 1975
Genre: Jazz, Funk / Soul
Style: Jazz-Funk

File under: Jazz // Blue Note Records
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