Another Side of Art

by | Nov 2, 2024 | Sextet

Art Blakey has always been known as an energetic drummer, and The Jazz Messengers recognized as a potent force in jazz. There have been several permutations of The Messengers since 1954, when Horace Silver led the original group. It passed to Blakey after only one year and Art led it for the rest of his life. From 1961 to 1964, he expanded it to include trombonist Curtis Fuller. With Lee Morgan’s untimely demise, Freddie Hubbard became the trumpet player, Cedar Walton took over at piano, and Reggie Workman played bass. Wayne Shorter remained on tenor sax. That’s the group (including Art, of course) that you’ll hear on these selections from the 1963 San Remo Jazz Festival in Italy.

The nostalgic 1937 tune That Old Feeling (above) is a swinging, bop-centric arrangement that’s a bit easier going than the typical Jazz Messenger sound. For all intents and purposes, Blakey reduces the players to a trio, and features Cedar Walton at the piano. Skylark (below), originally from 1941, underwent a resurgence in 1997 with the movie “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” It features Freddie Hubbard, and also shows a softer side of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.

 

Whisper Not / No Problem – Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

by | Mar 24, 2023 | Quartet/Quintet

In 1956, while performing with the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, Benny Golson wrote “Whisper Not”. The band recorded it in November of that year and in 1957 Golson recorded it with his own group. It’s a wonderfully mellow tune, performed here by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers in 1958 … with Benny on tenor, Lee Morgan on trumpet, Bobby Timmons at the piano, Jymie Merritt on bass and of course Blakey, himself, playing drums.

By contrast, the Duke Jordan composition “No Problem” unleashes a more typical Messenger sound … and the message is “HOT!” It’s 1959 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and the personnel are the same, except Wayne Shorter is on tenor and Walter Davis, Jr. plays piano.

Newport ’71 – Thelonious Monk Et Al

by | Mar 18, 2023 | Sextet

Thelonious Monk is the first stellar name we know … el al is the rest of the who’s who of Bop live on stage. It was Newport ’71 in De Doelen Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and Monk was joined by the likes of Art Blakey, Kai Winding, Dizzy Gillespie, and Sonny Stitt, with Al McKibbon bringing up the bass. As you would expect, the solos are out of sight, as the Monk standard, Straight No Chaser takes on a larger-than-life richness that can only be described as very delicious jazz!

Two Of A Kind / Dat Dere – Art Blakey

by | Mar 6, 2021 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet

Drummer Art Blakey and the 1989 version of his Jazz Messengers (with trumpeter Brian Lynch, tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson, trombonist Frank Lacy, pianist Geoff Keezer and bassist Buster Williams) celebrated the leader’s 70th birthday by welcoming back several notable alumni: trumpeters Freddie Hubbard and Terence Blanchard, altoists Jackie McLeanand Donald Harrison, tenors Wayne Shorter and Benny Golson, pianist Walter Davis Jr. and trombonist Curtis Fuller.  The opening song of that all star  performance was Two Of A Kind … and that set the tone for the next couple of hours.

The lower video features the original Jazz Messengers in 1961 with the slightly comedic Bobby Timmons tune Dat Dere … featuring Blakey on drums, the great Lee Morgan playing trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, Bobby Timmons playing piano and Jymie Meritt on bass.

Along Came Betty – Art Blakey

by | Jul 18, 2020 | Sextet

In 1958 Benny Golson was inspired by the woman he was dating to write “Along Came Betty”.  It has since become a favorite of saxophonists, guitarists and piano players.  Eventually, Jon Hendricks wrote some lyrics. The first recording of “Along Came Betty” was on the seminal hard bop album “Moanin’” by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.  It featured an all-Philadelphia cast of Art Blakey (drums), Lee Morgan (trumpet), Benny Golson (tenor saxophone), Jymie Merritt (bass) and Bobby Timmons (piano).

The ensemble for this updated performance consists of Javon Jackson (Tenor), Phill Harper (trumpet), Benny Green (piano), Robin Eubanks (trombone), Peter Washington (bass) and of course Art Blakey (drums).

I Remember Clifford – Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

by | Jul 3, 2018 | Quartet/Quintet

When it comes to talent, it just doesn’t get any better than this.  Recorded in Belgium in 1958, this Benny Golson tribute to Clifford Brown features Lee Morgan (trumpet), Benny Golson (tenor sax), Bobby Timmons (piano), Jymie Merritt (bass), and of course Art Blakey (drums).  It was almost prophetic that Lee Morgan would perish only four years later at a very young age, like Brownie, with a dazzling career cut all too short by tragedy.  Still, both men left behind musical legacies that will live forever in the annals of jazz history.

Tour De Force – Dizzy Gillespie, Et Al

by | Aug 4, 2017 | Quartet/Quintet, Video

Recorded 1971 in Tivoli by The Jazz Giants:  Dizzy Gillespie, trumpet; Thelonius Monk, piano; Kai Winding, trombone; Sonny Stitt, alto and tenor saxes; Al McKibbon, bass and Art Blakey, drums.  It just doesn’t get better than that!

Moanin’ – Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

by | Mar 24, 2017 | Quartet/Quintet

This is previously unreleased, rare footage of Moanin’ by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.  It features the great Lee Morgan on Trumpet, Benny Golson on sax, Bobby Timmons playing the daylights out of the piano, and of course Art Blakey on drums.