Three nights with the Blackbyrds at Boisdale of Canary Wharf - 18, 19 & 20 October

R&B aristocracy, the BlackByrds will take to the Yamaha Music London stage at Boisdale Canary Wharf on 18, 19 & 20 October, where they will play their unmistakable brand of jazz-funk fusion - a sound that not only helped shape the American R&B music scene in the early 70s, but also moved a generation of hip hop artists.

Established in 1973, the six-man original line-up of the BlackByrds were inspired by their college mentor, the trumpeter Donald Byrd as part of his dream to “bridge the gap between academia and the real world.”

The album City Life spawned the hits “Rock Creek Park” which has been sampled by numerous groups and artists such as De La Soul, Massive Attack, Ice Cube, and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, and “Happy Music”, which was the first club mix released by Fantasy Records. Their biggest hit, the 1975 Grammy nominated “Walking in Rhythm”, sold over 1 million copies.

At the height of their success the BlackByrds were described as “a sophisticated urban dance band [whose] sound is a melting pot of black musical styles, played with technical grace. . . . The Blackbyrds are very much in the heart of the definition of Black Pop, ‘70s style.”

The band was reformed in reformed in 1999 by founding member Keith Killgo and today includes variously Jode Hall, who was part of the original line-up, as well as Roberto Villeda has joined on keyboards; Keith’s former student Paul Spires on vocals; Thad Wilson on trumpet; Tom O’Grady from the UK on keys and trombone; Marshall Keys on sax; Sean Anthony on percussion; Charles Wright on guitar.

“The BlackByrds have a 24-carat provenance and, as such, a unique place in R&B music history,” said Boisdale founder Ranald Macdonald. “Boisdale of Canary Wharf can’t wait to reverberate to the tunes that defined a generation.”

Grab your tickets to see The Blackbyrds here!