Jump to content

Art Blakey


Noj

Recommended Posts

I need to "balls up" my Art Blakey section. I have:

Moanin'

Live At Birdland 1 & 2

Indestructible!

A Night In Tunisia (BN)

A Night In Tunisia (Bluebird)

A Jazz Message (Impulse)

Volume 1: A Child's Dance

Volume 2: Mission Eternal

Live At Keystone Corner In San Francisco 3

Kyoto

Coast To Coast

What should I go for next?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some more:

- Mosaic (BN)

- The Freedom Rider (BN)

- Buhaina's Delight (BN)

and an overlooked favorite 'The Jazz Messengers' on Columbia (with Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, Horace Silver and Doug Watkins). Not sure this is available on CD right now but it has been reissued on LP.

Just be aware that the list of essential Blakeys is very, very long...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Run.....don't walk.......to pick up a copy of "Free For All" (Blue Note).

You want "balls up"??? It's all here. :tup

c470744wma0.jpg

After that:

Art Blakey!!! Jazz Messengers!!! (Impulse)

Ugetsu (Riverside)

The Big Beat (Blue Note)

Roots & Herbs (Blue Note)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't forget Free For All! An all-time favorite. Might as well wait 'til the RVG comes out.

Also: The Big Beat and Jazz Messengers with Monk.

Hard to limit suggestions! So many good'uns!

EDIT: my lack of speed has made this post redundant......see above

Edited by Free For All
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A third vote for FREE FOR ALL. GOT to have FREE FOR ALL.

Also essential, but somewhat off the beaten path, are the 1961 Paris concerts, the Fresh Sounds collections of Birdland broadcasts that were inexplicably issued under Lee Morgan's name, and the 1958 live date from Club St. Germain.

Live Messengers from the "classic" period is often a lot harder and intense than studio dates from the same time. The reason I (and some others, probably) are recommending FREE FOR ALL is that it's one of the few studio dates that comes really close to capturing that live intensity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Get Mosaic. Tremendous themes. Wonderful Freddie. Exceptionnal Wayne. Superb Cedar Walton. And Blakey at its best.

I haven't heard all the Shorter-era albums, but Mosaic is my favorite for sheer consistency. And Free for All deserves all the plaudits it gets, though I think the paint-peeling intensity of the first track, and particularly Wayne's solo, good god what a solo, leaves the album feeling a little unbalanced.

Guy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It appears it is advisable to just walk into Tower, grab every Blakey I don't have and ring em up...

But for now I'm after these first five and will eventually get to the others later on:

Free For All

Mosaic

Roots & Herbs

Live At The Cafe Bohemia 1 & 2

Meet You At The Jazz Corner Of The World

The Freedom Rider

Buhaina's Delight

Jazz Messengers (Columbia)

The Big Beat

Jazz Messengers With Monk

'61 Paris Concerts

'58 St. Germain

Birdland Shows (Fresh Sounds)

Ugetsu

3 Blind Mice 1 & 2

Edited by Noj
Link to comment
Share on other sites

brownie, good call for the Columbia Messengers! A great one! And it IS on CD, with several (worthy) bonus tracks, too. And Donald Byrd is GREAT on that one, too!

Otherwise nothing to add - get them all seems the way to go (I'm almost there, myself).

D.D.: good to know Free For All will be RVG-ed later this year! I got the original LP from my father, completely beat-up and a scratch on side 2 that can't be surpassed... but hell, this was my introduction to Blakey, a long time ago (compared to my young age ;) ), and it's still one of my favourite hard bop albums.

The "Paris Jam Session" (recently in the Jazz in Paris series) is another nice one. Barney Wilen sits in (on alto) on two tracks, Bud Powell subs for Timmons, I think on the same two tracks.

ubu

Link to comment
Share on other sites

brownie, good call for the Columbia Messengers! A great one! And it IS on CD, with several (worthy) bonus tracks, too. And Donald Byrd is GREAT on that one, too!

Yes, after posting this I remembered I had purchased the Columbia/Sony CD because it has those additional tracks. Love that disc!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

you might be able to get this one from RCA on the cheap:

f111472bwgi.jpg

used to be this one, that added Lee Morgan with a bigger band for some cuts:

c93236s56d6.jpg

absolutely woofer blowing title tune with Griffin and McLean. i specially like the version of "Couldn't it be You" credited to Art here and done as "Fidel" on 'Jackie's Bag' (i think?)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Speaking of the RCA stuff, I almost forgot about the Lerner/Lowe side. THAT one is insane, w/Johnny Griffin the most insanest!

I have it on a thing called SECOND EDITION. Worht getting by any means necessary!

Another nice Mosaic hiding there... that Lerner/Loewe is cool, indeed! It's out coupled with "A Night In Tunisia" (sans alternate takes) on a Collectables 2CD edition - I actually bought that for the Lerner/Loewe alone.

ubu

Link to comment
Share on other sites

AMG has given credit to the date of '...Tunsia' being "livened up" by altoist 'Ferris Bender'? :blink:

bender.gif

Bender?! Hmmm, ah dunno, sounds like family. Waitaminute, does he owe you money or anything? You can bite my shiny metal ass, ah never heard of the guy!

McLean was listed as Ferris Bender on the original album, must have been for those "contractual reasons."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...