Blue Note · in the Kissa Kissa racks

Kofi

Donald Byrd

Recorded	Dec 16, 1969 & Dec 4, 1970
Label	Blue Note
Released	1969
Personnel	11 credited players
Discogs	master 38902

The record

Held back for years before Blue Note released it, this date finds Byrd suspended between hard bop and the electric fusion waiting ahead, Duke Pearson's electric piano easing the shift. Airto and Dom Um Romao's percussion lend the title track a Brazilian lilt pointing toward Byrd's coming crossover sound.

Session personnel

Ron Carter — bass
Airto Moreira — drums
Mickey Roker — drums
Bob Cranshaw — electric bass
Duke Pearson — electric piano
Lew Tabackin — flute, tenor saxophone
Wally Richardson — guitar
Dom Um Romao — percussion
Frank Foster — tenor saxophone
Billy Campbell — trombone
Donald Byrd — trumpet

Contemporary reception

No period review located yet. The vintage-press pipeline searches DownBeat, Cash Box, and Billboard for this session.

Pressings

We hold no original-era LP for this title. The earliest pressing on file is a 1995 US Blue Note on B1 7243 8 31875 1 5, with a UK stereo copy of the same year on the same number. France repressed it on 180 gram in 2013, again on that number, alongside a numbered single-sided limited edition. Everything here is modern vinyl, so choose on condition and pressing quality rather than chasing an original.

1995	Blue Note · B1 7243 8 31875 1 5 — Vinyl, LP, Album earliest on file
1995	Blue Note · CDP 7243 8 31875 2 2 — CD, Album, Stereo
1995	Blue Note · B1-7243 8 31875 1 5 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
1995	Blue Note · CDP 531875 — CD, Album, Club Edition, Remastered
1995	Blue Note · CDP 7243 8 31875 2 2 — CD, Album, Promo, Stereo
1995	Blue Note · CDP 7243 8 31875 2 2 — CD, Album, Remastered
2013	Blue Note · B1724383187515 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Numbered, Reissue, Stereo, 180g, 10", Single Sided
2013	Blue Note · B1 7243 8 31875 1 5 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 180grm
2024	Blue Note — STEREO