Donald Byrd And The Blackbyrds Mandrill

LONNIE LISTON SMITH AND THE COSMIC ECHOS
ROY AYERS AND UBIQUITY
Ay U of D Memorial Building
By Frank Bach

Detroit trumpet star Donald Byrd returned home briefly April 11 to headline a marathon pop/jazz show at the University of Detroit's quaint old basketball stadium. Attendance at the concert proved that this music has tremendous support here- every seat in the house was filled (some 10,000 people) and folks jammed the entrances hours after the scheduled starting time, still trying to get inside.

The whole thing was probably quite a bit more successful than the young promoters of the event, Empire Productions, had imagined. This was Empire's first big concert, and they made the understandable but obvious mistake of being a bit too ambitious. The show was too long (lasting till 2:00 am), due to the size of the bill and to equipment changes that seemed to go on forever. The aggravation was magnified by the cramped facilities at U of D - the building just wasn't designed to hold that many people for six hours.

This reviewer was one of a couple thousand folks who were unlucky enough to be seated behind the stage, where it was hard to make out what was really happening musically. Each of the three openers - Roy Ayers and Ubiquity, Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echos, and Mandrill -  did respectable jobs and got respectful receptions out front. Appreciation was hampered, again, because all three bands come out of a kind of slick, laidback musical bag, and four straight hours of it is a bit too much in a big concert atmosphere.

Donald Byrd and his young Blackbyrds finally got some powerful vibes happening, and for awhile Byrd's homecoming was exciting even from behind the stage.
Things got  a little out of hand in front, though, and a brief chair - throwing melee on the main floor brought an abrupt end to the show just as the musicians were warming up for the finale.
Despite all the frustrations of this initial Empire production, I'm glad they had the guts to try something like this. Let's hope they will chalk it up to experience and present more of this music, only in better surroundings, and in a better-organized context.
Otherwise it's hardly worth the trouble.