Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Art Blakey!!!!! Jazz Messengers!!!!! (1961) {Impulse! IMPD-175 rel 1996}
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© 1961, 1996 Impulse! / MCA Records / GRP Records | IMPD-175
Jazz / Hard Bop

Killer stuff by Art Blakey – one of his few non-Blue Note sessions from the time, and a hard-wailing set that features the Jazz Messengers as a sextet! The format is one that flourished briefly in these early 60s years – and in this case, the already great lineup of Lee Morgan on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor, and Bobby Timmons on piano is joined by Curtis Fuller on trombone – a frontline that makes for some really amazing music, and which starts to bring in a lyrical energy to the group that's really amazing! The force of Fuller on the ensemble cannot be denied – and the group shift from straight hardbop with a soulful bent into an even more inspired mode – as you'll hear on the album's classic reading of Fuller's "Ala Mode" – nestled in alongside Jazz Messenger takes on standards like "Invitation", "I Hear A Rhapsody", and "You Don't Know What Love Is".

This edition of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers is an unusual one. The personnel includes Blakey veterans Lee Morgan (returning to the band after some success as a leader), Curtis Fuller, and Victor Sproles, along with John Hicks (who appeared on three other Blakey records) and the tenor saxophonist John Gilmore (of Sun Ra fame) in his only appearance with the band. As was typical of Blakey-led groups, the emphasis is on original material by its members; the one Broadway show tune included, "Faith," is from a long since forgotten I Had a Ball. Morgan's driving blues "'S Make It" is easily the highlight of the session, though Hicks' richly voiced "Waltz for Ruth" and Fuller's Latin-flavored "Little Hughie" also deserve to be better known than they are. It's a shame that this was the only recording by this particular lineup of the Jazz Messengers, as Gilmore's strong blowing complements Morgan very well.

This set is a previously unissued gig by one of the greatest lineups in the long history of Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers – Blakey, drums; Bobby Timmons, piano; Wayne Shorter, saxophone; Lee Morgan, trumpet; Jymie Merrit, bass. First Flight to Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings are drawn from the final shows of the band's first tour of Japan…

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - A Night In Tunisia (1960) {Blue Note Japan SHM-CD TYCJ-81010 rel 2013} (24-192 remaster)
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© 1960, 2013 Universal Japan / Blue Note | BN 75th The Masterworks | TYCJ-81010
Jazz / Hard Bop

One of a number of Art Blakey albums titled after "Night In Tunisia" – and most likely the best! The tune is a perfect fit for the Blakey Jazz Messengers format – long, rhythmic, really stretching out, yet allowing plenty of space for the horn players to solo. Players include Bobby Timmons on piano, Lee Morgan on trumpet, and Wayne Shorter on tenor – a killer lineup that's in really classic form here – driven on nicely by Blakey's drums and bass work by Jymie Merritt. Titles include "Night In Tunisia", with Blakey thundering through impeccably – plus the tracks "Yama", "Kozo's Waltz", and a version of Timmons' great "So Tired".

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - At The Jazz Corner Of The World Vol. 2 (1959) {Blue Note Japan TOCJ-4016 rel 1993}
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© 1959, 1993 Blue Note / Toshiba EMI Japan | TOCJ-4016 | The BN Works 4000 Series
Jazz / Hard Bop

At the Jazz Corner of the World is a two-volume live album by American jazz drummer Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, featuring performances recorded in 1959 at Birdland and released on the Blue Note label. The album was originally issued as 12-inch LPs in two volumes and later re-released as a two-CD set.