Art Blakey & The New Jazz Live in Paris '65 180g LP

Art Blakey's "Live In '65" boasts an exceptional one-hour concert from Paris in 1965. This performance showcases one of the few undocumented Blakey bands, the New Jazzmen, featuring Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Jaki Byard on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, Nathan Davis on sax, and, of course, Blakey on drums. Freddie Hubbard's incendiary playing on "Blue Moon" and the blistering 24-minute version of his own "Crisis" shows that he was one of the most innovative trumpeters in jazz history.

On this live session, the audiences seem to have been enthusiastic and appreciative. "Everywhere we'd go people would say, this is the best Jazz Messengers we've heard" according to Davis. "And because of the way Jaki would play and Reggie would go, it was like a semi-freedom thing - with Messengers heads, you know, but when we got to soloing...! And Blakey was ridin' and oatin' the time ... but he would always be loose enough to follow, to keep it going. He's one helluva musician."

"Previously unreleased recordings by important jazz musicians are almost always of interest, but Live in Paris '65 stands out in even the most elite company... The two longest performances, 'The Hub' and 'Crisis,' allow trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and saxophonist Nathan Davis considerably more solo space than would normally be allotted for a studio recording, and both artists take full advantage of the opportunity to stretch out, continually exploring new ideas while remaining steadfast in their commitment to swing; the same could be said of the shorter but equally cogent solos by pianist Jaki Byard. A spotlight for Hubbard, 'Blue Moon' cleanses the palate with some sweet ballad playing. Throughout the rest of the album the quintet, buoyed by Reggie Workman on double bass and bandleader Art Blakey on drums, brings a fiery, small-club energy to a larger venue." - Jeff Wilson, The Absolute Sound, October 2020, Music 4.5/5, Sonics 3.5/5

The performance climaxes with an Art Blakey drum solo that's one for the ages - but then again, the same could be said for the entire album