Off to the Races in Bloomington, MN

From the crackling opening notes of
"Lover Come Back to Me,"
it's clear that
Off to the Races
is one of
Donald Byrd
's most invigorating sessions of the late '50s. Working with a stellar supporting band --
Jackie McLean
(alto sax),
Wynton Kelly
(piano),
Pepper Adams
(bari sax),
Sam Jones
(bass),
Art Taylor
(drums) --
Byrd
turns in one of his strongest recordings of the era. Throughout the album,
switches between
hard bop
,
ballads
, laid-back
blues
, and
soul-jazz
. Two of the numbers are
standards
, one is a cover, and three are
originals, but what matters is the playing. Over the course of the album,
proves he has matured greatly as a soloist, capable of sweet, melodic solos on the slower numbers and blistering runs of notes on the faster songs.
McLean
is just as vigorous and lyrical, contributing some fine moments to the record, as do
Adams
and
Kelly
. There's nothing surprising about
; it's simply a set of well-performed, enjoyable
, but sometimes that's enough. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine