This amazing concert, issued here for the first time ever on DVD, features some of the only images of Lee Morgan captured on film (he was 21 years old when this concert took place) as well as a young, pre-Miles era, Wayne Shorter. This DVD shows the Jazz Messengers at the height of their skills, in a city they were very familar with (they recorded one of their most famous albums a year previously at the Club Saint Germain). All the tunes here have their highlights, yet it is Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night In Tunisia" which really stands out.
“The very first project for "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" was to record Thelonious Monk in Paris during a tour that in fact had to be cancelled. Part of the music was recorded by Monk with Sam Jones on bass, Art Taylor on drums, and Charlie Rouse and Barney Wilen on tenor saxes.
You can here this session in the film but it was never issued on record. The second part, which appears on this CD, was recorded over the two days following the session with Thelonious Monk.” Marcel Romano
Reissue with the latest remastering. Comes with liner notes. Grand Prix Du Disque De L'académie Charles Cros 1959. Recorded at the celebrated Club Saint Germain, the formation presented here marks the third incarnation of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, with trumpeter Lee Morgan (then only 20 years old), tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, pianist Bobby Timmons and bassist Jymie Merrit. For the last two tunes, bop drum pioneer Kenny Clarke (who was living in Paris) substitutes Blakey. Besides the individual gifts of each member, the group forms a compact unit with a cohesive sound. “We play modern jazz”, explained Blakey during a 1958 interview, “and to understand it you mus listen. We study, we rehearse. The Jazz Messengers are very serious about getting the music across to you. If you don’t want to listen, maybe the person sitting next to you does.”
Reissue with the latest remastering. Comes with liner notes. Grand Prix Du Disque De L'académie Charles Cros 1959. Recorded at the celebrated Club Saint Germain, the formation presented here marks the third incarnation of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, with trumpeter Lee Morgan (then only 20 years old), tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, pianist Bobby Timmons and bassist Jymie Merrit. For the last two tunes, bop drum pioneer Kenny Clarke (who was living in Paris) substitutes Blakey. Besides the individual gifts of each member, the group forms a compact unit with a cohesive sound. “We play modern jazz”, explained Blakey during a 1958 interview, “and to understand it you mus listen. We study, we rehearse. The Jazz Messengers are very serious about getting the music across to you. If you don’t want to listen, maybe the person sitting next to you does.”