Donald Byrd

Review: By the time that Donald Byrd's Street Lady was released in 1973, the legendary jazz musician and producer had already racked up about 20 albums to his name, and the 70s marked his entrance into the funkier side of the genre. Street Lady is still one of his most relevant albums to date, possibly residing in the bag of just about every DJ who plays on vinyl, and has been sampled by a rather considerable amount of producers, too. The opening tune "Lansana's Priestess", for instance, was used in the cleverest of ways by Detroit house and techno producer Theo Parrish, while tunes like "Miss Kane" and "Sister Love" remain as monumental pillars of the scene. "Street Lady" is as iconic now as it was back in '73, with the same going for the experimental sounds of "Witch Hunt", while "Woman Of The World" ends on a gentle, euphoric stride. Unmissable, of course.