Though not yet an innovator, Donald Byrd accurately reflected the mood of the time during which these recordings took place. These sessions come from that period when Byrd was seen as being so dependable that it was argued that hardly a day passed when this ubiquitous trumpet player wasn’t busy in a recording studio. The All Night Long and All Day Long albums stem from Prestige label boss Bob Weinstock’s assembly line concept of recording as quickly and cheaply as possible – hardly any second takes. Nonetheless, his modus operandi gave us many classic sessions by Miles, Monk, Trane, Rollins and the MJQ to name but a few.

Regarding these dates, the musicians may well have been among the best you could find, but as Art Taylor once remarked to this writer: “There were hardly any rehearsals, if any just cash in your pocket gigs. So often they were nothing more than the kind of things head arrangements you’d play on a club date or at an after hours jam.” Well, if you enjoy your music by the yard, then look no further. Now the hard-to-find ‘With Strings’ recordings are far better than most in this genre. Apparently, Byrd asked Clare Fischer to create an album in much the same easy listening mood as those Jackie Gleason bestsellers (that featured Bobby Hackett). And that’s precisely what Fischer delivered but much less syrupy. A particular favourite among admirers, the much earlier Beacon Hill outing places a confident young Byrd in a rare quartet setting allowing him to stretch out and more than live up to his then burgeoning reputation.