Photos in Black, White and Gray

Photos in Black, White and Gray is an album by American jazz saxophonist Chris Byars.

Content
The album features Byars playing the music he played at Smalls Jazz Club in the 90s, taking great inspiration from the bebop era, and specifically the composer-saxophonists Gigi Gryce and Lucky Thompson. On most tracks, the quartet plays the head, then a saxophone solo, piano solo, bowed bass solo, drum solo, and repition of the head, in that order.

Critical reception
In a review for AllMusic, Ken Dryden wrote that "Byars displays a mature sound on alto, tenor, and soprano saxes in eight catchy original compositions." Tom Hull wrote that "Byars sounds fresh even working in such a well-worn form." A PopMatters reviewer criticized the "numbing predictability" of the album's soloing pattern, but praised the "bright, easy tone" of Byars' alto saxophone playing. Similarly, a reviewer for Coda magazine stated that Byars alto playing had a "bebop-derived fluidity shot through with melodic loopholes and a rhythmic sensibility that works in short, irregular bursts", and that the album was "an excellent addition to Byars' small but impressive body of recordings".

Personnel

 * Chris Byars – Alto, tenor, and soprano saxophone
 * Sacha Perry – piano
 * Ari Roland – bass
 * Andy Watson – drums