Jaki Byard

Jaki Byard’s History

Jaki Byard was born in Worcester, MA on June 15, 1922, into a family of musicians. His father played trumpet and trombone in marching bands, and his mother played piano for the African Methodist Episcopalian Zion Church. His maternal grandmother played the piano for silent movies. Byard, an extraordinary pianist, was also a gifted composer and saxophonist who also recorded playing drums, celeste, vibraphone, and guitar

During World War II, Byard was drafted into the army, where he met Earl Bostic, with whom he toured after the war. Later, he was a member of the bands of Herb Pomeroy (1952-55, recording in 1957) and Maynard Ferguson (1959-62). Byard also recorded extensively with Charles Mingus (1962-1964 and 1970), touring Europe with him in 1964. He contributed to Mingus’s landmark recordings Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963) and Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1963). He also made significant recordings as a sideman with Eric Dolphy, Booker Ervin and Sam Rivers. As a leader, he recorded a series of critically acclaimed albums for the Prestige label during the 1960s: Here’s Jaki (1961), Out Front (1961), Hi-Fly (1962), Freedom Together (1966), Sunshine of My Soul (1967), and The Jaki Byard Experience (1968).

Byard began a solo recording career in 1971. He also worked with Duke Ellington in 1974 and recorded Lady Bird (1978, Denon) with Archie Shepp. He rarely recorded after 1991, but led two big bands through the 1990s out of Boston and New York, both called the Apollo Stompers. His improvisations reflect his sense of humor and draw on a wide range of styles from traditional to avant-garde jazz, as well as classical music.

Jaki Byard was hired by Gunther Schuller to teach at the New England Conservatory in 1969, one of the original faculty members hired to start the jazz department. Along with fellow faculty members, George Russell, Ran Blake and Carl Atkins, Byard was instrumental in helping to build the first accredited Jazz Studies degree program in the United States. Byard continued to teach at NEC for over fifteen years, teaching arranging and improvisation. Byard’s big band, the Apollo Stompers, at least partially composed of NEC students, played for years every Wednesday night at Michael’s Pub on Gainsborough Street, in addition to performing on campus. A number of Byard’s students developed into notable jazz artists including pianists Fred Hersch, Alan Pasqua and Jason Moran (also a composer); bassists Richard Reid, Leon “Boots” Maleson, Ed Schuller, and Don Pate; drummers Harvey Mason and J. R. Mitchell; saxophonists Ricky Ford, Billy Saxton, Marty Ehrlich and Allan Chase; and the multi instrumentalist Hankus Netsky, to name a few.  Byard’s unique blend of historical awareness and creativity continue to influence NEC’s jazz curriculum to this day.  He also taught at the Manhattan School of Music, Bennington College, the Hartford School of Music, and the University of Massachusetts.

Byard died in his home in Hollis, Queens, New York, of a gunshot wound on February 11, 1999. He was shot once in the head. The case remains unsolved. Byard was survived by two daughters, a son, four grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. His wife of four decades, Louise Byard, had died five years earlier.

Sources:

https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/byard-jaki#:~:text=John%20Arthur%20%22Jaki%22%20Byard%20Jr,African%20Methodist%20Episcopalian%20Zion%20Church (Accessed 2025-07-02)

https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002248751#omo-9781561592630-e-1002248751 (Accessed 2025-07-02)