Art Blakey · I know the classics

Beyond the classics: Blakey

You already know Moanin', the Birdland nights and the sextet's best Blue Notes. This path fills in the story around them: the Columbia years after the first band broke up, the drum-choir experiments, the bands that kept changing around Blakey, and the sextet's work for Riverside, roughly in order.

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The first band's last record
The Jazz Messengers Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers · Columbia CL 897 · 1956
In the spring of 1956 the Jazz Messengers went to Columbia's 30th Street studio in New York, with George Avakian producing. Donald Byrd had replaced Kenny Dorham; Hank Mobley, Horace Silver and Doug Watkins were still there. It was the group's first studio album and the last with Silver, its co-founder. Later that year the original band broke up, and Blakey kept the name. This is the end of the first chapter, with Mobley and Silver writing most of the music, and it is easy to miss because it isn't on Blue Note.
Start with
- Nica's Dream
- Infra-Rae
- It's You Or No One
"Nica's Dream" is Silver's, named for the Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter, a friend to many of these musicians; he recorded it again under his own name. "Infra-Rae" is Mobley's. "It's You or No One" is a Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne standard. Listen for Byrd settling into the trumpet chair beside Mobley.
In the band
Donald Byrd · trumpet
Donald Byrd came from Detroit and had been in New York only about a year when he joined the Messengers. He became one of the busiest trumpeters of the late 1950s, recording for many labels, and he kept studying, later teaching at universities. In the 1970s his album Black Byrd became one of Blue Note's biggest sellers.
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Starting again with Jackie McLean
Hard Bop The Jazz Messengers · Columbia CL 1040 · 1957
Blakey now had the name and needed a band. After a short-lived lineup, he built one around Jackie McLean on alto and Bill Hardman on trumpet, with Sam Dockery on piano and Spanky DeBrest on bass. On December 12 and 13, 1956, they recorded this for Columbia in New York. Its title names the style the Messengers had helped to shape. These less famous Messengers recorded for many labels and kept the band working through 1957, the bridge between the first group and the Moanin' band.
Start with
- Little Melonae
- Cranky Spanky
- Stella By Starlight
"Little Melonae" is McLean's tune; Miles Davis recorded it too. "Cranky Spanky" is Hardman's, and "Stella by Starlight" is the standard of the set. Scott Yanow, at AllMusic, called the whole thing an excellent hard bop set. Listen to two young horn players being pushed hard by the drums.
In the band
Jackie McLean · alto sax
Jackie McLean grew up in Harlem, around Bud Powell and Sonny Rollins, and made his first record with Miles Davis in 1951. Before Blakey he had played with Charles Mingus. Later he made a long run of Blue Note albums, some reaching toward free jazz, and he spent his last decades teaching at the Hartt School in Hartford, where he built its jazz program.
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A room full of drums
Orgy in Rhythm Volume 1 Art Blakey · Blue Note BLP 1554 · 1957
Alfred Lion had talked with Blakey about a session built on drums since 1954, and on March 7, 1957, he got it: four drummers, a Latin section picked by Sabu Martinez, Ray Bryant on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass and Herbie Mann on flute. They recorded at Manhattan Towers, a hall in New York, with Rudy Van Gelder brought in. Blakey talked each tune through before it was played. As Ira Gitler put it in the original notes, "Nothing was rehearsed; there were no scores." The pull toward African and Caribbean rhythm runs all through Blakey's career, and this is the first whole record he gave to it.
Start with
- Buhaina Chant
- Split Skins
- Toffi
"Buhaina Chant" is named for Blakey's Muslim name; Jo Jones starts it on timpani, Sabu chants, and then Specs Wright, Blakey and Art Taylor trade. "Split Skins" is a drum trio for Blakey, Taylor and Jones. On "Toffi", Blakey sings, and Bryant takes the first solo. Try to tell the drummers apart as they trade.
In the band
Jo Jones · drums
Jo Jones was 45 and the oldest drummer in the room. In Count Basie's band of the 1930s he moved the steady beat from the bass drum to the hi-hat cymbal, and drummers ever since have learned from it. Here he plays timpani as well as drums, and he opens the record. He died in 1985.
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Rollins, Monk and two pianos
Sonny Rollins Volume 2 Sonny Rollins · Blue Note BLP 1558 · 1957
On April 14, 1957, Sonny Rollins made his second Blue Note record at Van Gelder's in Hackensack, with J.J. Johnson on trombone, Horace Silver on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Blakey. Thelonious Monk came in to play on his own two tunes, so on one of them both pianists are in the room. Rollins had just left Max Roach's group and was recording with all sorts of players. For Blakey it was a reunion with two old partners at once, Silver and Monk, and a chance to drive a hard-blowing front line that wasn't his own.
Start with
- Misterioso
- Reflections
- Wail March
On "Misterioso", a slow blues, Monk plays the theme and comps behind Rollins, Silver takes over behind Johnson, and Monk returns at the end. "Reflections" is Monk's ballad, just Rollins and Monk soloing over Chambers and Blakey. "Wail March" is a fast march by Rollins with a feature for Blakey.
In the band
J.J. Johnson · trombone
J.J. Johnson was the trombonist who showed that bebop could be played on his instrument, quick and clean as a saxophone. In the mid-1950s he co-led a two-trombone quintet with Kai Winding. Here he takes a double-time solo on "Wail March" and sits out the Monk ballad. Later he spent years writing for film and television.
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Monk sits in with the Messengers
Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers With Thelonious Monk Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers With Thelonious Monk · Atlantic LP 1278 · 1958
For ten years Blakey had played on Monk's records. On May 14 and 15, 1957, Monk returned the favour on a one-off session for Atlantic with the Messengers of the moment: Bill Hardman on trumpet, Johnny Griffin on tenor and Spanky DeBrest on bass. Five of the six tunes are Monk's. A month later Monk began his famous stand at the Five Spot, and Atlantic held the record until May 1958, when his name was bigger. It was the first Monk album recorded in stereo, and the Penguin Guide gave it its crown.
Start with
- Evidence
- Purple Shades
- Blue Monk
"Evidence" and "Blue Monk" are Monk's; "Purple Shades" is Griffin's, the only tune not by Monk. Down Beat's Dom Cerulli heard the record as angular and often brittle, and typical of Monk at the time. Listen to Griffin's fast lines against Monk's spare chords, and to Blakey at home with both.
In the band
Johnny Griffin · tenor sax
Johnny Griffin came from Chicago and was known as one of the fastest tenor players around. He joined the Messengers in 1957, and the next year he took Coltrane's place in Monk's quartet at the Five Spot. In 1963 he moved to Europe, where he lived for the rest of his life, often playing with the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band.
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Back at Birdland, 1959
At The Jazz Corner Of The World Vol. 1 Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers · Blue Note BLP 4015 · 1959
Five years after the first Birdland night, Blakey brought the Messengers back to the club with Blue Note's tape running. It was April 15, 1959. Benny Golson had left, and Hank Mobley, tenor in the very first Messengers, was back for a short stay beside Lee Morgan, Bobby Timmons and Jymie Merritt. Pee Wee Marquette is there again to bring them on. Mobley wrote two of the tunes. The band had cut some of the same music in the studio five weeks earlier, but Blue Note shelved that session; it came out only in 2020, as Just Coolin'.
Start with
- Hipsippy Blues
- Justice (aka Evidence)
- Close Your Eyes
"Hipsippy Blues" is Mobley's. "Justice" is Monk's "Evidence" under another name; put it beside the version with Monk himself. "Close Your Eyes" is a standard by Bernice Petkere. Michael G. Nastos, at AllMusic, called it one of the greatest live jazz sessions ever, though Down Beat gave it two stars in 1960.
In the band
Hank Mobley · tenor sax
Hank Mobley had been in and out of Blakey's orbit since 1954: the first Messengers, then this short return in 1959, when he filled the tenor chair after Golson left. Within months he was gone again, and before long he was leading his own Blue Note quartets and, in 1961, playing with Miles Davis.
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Wayne Shorter starts writing
The Big Beat Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers · Blue Note BLP 4029 · 1960
Mobley's stay was short. He missed a festival date in Canada, Lee Morgan met Wayne Shorter there, and Shorter took the tenor chair. On March 6, 1960, at Van Gelder's in Englewood Cliffs, the new quintet made this record: Morgan, Shorter, Timmons, Merritt and Blakey. Timmons had just come back after a spell with Cannonball Adderley. Shorter wrote three of the six tunes, and from here the band's book starts to change. It sits between Moanin' and A Night in Tunisia, and gets far less attention than either.
Start with
- The Chess Players
- Lester's Left Town
- Dat Dere
"The Chess Players" and "Lester's Left Town", Shorter's tribute to Lester Young, who had died the year before, are two of his three tunes. "Dat Dere" is Timmons's, written while he was with Adderley, in the same soulful vein as "Moanin'". Listen to how different Shorter's tunes sound next to it.
In the band
Wayne Shorter · tenor sax
Wayne Shorter was 26, from Newark, New Jersey, and had played in Maynard Ferguson's band before he joined Blakey in 1959. He soon became the Messengers' musical director, and his tunes shaped the band's direction for the next five years. In 1964 he left to join Miles Davis's quintet. Three of the six tunes here are his.
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A drum solo for the Freedom Riders
The Freedom Rider Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers · Blue Note BLP 4156 · 1964
In February and May 1961 the Morgan and Shorter quintet went back to Van Gelder's. Blue Note held the results until 1964. The title piece is Blakey alone, a drum solo of about seven and a half minutes named for the Freedom Riders, the activists who rode buses through the South that year to challenge segregation. The rest is Shorter's and Morgan's writing. It was the last record by this lineup, which had worked together for about 18 months; Morgan left soon after, and Freddie Hubbard took his place.
Start with
- The Freedom Rider
- Petty Larceny
- Tell It Like It Is
"The Freedom Rider" mixes swing with Latin American and African rhythms; listen to how Blakey builds a whole piece from the drums alone, with no tune to lean on. "Petty Larceny" is Morgan's and "Tell It Like It Is" is Shorter's, a chance to hear the band's two writers side by side.
In the band
Lee Morgan · trumpet
Lee Morgan was barely into his twenties when this lineup broke up, and already a veteran of three years in the Messengers. He wrote two tunes here. He went back to Philadelphia for a time, then returned to New York and Blue Note, where The Sidewinder, recorded at the end of 1963, became a surprise hit.
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Buhaina's sextet finds its feet
Buhaina's Delight Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers · Blue Note BLP 4104 · 1963
By late 1961 the sextet had its classic shape: Freddie Hubbard, Curtis Fuller and Shorter in front, Cedar Walton, Jymie Merritt and Blakey behind. This record comes from November 28 and December 18, 1961, weeks after Mosaic. The title is Blakey's own: Buhaina, from the Muslim name Abdullah ibn Buhaina he took in the late 1940s and kept as a nickname long after. Shorter wrote three tunes, Fuller and Walton one each, and there's "Moon River", then a brand-new film song. Blue Note waited until 1963 to issue it, by which time Blakey had moved to Riverside.
Start with
- Backstage Sally
- Bu's Delight
- Moon River
"Bu's Delight" is Fuller's, named for his leader. "Backstage Sally" is Shorter's. "Moon River", Henry Mancini's tune, shows the sextet taking a pop song and making it a piece for three horns. Listen to how the trombone fills the middle of the ensemble sound.
In the band
Curtis Fuller · trombone
Curtis Fuller came from Detroit, where he grew up in an orphanage, and reached New York in 1957; that year he played on John Coltrane's Blue Train. He joined Blakey in 1961, making the Messengers a sextet, and stayed into 1965. He wrote tunes for the band as well as playing, and brought its three-horn sound much of its weight.
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A new label, a new bassist
Caravan Art Blakey Jazz Messengers · Riverside RLP 438 · 1962
In October 1962 Blakey signed with Riverside, and on October 23 and 24 the sextet recorded this at Plaza Sound in New York, with Orrin Keepnews producing. Reggie Workman had replaced Merritt on bass that summer. The title tune is Juan Tizol's, from Duke Ellington's band; the rest are by Shorter and Hubbard, with two ballads, "Skylark" and "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning". Michael G. Nastos, in the All Music Guide to Jazz, named it Blakey's best work. It was his first record for Riverside.
Start with
- Caravan
- This Is For Albert
- Thermo
"Caravan" opens the record at nearly 10 minutes, the Ellington tune rebuilt for this band. "This Is for Albert" is Shorter's and "Thermo" is Hubbard's. Listen to Workman's bass, new to the band, under all three, and to how the drums lift the horns on the long title track.
In the band
Reginald Workman · bass
Reggie Workman, from Philadelphia, played bass in John Coltrane's quartet in 1961 before he joined Blakey in 1962. He stayed until 1964, then worked across hard bop and free jazz alike, with many leaders. Later he taught for many years at the New School in New York. He is on every record the sextet made for Riverside.
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Live at Birdland, after Japan
Ugetsu Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers At Birdland · Riverside RLP 464 · 1963
On June 16, 1963, Riverside recorded the sextet at Birdland, the club where Blakey's first live record was made nine years before. A few months earlier the band had finished a tour of Japan, and two tunes here are a tribute to it: Walton's "Ugetsu" and Shorter's "On the Ginza". The others are by Shorter and Fuller, plus one standard. Orrin Keepnews wrote that more was taped that night than would fit on one LP. This is the sextet live, the right companion to its studio records.
Start with
- Ugetsu
- One By One
- On The Ginza
"One by One" is Shorter's and opens the set. "Ugetsu" is Walton's; he later recorded it as "Fantasy in D". "On the Ginza" takes its name from Tokyo's shopping district. Listen to the band stretching out in front of an audience, and to Blakey keeping three horns moving through long solos.
In the band
Cedar Walton · piano
Cedar Walton came from Dallas and had worked with J.J. Johnson and the Jazztet before taking the piano chair in 1961. He wrote for the band as well as playing, and stayed until 1964. Then he led his own trios and quartets for decades, and tunes of his like "Bolivia" became standards among working musicians.
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The last Blue Note date
Indestructible Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers · Blue Note BLP 4193 · 1966
In March 1964 Lee Morgan came back in Hubbard's place, and on April 24 and May 15 the sextet made this, its last new recording for Blue Note. It was also the final session for half the band: that autumn Shorter left for Miles Davis, and Walton and Workman moved on too. Blue Note didn't release it until 1966. Fuller wrote two tunes, and Morgan, Walton and Shorter one each. It closes one of the great eras of the band, and it is a strong record to stop on.
Start with
- The Egyptian
- Mr. Jin
- Calling Miss Khadija
"The Egyptian" is Fuller's and runs over 10 minutes. "Mr. Jin" is Shorter's and "Calling Miss Khadija" is Morgan's. Listen to Morgan back in the trumpet chair beside Fuller and Shorter, and to this rhythm section's last turn with Blakey.
In the band
Curtis Fuller · trombone
Curtis Fuller wrote two of the five tunes on this last Blue Note date, "The Egyptian" and "Sortie". He stayed on after Shorter, Walton and Workman left, through the band's next record for Limelight, and then went his own way, working with many leaders over the following decades. Here he plays beside Lee Morgan again, back in the trumpet chair after three years away.
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