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.

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.

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.