THE BLACKBYRDS was formed in 1973 as part of the legendary jazz trumpeter Dr. Donald Byrd’s brainchild to expose college students to the real world of music. In his own words to “bridge the gap between academia and the real world.” Byrd envisioned taking active students at Howard University in Washington, DC on a real world field trip which would expose them to ins and outs of the music business. The Blackbyrds went on to create an everlasting musical style that combined Classical, Jazz, Funk, R&B, and Gospel which introduced musical terms such as "crossover", "urban contemporary" and "easy-listening" to the music dictionary.