Royal Flush

by Donald Byrd / Herbie Hancock

Donald Byrd, Pepper Adams and Herbie Hancock had a working quintet throughout the year 1961. While Byrd and Adams were already well-known names in the jazz world, Hancock was just starting his long and fruitful career and would join the Miles Davis Quintet in 1963. This release presents two of the albums by the Byrd-Adams-Hancock group, Royal Flush, and Out of This World, as well as another album from the same period featuring Byrd and Adams, The Cat Walk. An extended live reading of Hush, the first tune of Royal Flush, featuring all Byrd, Adams and Hancock, has been added as a further bonus. *****Down Beat: Royal Flush This album serves as a reminder of how potent and musically satisfying was the quintet co-led by Byrd, surely one of the most lyrical trumpeters since Clifford Brown, and Adams, who seemingly must always be No.3 in lists of baritonists, following Gerry Mulligan and Harry Carney, but who apparently is incapable of turning in a lackluster performance, for all that. (Don DeMicheal) ****ALL MUSIC: Out of This World This set of sides recorded with the then-fledgling Donald Byrd/Pepper Adams quintet was taped for the long-defunct Warwick label. While Byrd and Adams were veterans in Detroit before coming to the Big Apple, Herbie Hancock was a kid. His playing shows great promise and he acts more as an anchor for the wondrous interplay between the horns. (Thom Jurek) ****ALL MUSIC: The Cat Walk Byrd's playing throughout is typically sleek and lyrical, and Adams' sturdy, husky baritone sound is the perfect counterbalance, making The Cat Walk an essential Byrd purchase. (Steve Leggett)