Art Blakey, leader of the Jazz Messengers, is an exceptional musician, both for his ability to recruit the best musicians and for exploring new avenues in an ever-evolving jazz scene. Trained in the 1940s in the big bands of Fletcher Henderson and Billy Eckstine, and later with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey joined Horace Silver in the mid-1950s to form The Jazz Messengers. It was within the Messengers that he welcomed and nurtured all the best young musicians of that generation: Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, and many others. The first two sides of this album illustrate—too briefly—Blakey’s talent, and the last two sides provide ample space for the invention and rhythm of an exceptional drummer who never disavows his African origins.
Amazon
eBay
Rare Vinyl
