Jazz-funk group The Blackbyrds were famously assembled by jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd and combined a high level of sophistication and musicianship with accessible soul and funk. Their debut album features smooth percussion-laden jazz-flavoured jams, mostly instrumental but with some vocals too. It’s a dense, intricate sound, with layers of congas and bongos, funky clavinets, Rhodes keys, synth flourishes and wah wah guitar topped off with stacked vocals and brass solos. Highly funky and highly accomplished, ‘The Blackbyrds’ was a strong debut that set a high bar for mainstream R’n’B and the emerging jazz-funk sound. 

– Harold Heath