Don Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-intrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet, but has also used bass clarinet and saxophones.
Though rooted in jazz, Byron's music is stylistically eclectic. He's worked in many different musical genres, ranging from klezmer music and German lieder, to Raymond Scott's "cartoon-jazz," hard rock/metal, and rap. Most of Byron's albums have been conceptual, devoted to works of a parti...
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Don Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-intrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet, but has also used bass clarinet and saxophones.
Though rooted in jazz, Byron's music is stylistically eclectic. He's worked in many different musical genres, ranging from klezmer music and German lieder, to Raymond Scott's "cartoon-jazz," hard rock/metal, and rap. Most of Byron's albums have been conceptual, devoted to works of a particular musician and/or style of music.
Byron was born in the Bronx, in New York City. The child of musician parents (his mother was a pianist and his father a bass player for calypso bands), he was exposed to a variety of musical styles through trips to the ballet and the symphony, and by listening to jazz recordings by Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and others.
Byron studied music at the New England Conservatory in Boston. He studied clarinet with Joe Allard and George Russell. While in Boston, Byron performed and recorded with the Klezmer...
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