Incognito Cover Classic Donald Byrd

Incognito "Souvenir For Japan"“Love Has Come Around”, the Donald Byrd classic from the trumpeter’s Isaac Hayes-produced “Love Byrd” album from 1981, has finally received the cover treatment. It is a sacred song for me so I was a bit hesitant before I listened to it, but the song is in good hands: it has been recorded by the UK funk/soul combo Incognito with mastermind Bluey behind it and so far, it is only available in Japan.

It’s an 8-minute plus masterpiece which starts with a guitar intro and for the basic rhythm part relies heavily on the original which I think is already perfect and shouldn’t be touched anyway. But Bluey and his cohorts treat this gem with a lot of respect and also put some of their typical ingrediences to the recording. There’s a great trumpet solo of course, but also a sax and electric keyboard solo and the vocals stay true to the original hymn.

Even the cover for the album is a hint to Donald Byrd‘s magic: it is a copy of his Blue Note album “A New Perspective” with voices and choir directed by Duke Pearson. Only now it is Bluey modeling beside the sports car in a retro black and white shot.

The album also features remixes of several recent Incognito tracks (extremely well done by Ski Oakenfull on two tracks) and also a Bluey remix for the standard “All The Way” (a bit cheesy here I think) by Wouter Hamel and Julee Karan and a track by Ed Motta where Bluey plays guitar. But the only real new recording is that Donald Byrd & 125th Street, N.Y.C. Band track which is really terrific! I’ll stay with the original, though….

 

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