Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers Ugetsu

One of the 60’s greatest live jazz recordings, "Ugetsu" documents a blistering 1963 live set by the legendary Jazz Messengers at Birdland. Blakey is joined by an allstar team of jazz legends: Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton, Curtis Fuller, Freddie Hubbard, and Reggie Workman.

One for All have been an active New York City-based collective with fairly steady personnel except for the bass chair, which has rotated between several players. On this 2003 session for the Japanese Venus label, Ray Drummond joins tenorist Eric Alexander, trombonist Steve Davis, trumpeter Jim Rotondi, pianist David Hazeltine, and drummer Joe Farnsworth, the latter members all being part of the core group back to its creation in the mid-'90s. Most of the selections on this date are associated with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, having been written for the late drummer's band or popularized by him, while the band's name was the title of Blakey's final album as a leader.

One for All have been an active New York City-based collective with fairly steady personnel except for the bass chair, which has rotated between several players. On this 2003 session for the Japanese Venus label, Ray Drummond joins tenorist Eric Alexander, trombonist Steve Davis, trumpeter Jim Rotondi, pianist David Hazeltine, and drummer Joe Farnsworth, the latter members all being part of the core group back to its creation in the mid-'90s. Most of the selections on this date are associated with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, having been written for the late drummer's band or popularized by him, while the band's name was the title of Blakey's final album as a leader.

During his long career, Cedar Walton has been one of hard bop's most lyrical pianists. His funky touch and cogent melodic sense graced the recordings of many of jazz's greatest players. He was also one of the music's more underrated composers; although he was always a first-rate interpreter of standards, Walton wrote a number of excellent tunes ("Mosaic," "Ugetsu," and "Bolivia," to name a few) that found their way into Art Blakey's book during the pianist's early-'60s stint with the Jazz Messengers. On this album, Walton and his musician friends Buster Williams and Willie Jones II, have compiled an album of songs dedicated to the works of American composer Victor Young.