Here is the first installment of cassette recordings I made of Jerry and his trio at the Halekaulani hotel in Waikiki in probably 1985 or '86 on Scotty's Jerry Byrd tour. The master at work!
Excuse that nasty cold I had.
It*s fantastic to find some concert recordings here! Mahalo nui loa for sharing this rare sound documents.
Is there a complete/bundled download of all the files available? Maybe as a ZIP archive?
Joerg
As with Ian, (and many others no doubt), these cuts brought back many fond memories of the time I also spent with these guys. Kalani was always so gracious to my (late) wife Mary. Each year as we walked into the "House Without a Key", Kalani would say, "Welcome home Keoki and Malia !" He passed away far too early in life. Kalani was a fine vocalist and bass player !
Can't thank you enough for sharing these amazing recordings. We often focus on Jerry the soloist, but these performances highlight his ability to support the song with his background playing which he also really shines at. The range of his repertoire and style is pretty mind boggling. Hiram's rhythm work and the vocals are outstanding as well. Just a top notch band.
Chris , Thanks so much for making all that beautiful Byrd music available !! My wife and I went to Hawaii with Scottys group in May ,1983 and Jerrys trio was playing at the "Pink Palace". Great memories, but Jerry was playing right in front of the kitchen and you could hear all the dishes rattling !! I don't know how Jerry could stand all the distraction noise but it didn't seem to bother him !! Thanks again !! olde geeze - AKA Eddie "C"
Was this a one time event or did Jerry Byrd & company play this nightly?
This is so beautiful I can't stop listening, I love where he says write your requests on a napkin,he also had a nice sense of humor.
I would have loved to have been there.
Deirdre Higgins wrote:Was this a one time event or did Jerry Byrd & company play this nightly?
The Jerry Byrd Trio had a long run at the Hw/oAK into the 80s, until he asked Mgt. to give his guys a meager 3% pay raise from the peanut shells they were getting for top shelf musicians. The hotel said no, and that was the end of a beautiful thing, and it just got worse for decades until Kanoe came back from surgery recently to hula and demanded the Hiram Olsen Trio be reinstated as her backing, at full pay.
I stumbled across this small free Media player that totally enhances these recordings. The Enhance plugin has lots of presets, but the one that sounds so sweet is the outdoor ambiance, It sounds just like you are there watching and most of all really brings out Jerry's playing.
The player and plugin are less than 5 mb total. Here are the links.
