5-21455-2

Art Blakey - Drums Around The Corner

Released - 1999

Recording and Session Information

Manhattan Towers, NYC, November 2, 1958
Lee Morgan, trumpet; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie Merritt, bass; Roy Haynes, drums; Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, drums, timpani; Ray Barretto, congas.

tk.4 Let's Take 16 Bars
tk.6 Moose The Mooche
tk.7 Drums In The Rain
tk.11 Lee's Tune
tk.13 Blakey's Blues
tk.15 Lover

Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, March 29, 1959
Paul Chambers, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

tk.1 I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
tk.2 What Is This Thing Called Love

Also Released in Japan as TOCJ-66073

Session Photos

Photos: Francis Wolff/Mosaic Images / 
https://www.mosaicrecordsimages.com/

Track Listing

Title	Author	Recording Date
Moose The Mooche	Charlie Parker	November 2 1958
Blakey's Blues	Art Blakey	November 2 1958
Lee's Tune	Lee Morgan	November 2 1958
Let's Take 16 Bars	Art Blakey	November 2 1958
Drums In The Rain	Art Blakey	November 2 1958
Lover	R. Rodgers-L. Hart	November 2 1958
I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm	Irving Berlin	March 29 1959
What Is This Thing Called Love	Cole Porter	March 29 1959

Liner Notes

MANY years ago, I had the opportunity to take a sneak peak at the files of unissued treasures hidden in the Blue Note vaults. I thought that I was going to have to be rushed to the hospital so that the doctors could reinsert my eyeballs into my head from amazement. The amount of high quality music that Alfred Lion (owner of Blue Note) recorded during the '50s and '60s is truly staggering. Over the years much of this material has been issued. One of the sessions that was of particular interest to me is the one you're listening to. When I first read the file sheet on this session, my first thought was "a session with these master drummers plus Lee, Bobby and Jymie has got to good." I called Michael Cuscuna (Blue Note's reissue producer) wondering if he had heard this session. Michael was aware of the recording but never heard it. He promised me that one day he would release it. Through the years, this session has crossed my mind more than a few times. They say chances go 'round and nearly 16 years later not only did Michael make good on his promise but gave me the pleasure of listening and writing the liner notes for this historic event. It was well worth the wait.

Art Blakey was always fascinated with the musical and rhythmic possibilities of drum ensembles. In 1956, Art convinced Columbia Records to give him the green light to record half of an album with a large drum ensemble, hand picking some of the greatest Latin and jazz percussionists Of all time. Between 1957 and 1962 Art recorded four more drum ensemble sessions for Blue Note. Five albums were released: An Orgy In Rhythm Vols. I & 2 (1957), Holiday For Skins Vols. I & 2 (1958) and Afro Drum Ensemble (1962). I have no clue as to why this 1958 session was never released. To my ears, it's the most organized and musically varied. Blakey was never happy with the drum ensemble recordings. He's told me that there were "too many egos" and felt that the drummers didn't play as well as they could have. He never elaborated on any specific person or incident that drew him to that conclusion. It is interesting to note that the amount of Latin percussionists Was cut to one. If Art were still alive, I think that he would be happy with the results of this date if he picked three other percussionists that he knew he could count on to really create something special.

All four of these masters were at the top of their games and in demand. Any musician who was lucky enough to obtain their services was sure to have a good recording or gig. The rest of the cast were members of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Young Lee Morgan burst out on the scene two years earlier and blew everybody's mind with his soulful trumpet virtuosity. He was influenced by Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro and Clifford Brown, but by 1958 had found his own voice. It's interesting to note that his classic Moanin' solo done with the Messengers was recorded just three days earlier. The rhythm section heard here is one of the best that Art ever had. Bassist Jymie Merritt had consistent, swinging, rock solid time. It is a credit to his musicianship that he was able to adapt to each drummer's dynamic style. Bobby Timmons during his all brief career was unfairly pigeonholed as a funky piano player. Sure, he could get with a lot of heart and energy.

I realized that it can be confusing even for the best Of us to differentiate between drummers. One way to make it easier is to make a musical mental note that both Philly Joe and Art are on the right channel in stereo, Roy and Ray are on the left. You can also identify the drummers by the way their drums are tuned. Art's drums are tuned much lower than the others. Roy has a much sharper, compact snare drum sound, Philly Joe tends to have a brighter sound. During both Lee and Bobby's solos there's almost always one drummer playing at a time. Charlie Parker's "Moose The Mooche" an I Got Rhythm-based tune starts out with all four percussionists rhythmically playing the melody. It almost sounds like a swing drum corp. instead of playing the melody at the bridge there are two-bar drum exchanges starting with Art, then Roy; Philly Joe and Art finish the bridge repeating Roy's two-bar phrase. The last A is again played. Lee comes in stating the melody backed by Philly Joe. Bobby takes the first solo backed by Roy for one chorus — dig how Art comes in right before Bobby's second chorus with that thunderous press roll of his. It's Philly Joe who puts the pots on and burns during Lee's solo. Rays swinging conga solo gives way to Roy playing a hip solo. Next, Philly steps showing his virtuosity and Art finishes up the first solo routine.

Lee again states the melody with Blakey taking the bridge. The drummers were supposed to play the melody and take it out but the feeling got good to Joe, who started off another round of solos. I'm glad they decided not to stop the tape because Roy's solo (following Philly Joe's) is one of his best on record. Art comes in like gangbusters followed by Philly Joe this time on tympani. Art returns playing a solo with mallets the drum exchanges are continued between the three until the melody in rhythm is stated with a short drum coda. "Blakeys Blues" starts out with the famous Blakey press roll. Jymie Merritt walks two choruses with Philly Joe playing hi-hat during the first. Art takes over for Jymie's second chorus and also accompanies Lee and Bobby's solos with his funky shuffle. This is my favorite period of Lee's. Check out how he builds his solo chorus after chorus. If you listen closely during his third chorus he quotes Nellie Lutcher's "Real Gone Guy." Art instinctively shifts gears when Lee steps up the intensity in the seventh chorus of his solo. Bobby and Jymie's solos take us right down to "Soulsville." This is a hard tempo in which to take a drum solo but it doesn't intimidate any of the fab four. A chorus is taken by Jones, Haynes, Barretto and Blakey in that order. After another chorus Of walking bass, this tune board fades with all four playing together.

"Lee's Tune" is a clever 32 bar, A-B-A structured piece that has a hypnotic vibe to it. Lee takes a smokin' solo, Blakey accompanies Lee on this track. You can compare Art with a giant steam roller coming down the street. Once he gets to swinging at this tempo its hard to stop him. This piece is a great example of how Ray can play perfect swinging time but stays out of the drummers way. The solos are Philly Joe, Haynes and Blakey. "Let's Take 16 Bars" gives composer credit to Blakey, but I'm sure its Lee's composition. The same percussion plays melody concept used on "Moose The Mooche" is used here except that each drummer plays a different part of the melody sounding like a musical pyramid. Art keeps time while Ray, Philly Joe. Roy and Art himself play 16 bars each. After solos from Lee and Bobby, the drummers play four bar exchanges. The order is Art, Roy and Joe. Lee in with the melody and the piece ends as it begins plus a thunderous ending.

"Drums In The Rain" is like listening to four African tribes communicating with each other. Ray plays a beautiful solo going in and out of a 6/8 time feel. Roy plays a fantastic solo using mallets. Blakey's solo starts using Roy's last hi-hat phrase. Joe uses that same phrase and takes it to yet another musical level. Art changes tempos and all four partake in an extended drum conversation (solos: Blakey, Barretto, Blakey, Haynes, Jones). "Lover" starts out with the three drummers actually playing an Art Blakey solo before Lee comes in with the melody. The tempo is ridiculously fast and Art never drops a beat. This is one of Lee's best recorded solos. If you listen closely, you can hear him taking deep breaths in between those long beautiful phrases he's playing. The solo order here is Roy, Philly Joe, Art and Ray. Check out how Art tears up the last bridge of this melody at the end — amazing!!

Another bonus of the CD is the two duet tracks with Blakey and Paul Chambers. "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm" came out on a compilation of Irving Berling tunes titled Blue Berlin which quickly went out of print. "What is This Thing Called Love" has never been issued. These two tracks catch them at their creative best. Art always believed that drummers could get together and play just as much music as any other instruments, here is more documentation to prove that fact.

—KENNY WASHINGTON, 1999
"The Jazz Maniac" WBGO CD Radio

BNJ-61007

The Jazz Messengers at the Café Bohemia - Volume 3

Released - June 21,1984

Recording and Session Information

"Cafe Bohemia", NYC, 2nd set, November 23, 1955
Kenny Dorham, trumpet #2; Hank Mobley, tenor sax #2; Horace Silver, piano; Doug Watkins, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

tk.9 What's New
tk.11 Deciphering The Message / The Theme

"Cafe Bohemia", NYC, 3rd set, November 23, 1955
Kenny Dorham, trumpet; Hank Mobley, tenor sax; Horace Silver, piano; Doug Watkins, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

tk.13 Just One Of Those Things
tk.14 Gone With The Wind

"Cafe Bohemia", NYC, 4th set, November 23, 1955
Kenny Dorham, trumpet; Hank Mobley, tenor sax; Horace Silver, piano; Doug Watkins, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

tk.17 Hank's Symphony
tk.18 Lady Bird

See Also: BLP 1507,BLP 1508

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Lady Bird	Tadd Dameron	November 23 1955
What's New	Burke-Haggart	November 23 1955
Deciphering The Message	Hank Mobley	November 23 1955
Side Two
Just One Of Those Things	Cole Porter	November 23 1955
Hank's Symphony	Hank Mobley	November 23 1955
Gone With The Wind	Magidson-Wrubel	November 23 1955

Liner Notes

Although The Jazz Messengers has been the title for Art Blakey's various groups since 1956, the original Jazz Messengers was a co-operative group, consisting of Horace Silver, Hank Mobley, Kenny Dorham, Doug Watkins and Blakey. The band's origins are as unique as its members' music.

Horace Silver made his debut as a leader for Blue Note in late 1952 with trio sessions that included Blakey. The pianist and drummer continued to appear together sporadically on various dates for the label by Lou Donaldson, Miles Davis and others. In February of 1954, Alfred Lion, owner and producer of Blue Note, put together an all star band to be recorded live at Birdland under Blakey's direction. Horace was not only the pianist, but the composer of three of the tunes.

In November of the same year, Lion approached Silver about recording again as a leader, but this time with horns. When Lion asked who he would ideally like on the date, he asked for Hank Mobley and Doug Watkins, who had recently been working in his quartet and Minton's and to round out the quintet Kenny Dorham and Art Blakey, thinking that would be impossible. But to Horace's delight and surprise, Lion assured him that there would be no problems. And that quintet was soon rehearsing for the first of two sessions that would eventually be issued as Horace Silver And The Jazz Messengers (BLP 1518).

The second session took place in February of 1955 and so did their first live engagement, which was at a Philadelphia club fittingly called the Blue Note. A month later, the group without KD recorded Hank Mobley's first album (10" BLP 5066). At the same time, KD's first Blue Note sessions featured Mobley, Silver and Blakey at the core of an expanded group (BLP 1535).

In 1947, Art Blakey had led a big band known as the Messengers, refering to the fact that most of its members were of the Moslem faith. That same year, he used that name for his first Blue Note date with a septet that included KD. The name lay dormant until this very special quintet assembled for the Horace Silver date. They resurrected the name, adding the word jazz to it. Art Blakey explained the modified name to Nat Hentoff in Down Beat, "In jazz you get the message when you hear the music. And when we're on the stand and we see that there are people who aren't patting their feet and aren't nodding their heads to our music, we know we're doing something wrong." With a repetoire of Mobley and Silver originals as well as standards and with the combined drive of Blakey, Silver and Watkins, it would be hard to imagine anyone nodding on this music.

Leonard Feather best described the Cafe Bohemia in his liner notes to Volumes I and II of this collection: "Cafe Bohemia was just an obscure Greenwich Village club dedicated apparently forever to the education of the visiting fire-eaters who sought the girliest of girlie shows. In the spring of 1955, a big change came over the club and over the thinking of Jimmy Garofolo, its owner. Jimmy had no previous knowledge of jazz, but when a couple of musicians wandered in off the street and sat in for a stimulating jam session, Jimmy was impressed. He was better then impressed when Charlie Parker fell by one night. Even to the point of deciding on a jazz policy, and on Bird himself for the opening attraction. Alas, the sign advertising Charlie Parker's initiation of jazz at Bohemia lay unused. (Parker died shortly before the date.) The Bohemia, a somewhat long and narrow room with a bar at one end and a small bandstand at the other, is on street level on Sheridan Square. Musicians have embraced it..."

On November 23, 1955, Alfred Lion and Rudy Van Gelder moved into the club to capture the Jazz Messengers live, ten months after the band's first live gig.

The fruits of that evening are now history thanks to AT THE BOHEMIA Volumes I and II (BLP 1507 and BLP 1508). And now we have unearthed a third volume from that very special night.

Included are two Mobley originals, Deciphering The Message and Hank's Symphony, both of which the Messengers would record in this studio six months later for CBS, although only the latter would be issued. And like the CBS album, Hank's Symphony, an attractive and exotic theme, with Blakey on mallets, is basically a drum feature. Deciphering The Message is a delightful, boppish cooker with a rousing Mobley solo. At times, he sounds as if he is almost parodying the JATP style of crowd pleasing tenor. Another example of his wry humor is his artful incorporation of a Bye Bye Blackbird quote at one point. KD and Horace are also powerful and interestingly show their Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell roots respectively to a greater degree than is evident in most of their work. The tune ends with a brief version of The Theme.

Tadd Damerson's Lady Bird is a happy performance on which everyone solos. KD is just singing, skipping along with that feel that only he could have gotten. Mobley is a master of fluency.

Doug Watkins solos on both Deciphering and Lady Bird, but his real featured number on What's New on which he plays the melody and takes the only solo to the accompaniment of just piano and drums. Watkins was truly a master of instrument with a rich tone, great soloing ability, brilliant choices of notes and a rhythmic drive that could keep up with Blakey's. It would be sad if history overlooks the contributions of a man such as this.

On the bandstand, What's New was played in conjunction with Alone Together (BLP 1507) which spotlighted Mobley and Yesterdays (BLP 1508) which spotlighted KD.

This record is completed with two perennials, Just One Of Those Things and Gone With The Wind, with the solo space on both given to KD, Mobley and Silver in that order. Despite from minor fluffs on the outthemes of both standards, the performances certainly merit release. Check out especially Mobley's non-stop, stream of creativity of Things.

Soon after this date, Kenny Dorham would leave the Jazz Messengers to begin forming his own band the Jazz Prophets, which coincidentally would record live at the Cafe Bohemia for Blue Note six months later.

His replacement was Donald Byrd. And it was under Byrd's name for the Transition label that the Messengers with trumpeter Joe Gordon added would record again in December of 1955.

In 1956, the group continued to work and signed a record deal with CBS, which resulted in one album. By June, the Jazz Messengers has ceaased to exist. Blakey took the name and formed a new band. Silver took Byrd, Mobley and Watkins and formed his own quintet. To fill out their contractual obligations with CBS, both band leaders made their own albums for the company.

The Horace Silver Quintet, now with Louis Hayes on drums, returned to the Blue Note fold in November to record the classic, Six Pieces Of Silver (BLP 1538). In early 1957, Hank Mobley resurrected the Jazz Messengers in a sense, making two albums with the Silver-Watkins-Blakey rhythm section, one of which included Milt Jackson (BLP 1544) and one with Art Farmer (BLP 1550).

Mobley continued as a member of the Silver band during 1957, and, in 1959, he rejoined Blakey for eight months. All the members of the original Jazz Messengers continued to cross paths in every conceivable combination at Blue Note dates. But that first group in that first year seems to have contributed an extraordinary amount of creative input to the history of jazz and the direction that it would take for many years to come.

-Michael Cuscuna

BNJ-61002

Art Blakey Quintet - A Night At Birdland, Volume 3

Released - June 21,1984

Recording and Session Information

"Birdland", NYC, 1st set, February 21, 1954
Clifford Brown, trumpet; Lou Donaldson, alto sax; Horace Silver, piano; Curly Russell, bass; Art Blakey, drums; Pee Wee Marquette, announcer.

tk.1 Wee-Dot (alternate take)

"Birdland", NYC, 3rd set, February 21, 1954
Clifford Brown, trumpet; Lou Donaldson, alto sax; Horace Silver, piano; Curly Russell, bass; Art Blakey, drums; Pee Wee Marquette, announcer.

tk.10 Lou's Blues

"Birdland", NYC, 5th set, February 21, 1954
Clifford Brown, trumpet; Lou Donaldson, alto sax; Horace Silver, piano; Curly Russell, bass; Art Blakey, drums; Pee Wee Marquette, announcer.

tk.15 Blues (Improvisation)
tk.16 The Way You Look Tonight

See Also: BLP 1521, BLP 1522, BN-LA-473-J2

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Wee-Dot (Alternate Master)	J.J. Johnson-Leo Parker	February 21 1954
Blues (Improvisation)		February 21 1954
Side Two
The Way You Look Tonight	Kern-Fields	February 21 1954
Lou's Blues	Lou Donaldson	February 21 1954

Liner Notes

Inspired by Chick Webb, Art Blakey began as a powerful and musical big band drummer with Fletcher Henderson and Billy Eckstine. The Eckstine band was, of course, the incubator of be-bop and Art was its master. He brought his own style and dynamics to a school of drumming first defined by Kenny Clarke. By 1947, he was making his own date for Blue Note and powering Thelonious Monk's first record dates.

Alfred Lion in those years was immediately taken by Blakey's richness, soul and strength and would travel to various clubs specifically to catch the drummer. Blakey became a Blue Note regular. But his next opportunity to record did not come until the night of February 21, 1954 with a live session at Birdland. He had organised a band with Clifford Brown, Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver and Curly Russell. On other occasions Joe Gordon would play trumpet. According to Horace, this was intended to be a working band, but work was too scarce and the ensemble faded away.

Fortunately, thanks to Lion, it faded away with a secure place in history. Blue Note issued three 10" lps of the music from that night. Later adding an alternate take of Quicksilver, the company issued two volumes on 12" albums (BLP1521 and BLP1522). In the mid-seventies, this writer had occasion to explore the Blue Note vaults and came up with three more tracks, then issued on a US double album with sixties Blakey material. With the addition of the previously unheard Lou's Blues that material is now available herein as volume three of that magic night.

This alternate take of Wee-Dot, a fast blues by J.J. Johnson and Leo Parker, is every bit as exciting and inventive as the first selected for issue. Clifford Brown is especially brilliant, the wat he fashions an intelligent, cogent solo. Typically, Blakey controls the dynamics and provides the fire that spur these men to great statements.

The relaxed, improvised Blues is traditional in form and hints often at the melodies and flavor of Percy Mayfield's best songs. This is Lou Donaldson's finest metier and he turns in a masterful performance, as does the equally soulful Horace Silver.

The Way You Look Tonight is treated to a clever arrangement. Lou plays the song's melody while Brown plays Can't Help Lovin' That Man Of Mine under him as a countermelody. Both songs are from the pen of Jerome Kern. This is a cooker on which everyone is allowed to stretch out, including the drummer.

Released here for the first time, Lou's Blues, a tune which the saxophonist first recorded for Blue Note in 1952. In fact, Silver was the pianist on that version, too. It is an exciting rapid-fire blues, but these men don't just lay into the changes and spew a few thousand automatic notes. They're thinking and creating, even at this tempo. Since the tape machine ran out at the very end of the song as the last note decays, it was necessary to fade the ending. This may indeed have been the reason that it was not included in the initial release.

With these four tunes and the ten on BLP1521 and BLP1522, the entire releasable output of this special occasion is now available.

As mentioned earlier, this band found little employment and drifted apart. By summer, Clifford Brown would move to California and form an historic alliance with Max Roach. Lou Donaldson would continue to freelance in jazz and R & B until 1956 when he could form his first regular working band. Curly Russell continued to play with everyone in town. Horace Silver and Art Blakey worked on many record dates together that year.

One of those dates was a Horace Silver quintet session in November with Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley and Doug Watkins. Within months the co-operative Jazz Messengers were born. Their premise was to present modern, but earthy jazz in a well rehearsed and professional manner. They set the standards for hard bop and spawned a string of great ensembles led by Art and Horace.

This special night at Birdland provides the first documented seeds of that movement. The rare presence of Clifford Brown adds all the more significance to these recordings.

- MICHAEL CUSCUNA

Photo by FRANCIS WOLFF
Cover Design by REID K. MILES
Recording by RUDY VAN GELDER

LOU'S BLUES is previously unissued. All other titles in Volume 3 are previously issued on Blue Note BN-LA-473-J2

ST-64201

Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers -  Just Coolin'

Released - 2020

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, March 8, 1959
Lee Morgan, trumpet; Hank Mobley, tenor sax; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie Merritt, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

tk.5 Jimerick
tk.10 Quick Trick
tk.14 Hipsippy Blues
tk.15 M And M
tk.19 Close Your Eyes
tk.21 Just Foolin'

Full Session Information

tk.1 Jimerick
tk.2+3 Jimerick
tk.4 Jimerick
tk.5 Jimerick (master)
tk.6 Quick Trick
tk.7 Quick Trick
tk.8 Quick Trick
tk.9 Quick Trick
tk.10 Quick Trick (master)
tk.11 Hipsippy Blues
tk.12 Hipsippy Blues
tk.13 Hipsippy Blues
tk.14 Hippsippy Blues (master)
tk.15 M+M
tk.16 Close Your Eyes
tk.16.1 Close Your Eyes
tk.17 Close Your Eyes
tk.18 Close Your Eyes
tk.19 Close Your Eyes (master)
tk.20 Just Coolin'
tk.21 Just Coolin' (master)
tk.22 Just Coolin' (inserts)

Session Photos

Photos: Francis Wolff

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Hipsippy Blues	Hank Mobley	March 8 1959
Close Your Eyes	Bernice Petkere	March 8 1959
Jimerick	Unknown	March 8 1959
Side Two
Quick Trick	Bobby Timmons	March 8 1959
M&M	Hank Mobley	March 8 1959
Just Coolin'	Hank Mobley	March 8 1959

Liner Notes

Stability can be elusive for even the most successful jazz Personal ambition, personality clashes, "personal problems," and financial differences can pose challenges, even when a bandleader is blessed with artistically compatible personnel. Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers of the late '50s, a band that enjoyed wide popularity and steady work, is a case in point. During the nearly three years of Lee Morgan's most extended stay (1958-61), the trumpeter was a part of two Messengers units that have come to be considered "classic" - the quintets where Morgan was paired in the front line with Benny Golson (1958) and Wayne Shorter (1959-61). The edition heard in this recording, with Hank Mobley in the tenor chair, is more of an interlude, though no less impressive.

Benny Golson made historic contributions to the Messenger legacy. He recruited fellow Philadelphians Morgan, Bobby Timmons and Jymie Merritt for a new edition of Blakey's band in the summer of 1958, and was musical director when the group recorded two compositions, Timmons' "Moanin"' and his own "Blues March," that solidified the band's standing at the forefront of the growing soul jazz movement. Yet Golson's tenure lasted only a few months, ending after a successful and copiously documented European tour. He left to pursue a more structured small group environment that he realized a year later in the Jazztet. Suddenly Blakey needed not just another horn player but also someone who could take responsibility for the band's musical direction.

Enter Hank Mobley, a Messenger alumnus (1954-6) who had spent the intervening years in the employ of Horace Silver and Max Roach, and who had built his own library of memorable Blue Note recordings. Known for his writing as well as his playing, Mobley was familiar with Morgan (the pair had worked with each other on several albums and Monday night Birdland sessions) and Timmons (featured on Mobley's self-titled Blue Note LP) as well as the drummer-leader. When the early-'59 Messengers entered Rudy Van Gelder's studio on March 8 to document the present program, half of the tracks were Mobley originals.

Yet the results of that session remained unissued for 60 years. They were superseded by two albums of performances recorded at Birdland a month later and released as Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers at the Jazz Corner of the World. Blue Note had enjoyed great success with multi-volume location recordings, an approach that began with A Night at Birdland with the Art Blakey Quintet in 1954 and The Jazz Messengers at the Café Bohemia in 1955. The label may also have been cognizant of the live European recordings that were already appearing with extended versions of the band's previously recorded hits. In any event, the resulting Birdland tracks included four of the six titles recorded in March and consigned the present performances to the vaults.

In 2020, it's great to find more Morgan, Mobley and Timmons in their prime, even in performances that tend to be shorter than the live versions and played at an increased tempo. The music had clearly settled in during the month that separated studio and live versions, but the fire of these six tracks has an appeal of its own.

Mobley's contributions cover "Rhythm" and blues, as well as one of his more unique creations. "Hipsippy Blues" is in Blakey's meat-and-potatoes shuffle groove, with the composer leaping out of an ensemble figure that resurfaces as Timmons concludes his solo. The saxophonist is soulful here, unintimidated by Blakey's commentary. Morgan begins in a more contemplative vein, and then builds steadily with some beautiful turnarounds. Timmons follows with the more sanctified touches that emerged in his playing with the success of "Moanin'."

"M&M," named for the two front line players, is slightly slower than the Birdland version, which also featured exchange choruses of eight bars and four bars after the solos as opposed to the two choruses of fours heard here. Each of the three soloists does an admirable job of finding fresh ideas in the familiar harmonic terrain.

The haunting "Just Coolin"' was originally recorded on Mobley's too little heard debut album as a leader, a 1955 Blue Note ten-inch LP that featured Blakey on drums. This is as close to a medium tempo as the present performances get - Blakey referred to the tune as a "fox trot" in his Birdland intro - though the atmosphere remains heated thanks to the bristling drum support. Morgan is particularly inventive, Merritt gets a chorus to display his invention and bold sound, and Blakey follows with one of his more structurally aligned solos.

Morgan takes the lead and the opening bridge on "Close Your Eyes" and wastes no time heating up in his opening solo. Blakey converses more than accompanies behind the trumpeter and Mobley, then switches to brushes behind Timmons, who shows more of his Bud Powell roots as well as a few personal licks. The catchy opening riff returns behind Merritt's strong chorus and after the theme is reprised. "Close Your Eyes" became a fixture in subsequent Jazz Messengers performances, and both it and "M&M" were included when this edition performed at the 1959 Newport Jazz Festival.

Of the two tracks not reprised on the Birdland recordings, "Jimerick" is a fast blues line of unknown origin that emerges after Timmons' opening choruses. Morgan is appropriately incendiary, Timmons digs into the blues without his usual church touches, and Mobley displays a familiar mix of lightning-fast execution and blunter phrases. Blakey's solo balances subtle stretches with passages of more typical fire.

Timmons wrote "Quick Trick," which appears here in its only known version. The melody is a straightforward eight-bar line, repeated to form a 16 bar chorus, but the underlying harmonies are adjusted to create a more challenging blowing structure. Timmons (supported midway by a shout chorus from the horns), Morgan and Mobley each contribute bold solos, and Blakey takes an opportunity to explode briefly when the theme returns.

If the Birdland recordings overshadowed this studio session, a mid-summer personnel change had a similar impact on this Messengers unit. When Mobley failed to appear at a Canadian jazz festival, Morgan pulled Wayne Shorter out of the Maynard Ferguson big band to take his place and Blakey liked what he heard. Shorter remained in the tenor chair and would ultimately become the group's musical director, where his writing gave a more visionary yet still grooving edge to the music. Mobley remained on good terms with Blakey, and contributed three new compositions for the group's next live at Birdland albums, Meet You at the Jazz Corner of the World; but his days as a Messenger were at an end.

- BOB BLUMENTHAL

Original Session Produced by ALFRED LION
Recorded on March 8, 1959, Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ
Recording by RUDY VAN GELDER
Photography by FRANCIS WOLFF - Mosaic Images, LLC
Cover Design by TODD GALLOPO at Meat and Potatoes, Inc.
Produced for release by ZEV FELDMAN
Mastered for Vinyl by KEVIN GRAY

GXF-3060

Art Blakey And the Jazz Messengers - Pisces

Released - 1979

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, February 12, 1961
Lee Morgan, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor sax; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie Merritt, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

tk.8 United
tk.15 Ping Pong
tk.27 Blue Ching
tk.28 Pisces

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, May 27, 1961
Lee Morgan, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor sax; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie Merritt, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

tk.25 Uptight

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, April 15, 1964
Lee Morgan, trumpet; Curtis Fuller, trombone; Wayne Shorter, tenor sax; Cedar Walton, piano; Reggie Workman, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

tk.7 It's A Long Way Down

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
United	Wayne Shorter	February 12 1961
Ping Pong	Wayne Shorter	February 12 1961
Pisces	Lee Morgan	February 12 1961
Side Two
Uptight	Lee Morgan	May 27 1961
Blue Ching	Kenny Dorham	February 12 1961
It´s A Long Way Down	Wayne Shorter	April 15 1964

Liner Notes

A student of the piano, Art Blakey went pro in 1939 as the drummer for Fletcher Henderson's big band and later for Mary Lou Williams' big band. He became a charter member of the be-bop revolution with the Billy Eckstine band of 1944 that also included Charlie Parker, Gene Ammons, Dexter Gordon, Leo Parker, Fats Navarro and Dizzy Gillespie to name but a few. From the beginning, he had his own unmistakable giant sound, a sound that later made him famous, but usually lost him jobs in those early days when drummers were expected to be polite and remain in the background. In fact, when Gene Ammons was asked in interviews how he got such a big tone out of the tenor, he invariably replied that he had no choice sitting in front of Blakey's bass drum in the Eckstine band.

By the '50s, Blakey was clearly the hardest swinging and yet most musical drummer of the day. He formed the Jazz Messengers in 1955 and redefined the role of the drums in jazz and helped define the group music known as hard bop. Ever since, he has been one of the most resilient, consistent and active band leaders in the music. The Jazz Messengers are virtually a university in this music, having graduated more high caliber talent over the past two and one half decades than any other group.

With Blakey, you learn to sculpt and arrange your tunes, to come to the bandstand ready to play cleanly and brilliantly, to survive the physical and mental hazards of the road and to pace yourself through a solo. As Woody Shaw once told me, "I learned how to be a leader by my experience with Buhaina. And I remember my first gig with him. I played hard and good on the first set. He told me I would blow my chops before the night was out and that I should pace myself to build a solo properly and save my lip. He told me to follow him and not open up until he gave me the press roll. He was right and he has an amazing sense of musical construction."

Art Blakey has had an unbelievable succession of magnificent line-ups in the Jazz Messengers, but one of the finest had to be the quintet with Lee Morgan, Bobby Timmons, Wayne Shorter and Jymie Merritt, the personnel heard on five of the six tracks on this album.

That group had its earliest origins in the autumn of 1958 when the group had Benny Golson, Morgan, Timmons and Merritt. Several months later, Hank Mobley returned to the fold replacing Golson. Eventually in the autumn of 1959, Shorter came into the group, although Timmons was temporarily replaced by Walter Davis for those first months. By the beginning of 1960, the quintet mentioned above was intact and remained a working band for more than a year and a half.

They went into the studio on seven occasions and were recorded live once at Birdland to produce a total output of nine albums, including this one.

"Uptight" and "Pisces" are two never before heard Lee Morgan originals of contrasting moods. "Uptight" comes from the May 27, 1961 session that gave us "The Back Sliders" from the Roots and Herbs album and all of the tunes from The Freedom Rider except "Petty "Pisces", "Blue Ching", probably written by Bobby Timmons and alternate takes of "Ping Pong" and "United" come from a February 12, 1961 session. The original takes of "Ping Pong" and "United" were recorded on February 18 and appeared on Roots and Herbs. This alternate take of "Ping Pong" is a fine one, and Wayne Shorter's quietly maniacal, swaggering entrance to his solo makes it a masterpiece.

For some strange reason, Walter Davis sat in on the February 18 session for the last two tunes, "United" and "Roots and Herbs". So this alternate of February 12 gives us the chance to hear the approach of the band with Timmons at his regular post. In June 1961, this band with Curtis Fuller added as guest artist made an album for Impulse Records. By that autumn, the Jazz Messengers were a sextet with Fuller as a regular member, Freddie Hubbard replacing Lee Morgan and Cedar Walton replacing Timmons. A few months later, Reggie Workman would replace Jymie Merritt.

In April and May of 1964, that particular edition of the group, with Lee Morgan returning for the recently departing Hubbard, made their first album for Blue Note, Indestructible. Wayne Shorter's "It's a Long Way Down", included here, was the one remaining unissued track from those sessions.

Curtis Fuller explains the title, "Those quotes from Eisenhower used to drive me crazy. What an orator! He used to come out with the simplest things as if they were profound. A lot of those sayings became standard jokes in the band. There was one that he said, something like "from the bottom of the mountain, it's a long way up and from the top, it's a long way down". So Wayne titled this tune after that!'

The music on this album, like the entire output of the various Jazz Messengers throughout the years, is subtle, artful, imaginative and yet incessantly driving and exciting. Whatever the arrangement, the composition or the personnel, Blakey is always in control, directing his sweet thunder with calculating grace and gusto. This album is yet another documentation of one of Jazz Messengers.

MICHAEL CUSCUNA