Before we start something nice think twice think twice 

Lemme just get a 5 minute loop of the breakdown.

Merci pour ce miel 1972 la grande époque

To commemorate the passing of the great jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd today, I'd like to share my edit, originally released on the Editions Disco label, of one of my favorite songs of his - the jazz-funk and breakbeat classic "Think Twice".  Produced by the incomparable Mizell Brothers, it was sampled (and provided the basis) for three straight-up classic records: A Tribe Called Quest's "Footprints", Main Source's "Looking At The Front Door", and Armand Van Helden's house masterpiece "Flowers".

Byrd's records were a gateway for many of us who got into the nascent jazz-funk, rare groove and breakbeat scenes of the 1990s as DJs and collectors.  But his 1970s albums for Blue Note like Street Lady, Places & Spaces, as well as those of his protégés the Blackbyrds, were not just a rich trove of hip-hop samples for the eager beat-digger - they contained great songs that helped us to appreciate jazz as a popular art-form that was still engaged with contemporary soul, funk and R&B music, and encouraged investigating its infinite musical dimensions further.  He was, and is, tremendously important to my development as a DJ and lover of music.  We've lost a giant today.  RIP.

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