Art Blakey · I know them well

Deep into Blakey

For the serious listener: Blakey before the Messengers, the sideman dates that show how he could fit almost anyone, the drum records, music Blue Note left on the shelf, and the bands of the mid-1960s. It runs roughly in order, from 1947 to 1966.

0 of 12 heard

01Opens when you've heard step 0
Step 1 of 12
The first Messengers, 1947
New Sounds Max Roach, James Moody, Art Blakey · Blue Note BLP 5010 · 1952
In December 1947 Blakey led a band in a Blue Note studio for the first time. He called it the Messengers, a name tied to his recent turn to Islam. It was an octet: Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Howard Bowe on trombone, Sahib Shihab on alto (credited as Edmund Gregory), Musa Kaleem on tenor (as Orland Wright), Ernest Thompson on baritone, Walter Bishop Jr. on piano and LaVerne Barker on bass. Four sides came out on 78s; two reached this 10-inch LP in 1952, shared with Max Roach and James Moody. It is the seed of everything that followed.
Start with
- The Thin Man
- The Bop Alley
"The Thin Man" is Dorham's tune, and "Bop Alley" is credited to Talib Dawud, a trumpeter from Dizzy Gillespie's band. These are 78 sides of about three minutes each, so the solos are short. Listen for the bebop horn writing of the day, and for Blakey already driving an eight-piece band from the drums.
In the band
Kenny Dorham · trumpet
Kenny Dorham was 23 and a rising bebop trumpeter, soon to join Charlie Parker's quintet. He brought "The Thin Man" to this date. Seven years later he was the trumpeter in the first Jazz Messengers, the band that took this name and made it known, and he went on to make his own records for Blue Note and Riverside.
Open the record
02Opens when you've heard step 1
Step 2 of 12
With Miles and Sonny, 1951
Dig Miles Davis Featuring Sonny Rollins · Prestige PRLP 7012 · 1956
On October 5, 1951, Miles Davis took a sextet into Apex Studio in New York for Prestige: Jackie McLean on alto, Sonny Rollins on tenor, Walter Bishop Jr. on piano, Tommy Potter on bass and Blakey. It was McLean's first recording and one of Rollins's earliest. Davis was moving away from the cool sound of his nonet toward a harder, bluesier music. Blakey was the drummer for that turn. This 12-inch gathers most of the day. The music first came out on two 10-inch LPs, The New Sounds and Blue Period.
Start with
- Dig
- Bluing
- It's Only A Paper Moon
"Dig" is Davis's tune on the chords of "Sweet Georgia Brown", and "Bluing" is a long, slow blues. Wikipedia dates Blakey's trademark, a hard snap of the hi-hat on the second and fourth beats, to about this time: listen for it anchoring the band under two young saxophonists.
In the band
Sonny Rollins · tenor sax
Sonny Rollins was 21, from Harlem, and already working with Davis and Bud Powell. Over the next six years he became one of the most admired tenor players in jazz, and Blakey played on several of his records. He kept performing into his eighties. He plays on every track; McLean sits out "Denial".
Open the record
03Opens when you've heard step 2
Step 3 of 12
Monk's Prestige trio
Thelonious Monk Thelonious Monk Trio · Prestige PRLP 7027 · 1956
On October 15, 1952, Monk made his first date for Prestige, a trio with Gary Mapp on bass and Blakey on drums. Four tunes came from that day, three of them Monk's own. This LP adds a December date with Max Roach and, from September 22, 1954, "Blue Monk" with Percy Heath and Blakey, the tune's first recording. Scott Yanow called the performances brilliant. Five years after their Blue Note trio, you can hear how well the two men knew each other's music.
Start with
- Little Rootie Tootie
- Bye-Ya
- Blue Monk
"Little Rootie Tootie" is Monk's tune for his young son. "Bye-Ya" leans toward Latin rhythm, with Garvin Masseaux added on shaker. "Blue Monk" is heard here for the first time on record. Listen to the give and take between piano and drums, with plenty of space around both.
In the band
Percy Heath · bass
Percy Heath, from Philadelphia, was the bassist of the Modern Jazz Quartet for most of four decades. In 1954 he was also one of the busiest bassists in New York, on records with Miles Davis, Monk and Horace Silver. His brothers were the saxophonist Jimmy Heath and the drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath, and the three later played together as the Heath Brothers.
Open the record
04Opens when you've heard step 3
Step 4 of 12
Silver's trio and a drum duet
Horace Silver Trio and Art Blakey-Sabu Horace Silver · Blue Note BLP 1520 · 1956
This record gathers Horace Silver's first three dates as a leader, at WOR Studios in New York, with Blakey on drums each time: October 9 and 20, 1952, and November 23, 1953. It is where the Blakey and Silver partnership began, two years before the Messengers. It also holds the first hint of Blakey's drum records: on the 1953 date Sabu Martinez brought his congas, and Blakey's name went on the 10-inch beside Silver's. The 12-inch came out in 1956.
Start with
- Message From Kenya
- Opus De Funk
- Nothing But The Soul
"Message From Kenya" is a duet with Sabu, a story Leonard Feather says Blakey got from a Nigerian drummer: a hunter, his kill and a girl. "Opus de Funk", Ira Gitler wrote, is the heart of what Silver believed in. On "Nothing But the Soul" Blakey is alone, and Feather heard him building and holding the beat, with no showing off.
In the band
Sabu Martinez · bongo
Sabu Martinez was a conga and bongo player from New York who took Chano Pozo's place in Dizzy Gillespie's big band in 1948. He worked with Blakey for years, choosing the Latin section for the 1957 drum record and playing on the next one. Later he moved to Sweden, where he kept recording until his death in 1979.
Open the record
05Opens when you've heard step 4
Step 5 of 12
With Clifford Brown, 1953
Memorial Album Clifford Brown · Blue Note BLP 1526 · 1956
On August 28, 1953, at Audio-Video Studios in New York, Clifford Brown led a sextet for Blue Note: Gigi Gryce on alto and flute, Charlie Rouse on tenor, John Lewis on piano, Percy Heath on bass and Blakey. Apart from a few obscure sides, these are among the first tracks Brown made as a leader. Six months later he and Blakey were on the stand at Birdland together. Blue Note put this record out in 1956, three months after Brown's death, joined to a June 1953 date with another drummer.
Start with
- Hymn Of The Orient
- Cherokee
- Wail Bait
"Hymn of the Orient" is Gryce's, brisk and in a minor key; Leonard Feather, in the original notes, points to the second and third choruses of Brown's solo. "Cherokee" goes at a racehorse tempo, with Blakey and Brown trading fours. "Wail Bait" is by a young Quincy Jones.
In the band
Gigi Gryce · alto sax
Gigi Gryce, alto saxophonist and flutist, studied composition at the Boston Conservatory and was one of the best writers of his generation. He brought "Hymn of the Orient" to this date. He later co-led the Jazz Lab with Donald Byrd and played on Monk's septet record. In the early 1960s he left music and became a teacher in New York, under the name Basheer Qusim.
Open the record
06Opens when you've heard step 5
Step 6 of 12
Herbie Nichols's own music
The Prophetic Herbie Nichols Vol. 1 Herbie Nichols Trio · Blue Note BLP 5068 · 1955
On May 6, 1955, at Van Gelder's in Hackensack, Herbie Nichols finally recorded his own music, with Al McKibbon on bass and Blakey. He was 36 and had spent years playing dixieland to make a living. Blue Note issued two 10-inch LPs from that month and more trio sides later, and they went almost unnoticed. Only later were they heard as some of the most original piano music of the decade. Every tune is his. It's Blakey in a very different trio from Monk's, and just as at home.
Start with
- The Third World
- Step Tempest
- Cro-Magnon Nights
None of these tunes sounds like the bebop around them; Scott Yanow at AllMusic called the music virtually unclassifiable. With only three players, the drums carry much of each piece's character. Listen to how Blakey follows the shapes of Nichols's writing rather than laying down one pattern for every tune.
In the band
Herbie Nichols · piano
Herbie Nichols, from New York, wrote the tune that, with Billie Holiday's words, became "Lady Sings the Blues". He earned his living on dixieland bandstands, and Alfred Lion was one of the few to take his own music seriously. He made one more trio record, for Bethlehem in 1957, and died of leukemia in 1963, at 44.
Open the record
07Opens when you've heard step 6
Step 7 of 12
The second drum choir
Holiday For Skins Volume 1 Art Blakey · Blue Note BLP 4004 · 1959
On November 9, 1958, ten days after Moanin', Blakey went back to Manhattan Towers for another drum session. This time Philly Joe Jones and Art Taylor sat at drums beside him, with Sabu Martinez, Ray Barretto and others on congas and bongos, Donald Byrd on trumpet, Ray Bryant on piano and Wendell Marshall on bass. Blakey wrote all four pieces on this volume, and Joe Goldberg wrote the notes. Most people skip it. It shows how seriously Blakey took the drum choir, not as a stunt but as his own music.
Start with
- The Feast
- Lamento Africano
Chanting runs through these pieces, from Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Sabu and two singers, Austin Cromer and Hal Rasheed. "The Feast" opens the record, and "Lamento Africano" is one of the long pieces. Listen for the drummers trading and overlapping, and for Byrd's trumpet and Bryant's piano finding room among the percussion.
In the band
Philly Joe Jones · drums
Philly Joe Jones was the drummer in Miles Davis's quintet from 1955 to 1958, and with Blakey and Max Roach one of the most imitated drummers of the decade. His nickname, from his home town, set him apart from the older Jo Jones. Here he plays drums and timpani, and he chants too.
Open the record
08Opens when you've heard step 7
Step 8 of 12
From the vault: August 1960
Like Someone In Love Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers · Blue Note BLP 4245 · 1967
The sessions of August 7 and 14, 1960, that gave us A Night in Tunisia left enough music for a second album, and Blue Note sat on it for seven years, until 1967. The band is the same: Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons, Jymie Merritt and Blakey. Shorter wrote three of the tunes and Morgan one, and the title is the Jimmy Van Heusen standard. Heard after the famous record, it shows how much good music the label left on the shelf in those years.
Start with
- Like Someone In Love
- Sleeping Dancer Sleep On
- Johnny's Blues
The title tune is a rare chance to hear this quintet stretch out on a standard. "Sleeping Dancer Sleep On" is one of Shorter's three, and "Johnny's Blues" is Morgan's; Morgan plays flugelhorn as well as trumpet on the record. Listen to the same band on the same two days, in a different mood from the album you know.
In the band
Wayne Shorter · tenor sax
Wayne Shorter had been in the band about a year when these sessions were made, and he wrote three of the five tunes. Several of his early pieces first appeared only years later on records like this one. He went on to Miles Davis in 1964 and co-founded Weather Report in 1970.
Open the record
09Opens when you've heard step 8
Step 9 of 12
Drummers from Africa
The African Beat Art Blakey And The Afro-Drum Ensemble · Blue Note BLP 4097 · 1962
On January 24, 1962, at Van Gelder's, Blakey led the Afro-Drum Ensemble: the Nigerian singer and drummer Solomon Ilori, Yusef Lateef on reeds, Ahmed Abdul-Malik on bass, Curtis Fuller on timpani and a crowd of percussionists. Blakey described it as "the first opportunity he had to work with drummers from Africa." Most of the music comes from West Africa, especially Nigeria, with four tunes by Ilori. It is the furthest Blakey ever went from the Messengers' sound. Nat Hentoff wrote the original notes.
Start with
- Ife L'Ayo (There Is Happiness In Love)
- Tobi Ilu
- The Mystery Of Love
"Ife L'Ayo" is one of Ilori's. "Tobi Ilu" is by Chief Bey, one of the drummers, and "The Mystery of Love" is by the Ghanaian drummer Guy Warren. Listen for talking drum, log drums and gongs against Blakey's kit, and for Lateef's oboe and flute floating over the rhythm.
In the band
Yusef Lateef · flute
Yusef Lateef, from Detroit, played tenor, flute and oboe and was among the first jazz players to reach for instruments and scales from Asia and Africa. Here he plays oboe, flute, tenor, a thumb piano and a cow horn. Later in 1962 he joined Cannonball Adderley's sextet; in the 1970s he earned a doctorate in education and taught for many years.
Open the record
10Opens when you've heard step 9
Step 10 of 12
A quartet date for Impulse!
A Jazz Message Art Blakey Quartet · Impulse! A-45 · 1964
On July 16, 1963, between Messengers dates, Blakey made a quartet record at Van Gelder's for Impulse!: Sonny Stitt on alto and tenor, McCoy Tyner on piano and Art Davis on bass. It was his second and last album for the label, produced by Bob Thiele. Stitt was a bebop player Blakey had known for years; they had made records together for Prestige in 1950. With one horn and a rhythm section from outside his band, it shows Blakey away from the Messengers routine.
Start with
- Blues Back
- Summertime
- The Song Is You
"Blues Back" is Tyner's. Stitt plays alto on it and on "The Song Is You", and tenor on "Summertime", so you can hear him on both horns. Listen to Blakey behind a pianist who spent his nights playing with Elvin Jones.
In the band
McCoy Tyner · piano
McCoy Tyner, from Philadelphia, was 24 and three years into his time in John Coltrane's quartet, where he stayed until 1965. He wrote "Blues Back" for this date. After Coltrane he led his own bands for four decades, with a heavy, chordal piano style that many younger players followed. He was a sideman here, but he already had records of his own on Impulse!.
Open the record
11Opens when you've heard step 10
Step 11 of 12
Kyoto, from the Riverside shelf
Kyoto Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers · Riverside RLP 493 · 1967
On February 20, 1964, ten days after Free for All, Riverside recorded the sextet in New York, with Orrin Keepnews producing: Hubbard, Curtis Fuller and Shorter in front, Cedar Walton, Reggie Workman and Blakey behind. The record didn't come out until 1966. The titles look back to the band's time in Japan: Hubbard's "Kyoto" and "Nihon Bash" by the Japanese saxophonist Sadao Watanabe. Blakey's cousin Wellington sings "Wellington's Blues", credited to Art. It is a short record, and an odd one, and worth seeking out.
Start with
- Kyoto
- The High Priest
- Wellington's Blues
"The High Priest" is Fuller's and opens the record. "Kyoto" is Hubbard's. "Wellington's Blues" brings in Blakey's cousin, whose vocals had been planned for the Free for All session ten days before. Listen to how the band backs a singer, and to the long title piece.
In the band
Freddie Hubbard · trumpet
Freddie Hubbard wrote "Kyoto" and was nearing the end of his time with Blakey; within weeks Lee Morgan was back in the trumpet chair. Hubbard went on to lead his own bands, first on Blue Note and Atlantic, and in 1970 made Red Clay for CTI. He also wrote "Thermo" and "Crisis" for the band.
Open the record
12Opens when you've heard step 11
Step 12 of 12
New Messengers, new pianist
Buttercorn Lady Art Blakey & The New Jazz Messengers · Limelight LM-82034 · 1966
By January 1966 the Messengers had turned over almost completely. At the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California, on January 1 and 9, Limelight recorded Chuck Mangione on trumpet, Frank Mitchell on tenor, Reggie Johnson on bass and a 20-year-old pianist named Keith Jarrett, in his first commercial recording. Mangione wrote most of the music. Scott Yanow, at AllMusic, called the band "a worthy successor to their more acclaimed predecessors." It is a fitting end: Blakey at 46, still finding young players and pushing them forward.
Start with
- Buttercorn Lady
- Recuerdo
- My Romance
"Buttercorn Lady" and the long "Recuerdo" are Mangione's. "My Romance" is the Rodgers and Hart standard. Listen to Jarrett, only a few months in the band, and to Blakey in a seaside club, driving a band most of his listeners had never heard of.
In the band
Keith Jarrett · piano
Keith Jarrett, from Allentown, Pennsylvania, had joined Blakey only a few months earlier. He stayed briefly, then joined Charles Lloyd's quartet later in 1966, played with Miles Davis around 1970, and became famous for solo concerts such as The Köln Concert of 1975. This record is where his story on disc begins.
Open the record

Sources