Carlos Wesley "Don" Byas (October 21, 1912 – August 24, 1972)[1] was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, associated with swing and bebop.

He played with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others, and also led his own band.

Byas started to perform in local orchestras at the age of 17, with Bennie Moten, Terrence Holder and Walter Page.

[5] He worked in Lionel Hampton's band at the Paradise Club in 1935,[2] along with the reed player and arranger Eddie Barefield and trombonist Tyree Glenn.

[2] He spent about a year in Kirk's band, recording with him between March 1939 and January 1940, including a short solo on "You Set Me on Fire".

He participated in sessions with the pianist Pete Johnson, trumpeter Hot Lips Page, and singer Big Joe Turner.

[2] Byas recorded "Harvard Blues" with the Basie orchestra on November 17, 1941, on Jimmy Rushing's vocal version of George Frazier's tune.

After recording for small labels (Savoy, Jamboree, National, Disc, Arista, Super, American, Hub, Gotham) in this period, Byas had a major hit with "Laura" by David Raksin, the title tune of Otto Preminger's movie of the same name (1944).

He was second-place winner in tenor sax of the Esquire All-American Awards in January 1946, and in February, he recorded again with Gillespie on "52nd Street Theme" and "Night in Tunisia".

[12][13] In September 1946, Byas began his exile in Europe to tour with Don Redman's big band in Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany.

From 1948 onward, Byas became a familiar figure not only around the Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, but also on the Riviera, where he could be seen in Saint-Tropez sporting a mask, tenor sax, flippers and an underwater spear-gun.

[20] Byas' last Dolnet tenor saxophone (purchased from his widow) is on display at Rutgers University's Institute of Jazz Studies.