Tuskegee Experiments (album) explained

Tuskegee Experiments
Type:	studio
Artist:	Don Byron
Cover:	Tuskegee Experiments (Byron).jpg
Released:	1992
Recorded:	1990 - 1991
Genre:	Jazz
Length:	61:19
Label:	Elektra/Nonesuch
Producer:	Arthur Moorhead^[1]
Next Title:	Don Byron Plays the Music of Mickey Katz
Next Year:	1993

Tuskegee Experiments is an album by the American jazz clarinettist Don Byron, released in 1992.^{[2] [3]} Its title refers to the Tuskegee syphilis experiment - the notorious medical experiment conducted around Tuskegee, Alabama, lasting from 1932 to 1972, in which 400 subjects, mainly poor, black sharecroppers, were used in an investigation of the effects of syphilis without their knowledge or consent.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone wrote that "Byron displays all his prowess as both an instrumentalist and a gleeful provocateur ever willing to shake things up."^[4] The Morning Call stated that "Byron and his quartet play with abandon and without any undue reverence to the past."^[5]

Track listing

1. "Waltz for Ellen" (Byron)  - 3:05
2. "Tuskegee Strutter's Ball" (Byron)  - 8:08
3. "In Memoriam: Uncle Dan" (Byron)  - 5:20
4. "Next Love" (Byron)  - 9:50
5. "Tears" (Byron)  - 8:12
6. "Main Stem" (Ellington)  - 7:26
7. "Diego Rivera" (Byron)  - 9:23
8. "Tuskegee Experiment" (Byron)  - 6:27
9. "Auf einer Burg" (Schumann)  - 3:28

(recorded November 1990 and July 1991.)

Personnel

• Don Byron - clarinet, bass clarinet
• Greta Buck - violin
• Bill Frisell - guitar
• Joe Berkovitz - piano
• Edsel Gomez - piano
• Richie Schwarz - marimba
• Kenny Davis - bass
• Lonnie Plaxico - bass
• Reggie Workman - bass
• Pheeroan akLaff - drums
• Ralph Peterson - drums

Notes and References

1. Tuskegee Experiments by Don Byron . Billboard . Mar 7, 1992 . 104 . 10 . 46.
2. News: Wolkoff . Garth . Clarinetist pays tribute to the great Mickey Katz . Northern California Jewish Bulletin . 38 . 15 Oct 1993 . 37.
3. News: Morris . Bob . Peace, Love and Chompers . The New York Times . 20 June 1993 . A8.
4. Futterman . Steve . Jazz Notes . Rolling Stone . May 28, 1992 . 631 . 61.
5. News: Blangger . Tim . Jazz '93 . The Morning Call . 1 Jan 1994 . A46.