Byard Lancaster - Keno Speller - 1974 - Exactement

Byard Lancaster - Keno Speller

1974

Exactement

01. "Sweet Evil Miss" Kisianga 10:18

02. Virginia 8:30

03. C. Marianne Alicia 11:57

04. Dr. Oliver W. Lancaster 7:53

05. Palm Sunday 10:54

06. Prima - Mr. A. A. 8:17

07. Keno - Exactement 13:30

08. Providence Baptist Church 7:04

Alto Saxophone – Byard Lancaster (tracks: B1, B2)

Bass Clarinet – Byard Lancaster (tracks: C1)

Electronics [Octavoice] – Byard Lancaster (tracks: B2)

Flute – Byard Lancaster (tracks: A2, C2, D1)

Percussion – Keno Speller (tracks: C2, D1)

Piano – Byard Lancaster (tracks: A1)

Soprano Saxophone – Byard Lancaster (tracks: D2)

Recorded at Palm Studio, Paris, 1 February and 18 May 1974.

The cover lists the missing Palm Records PALM 14 catalogue number release as being "Lovingkindness, issued in November 1974". This is presumably Funny Funky Rib Crib, with the track "Loving Kindness"; released in 1974 with a Palm/Disques Vendémiaire catalogue number.

Spiritual and laid-back French session by sax player Byard Lancaster playing reeds and flute, accompanied by Keno Speller on percussions. Released on French beloved Jazz label Palm (Jef Gilson).

Lancaster was born in Philadelphia on Aug. 6, 1942, to Wilbert C. and Minerva Ann Lancaster. A graduate of Germantown High School, he played in the school orchestra and also studied at Settlement Music School. He attended Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C., Berklee College of Music in Boston, and the Boston Conservatory.

As a child he studied piano, and, about age 7, began playing saxophone and flute, said his sister, a music teacher and ethnomusicologist.

"I knew Byard was going to be a musician when he was 3 years old," she said, recalling that at a family gathering, the boy got everyone's attention, "then sang 'Back in the Saddle Again,' that old Gene Autry song. I said, 'Oh, he is such a show-off.' "

Mr. Lancaster was a longtime resident of East Mount Airy. Lancaster Tyler said the bassist Stanley Clarke, who lived two doors away, was one of several young Philadelphia musicians her brother influenced.

"Stanley Clarke would run in and out of our house to practice on our piano and just work with Byard. He just came by any time he wanted to be with Byard." She said Mr. Lancaster would "walk around with his flute like it was an appendage, and he loved walking through the streets, playing for children."

State Rep. Dwight Evans called Mr. Lancaster "one of the best musicians I have ever met," noting that he often performed at the now-defunct West Oak Lane Jazz Festival. "He played all up and down Ogontz Avenue and he was worldwide."

In Februar 2012, City Council cited Mr. Lancaster for "his many years of loyalty and dedication to the music industry," and noted that "he fought publicly for the rights of Philadelphia's street musicians."