Jaki Byard
Sunshine of My Soul (High Note) 
A Matter of Black and White (High Note) 
The Late Show (High Note)

THE most eclectically brilliant and versatile pianist of a century of jazz, Jaki Byard — born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1922 — could play everything, in every piano style or genre, from blues, gospel and stride to post-bop and the avant garde.

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He played in jump bands like that of Earl Bostic and the big bands of Herb Pomeroy and Maynard Ferguson, before crossing over to join the Charles Mingus Band in 1962, where he found himself alongside fellow free and discovering spirits like Mingus himself, Eric Dolphy, Roland Rahsaan Kirk, Booker Ervin and Sam Rivers.