Share:

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers Drum Suite 180g LP (Mono)

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers

$39.99
 
Availability: In Stock
In Stock An In Stock item is available to ship normally within 24 business hours.
Preorder A Preorder is an item that has not yet been released. Typically the label will set a projected release date (that is subject to change). If a projected release date is known, we will include this in the description in red. Other Preorders are set to release 'TBA.' This means that release date is yet 'To Be Announced'. The Preorder can be released anywhere between weeks, months or years from its initial announcement.
Backordered An Out Of Stock item is an item that we normally have available to ship but we are temporarily out of. We do not have a specific date when it will be coming.
Awaiting Repress Awaiting repress titles are in the process of being repressed by the label. No ETA is available at this time.
Expected On When an item is Out Of Stock and we have an estimated date when our stock should arrive, we list that date on our website in the part's description. It is not guaranteed.
Special Order A Special Order item is an item that we do not stock but can order from the manufacturer. Typical order times are located within the product description.
 
SKU:
IMXLP6019N
UPC:
856276002701
Adding to cart… The item has been added

Mono 180g Vinyl LP!
All-Analog Mastering by Kevin Gray!
Pressed at RTI!

This item not eligible for any further discount offers!

One of the inventors of the modern bebop style of drumming, Art Blakey is known as a powerful musician and a vital groover; his brand of bluesy, funky hard bop was and continues to be profoundly influential on mainstream jazz.

For more than 30 years his band, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, included many young musicians who went on to become prominent names in jazz. Recorded in 1956, Art Blakey's Drum Suite is a wonderful hybrid of African, Latin, and hard bop rhythms that prefigures the concept of Afro-beat by at least a decade. The sheer energy, not to mention its very special and fresh-sounding intimacy, make it especially astounding.

Even more amazing is that the three parts of the suite — Blakey's "The Sacrifice," Ray Bryant's "Cubano Chant," and Oscar Pettiford's "Oscalypso" — were recorded straight through live, and were only intended to be a pre-take run-through. As is obvious here, Blakey and company nailed the whole thing right out of the box.

Groundbreaking for its time, and still sounding vital, powerful, and visionary, the Drum Suite album is somewhat of a lost masterpiece that deserves a fresh audience.

The group recorded a run through and it was so perfectly executed that they used the practice run for the release, unedited except to add some Swahili chants by the percussionists during a few passages. One cannot help but think of Olantunji's Drums of Passion, another Afro drumming landmark, here. Blakey's drum suite was recorded at Columbia's 30th Street studios in New York in 1957 and is in mono. The almost stereoscopic image is truly remarkable. Mastered by Kevin Gray and pressed at RTI, Drum Suite is a valuable record of one of the most important figures in jazz history.
-Dennis Davis, hi-fi+
The three-part suite was laid down in one take with no arrangements, and begins with a few tympani thwacks followed by an African chant. Soon the ensemble kicks in and the group takes off an a sweaty Afro-Cuban-bop journey that will leave you breathless, as the thing crackles with terrific energy. Side Two is more conventional hard bop, but given this group's mastery of if not invention of the style, these tracks are extremely satisfying. Kevin Gray's remastering is detailed and immediate, with plenty of bit and air, if not the widest dynamic range. For anyone interested in percussion of this genre, this is not to be missed.
-Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound

Features

  • 180g Vinyl
  • Mono
  • All-Analog Mastering by Kevin Gray
  • Pressed at RTI

Musicians

Art Blakey drums
Jackie McLean alto saxophone
Oscar Pettiford bass, cello
Spanky DeBrest bass
Bill Hardman trumpet
Ray Bryant piano
Sam Dockery piano
Charles Wright drums
Jo Jones drums
Candido bongos
Sabu Martinez bongos

Selections

  1. The Sacrifice
  2. Cubono Chant
  3. Oscalypso
  4. Nica's Tempo
  5. D's Dilemma
  6. Just For Marty

Customers Also Like