High Modes Live Art Blakey the Jazz Messengers the Comedian
For many followers of modern jazz, the quintet line-up of The Jazz Messengers that featured on Meet You At The Jazz Corner Of The Globe represents ane of the greatest bands e'er put together past drummer extraordinaire Art Blakey.
Listen to See You At The Jazz Corner Of The Globe on Apple Music and Spotify.
On trumpet, he had the young Philadelphia-born prodigy Lee Morgan, who had signed to Blue Notation every bit a teenager in 1956 and joined the Messengers 2 years later. The other horn role player in the ring was New Jersey tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who was recruited by Blakey in 1959 and made his recording debut with the group in Nov of that twelvemonth. The piano chair was occupied by another native of The City Of Brotherly Love, Bobby Timmons, who fabricated his debut on the Moanin' album and likewise wrote its hugely popular title tune. He brought a soul-jazz sensibility to the group and joined the Messengers in 1958 at the same time equally fellow Philadelphian, bassist Jymie Merritt.
Compared with Blakey, a seasoned veteran who was nearing his 41st altogether, they were all immature men in their late 20s and at the dawn of their careers. But, under the mentorship of the avuncular drummer, they were getting a first-class education on the bandstand that would concur them in good stead for the rest of their lives.
Virtuosity as soloists
Birdland had been in beingness for xi years when Art Blakey took the latest inductees to his "Hard Bop Academy" there on the dark of Wednesday, September 14, 1960. He had recorded at the legendary venue before, of class – leading the Fine art Blakey Quintet on the famous 1954 album A Nighttime At Birdland, and with the Messengers on At The Jazz Corner Of The World, five years later – but Meet You lot At The Jazz Corner Of The Earth was his first live recording to feature rising saxophone star Wayne Shorter.
The night's performance was starting time released on vinyl in two separate volumes past Bluish Note. Volume i features five tracks and opens with the ring playing an upbeat Lee Morgan tune, "What You Know." It's driven by Blakey's famous shuffle groove, where the drummer leads with a ride cymbal while hit the snare on the 2nd and fourth beats of the bar. The melody is besides memorable for a snaking solo from Wayne Shorter, who would soon eclipse Morgan by establishing himself every bit the Messengers' leading composer.
"The Opener," another piece of archetype hard bop, follows and was written by Shorter's predecessor in the Messengers, Hank Mobley. After the main theme is stated by the twin horns, each band fellow member displays their virtuosity as soloists. Shorter starts in a robust style, followed by Morgan, whose trumpet tone is luminous, and then Timmons, whose fleet-fingered piano runs are mesmerizing. Then Blakey gets a chance in the spotlight, impressing with his crescendoing press rolls, before the main theme is reprised.
A formidable engine room
Thelonious Monk'south archetype bebop ballad, "Round About Midnight," begins with a spoken introduction by Blakey (who calls Monk the "High Priest Of Modern Jazz"). The music opens with dramatic pulsate rolls accompanying mysterious piano chords before Lee Morgan plays the vocal'due south sinuous melody. The music ebbs and flows for a while but then Wayne Shorter'due south saxophone solo, with its biting tone, brings a passionate intensity to the mood before it subsides for Bobby Timmons' piano solo.
"The Cakewalk And I" is a song written past Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona and American lyricist Al Stillman and is rendered past the Messengers at a free-swinging medium tempo. While it features commendable solos, it's besides notable for the impeccable way that Blakey and Jymie Merritt, who walks his bass, office every bit the formidable engine room of the rhythm section.
Volume 1 of Meet You At The Jazz Corner Of The Earth closes with a brief rendition of Miles Davis' "The Theme," over which Birdland's diminutive MC, the legendary Pee Wee Marquette, introduces the band and urges the audience to applaud, exclaiming excitedly, "The soul brothers are talkin' tonight!"
Surprising twists and turns
There was no dip in quality on the second volume of Meet You At The Jazz Corner Of The World, which features two Hank Mobley tunes: the slightly subdued "High Modes" (with Morgan playing muted trumpet) and the Latin-inflected "Night Sentry," which blooms into a pacy swinger. In that location's also a jazz retooling of the melody "The Things I Love," a Can Pan Alley ballad by Harold Barlow and Lew Harris that was recorded by pop acts The Fidelity's and Caterina Valente in the 50s.
Proving that replacing Hank Mobley had brought a new youthful vigor to the Messengers, Shorter then impresses with "The Summit," i of his early compositions. It's propelled by a turbo-charged rhythm on which Merritt'due south fast-walking bass notes are perfectly in sync with Blakey'southward propulsive polyrhythms. Shorter takes a long serpentine-like solo, and the track's idiomatic melodic contours, with its surprising twists and turns, would become more familiar to jazz fans in the ensuing years.
"The Jazz Messengers is the star"
Though, in the eyes of many, Art Blakey – described past Marquette as "that talented main showman" – was seen every bit the Messengers' head honcho, he was adamant that no individual received pinnacle billing. "I've got no room for no stars," he one time told an interviewer. "The Jazz Messengers is the star – all of us together. The leader of the band is Art Blakey and the star is the group. We do it together."
That co-operative ethos was an underlying principle of Blakey'southward concept for The Jazz Messengers, and the symbiosis the master drummer achieved with his trainees is what yet makes Meet You At The Jazz Corner Of The Globe an exciting tape today. That inherent tension between the wisdom of experience and the enthusiasm and vitality of youth creates a compelling musical synergy.
See You lot At The Jazz Corner Of The World has been reissued on vinyl as part of the Bluish Note 80 series. Purchase it here.
Source: https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/art-blakey-meet-you-at-the-jazz-corner-of-the-world/
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