Jaki Byard
Piano Solo on
Luminous Monolith

About

Jaki Byard's piano solo is the second of three solos on "Luminous Monolith" from Sam Rivers's 1964 album Fuchsia Swing Song, following Rivers's tenor saxophone. Playing at approximately 297 BPM in D in this freely structured piece, Byard brings his encyclopedic range to the open-ended improvisational format, moving between stylistic approaches without the constraints of a conventional chorus structure. His ability to draw on the entire jazz piano tradition makes his solo a kaleidoscopic journey through textures and idioms. He is followed by Tony Williams on drums. If you know the form of this tune and how many bars it is, please tell us in the comments below!

Jaki Byard was 41 to 42 years old at the time.