Donald Byrd, a talented hard bop trumpeter during his prime (although rarely reaching the technical heights of
Lee Morgan and
Freddie Hubbard), performs a varied repertoire on
Mustang!. "Dixie Lee" has dated rhythms, and "Mustang" was an attempt to achieve a hit on the level of
Morgan's "The Sidewinder." However,
Byrd sounds fine on those numbers; he digs into the complex chord changes of "Fly Little Bird Fly," is sensitive on "I Got It Bad," swings on his "I'm So Excited by You," and performs his memorable countermelody to "On the Trail," which had been recorded earlier by several other musicians. Teamed with a typically impressive Blue Note crew (altoist
Sonny Red, tenor saxophonist
Hank Mobley, pianist
McCoy Tyner, bassist
Walter Booker, and drummer
Freddie Waits),
Byrd performs high-quality straight-ahead jazz that fits the modern mainstream of the era. ~ Scott Yanow