Uploaded July 2008 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Byard Lancaster: 'John's Children'
(It's Not Up to Us, 1968)
Philadelphia jazz musician Byard Lancaster was born in 1942. Primarily an alto saxophonist, Lancaster also plays a wide variety of other reed instruments. After studying at Berklee College of Music, he moved to New York City, where he participated in loft jam sessions with the likes of Archie Shepp and Elvin Jones. In 1965, he was a member of legendary free jazz drummer Sunny Murray's group, and appeared on the album 'Sunny Murray Quintet'.
In 1968, he recorded an album under his own leadership, 'It's Not Up to Us', which was released on the Vortex Label. The record contains mostly original compositions,
with a couple of standards thrown in for good measure. Though Lancaster was associated with the free jazz movement, he's a very eclectic musician (his business card reads 'from a love supreme to the sex machine') and the settings on this record are mostly a little easier on the ear, particularly when the leader is playing flute.
'It's Not Up to Us' is particularly notable for featuring an early appearance by Sonny Sharrock on guitar - he sticks firmly in the background on the ballads, but gets a chance to stretch out elsewhere on the record, producing some truly eerie and fascinating sounds on an extended showcase called 'Satan'. There's even a version of the tune 'Many Mansions', which famously appears on Sharrock's 'Ask the Ages', from 1991. Here its title is 'John's Children'.
The personnel is: Byard Lancaster - flute, alto sax; Sonny Sharrock - guitar; Eric Gravatt - drums; Jerome Hunter - bass; Kenny Speller - conga.
Byard Lancaster: 'John's Children'
(It's Not Up to Us, 1968)
Philadelphia jazz musician Byard Lancaster was born in 1942. Primarily an alto saxophonist, Lancaster also plays a wide variety of other reed instruments. After studying at Berklee College of Music, he moved to New York City, where he participated in loft jam sessions with the likes of Archie Shepp and Elvin Jones. In 1965, he was a member of legendary free jazz drummer Sunny Murray's group, and appeared on the album 'Sunny Murray Quintet'.
In 1968, he recorded an album under his own leadership, 'It's Not Up to Us', which was released on the Vortex Label. The record contains mostly original compositions,
with a couple of standards thrown in for good measure. Though Lancaster was associated with the free jazz movement, he's a very eclectic musician (his business card reads 'from a love supreme to the sex machine') and the settings on this record are mostly a little easier on the ear, particularly when the leader is playing flute.
'It's Not Up to Us' is particularly notable for featuring an early appearance by Sonny Sharrock on guitar - he sticks firmly in the background on the ballads, but gets a chance to stretch out elsewhere on the record, producing some truly eerie and fascinating sounds on an extended showcase called 'Satan'. There's even a version of the tune 'Many Mansions', which famously appears on Sharrock's 'Ask the Ages', from 1991. Here its title is 'John's Children'.
The personnel is: Byard Lancaster - flute, alto sax; Sonny Sharrock - guitar; Eric Gravatt - drums; Jerome Hunter - bass; Kenny Speller - conga.
