A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1 [Reissue]

In addition to being one of jazz's greatest drummers, Art Blakey was one of its top talent scouts. As leader of The Jazz Messengers from 1955 until his death in 1990, Blakey consistently featured some of the top up-and-coming players in jazz. He not only pushed them to play at their best in the classic hard bop setting, but he encouraged his sidemen to contribute new material. When he felt they were ready to be leaders themselves, Blakey practically pushed them out of his band, replacing them with younger musicians who could benefit from being a Jazz Messenger.

A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1, directly preceded the official formation of The Jazz Messengers but are very much in that style. Blakey and The Jazz Messengers' original co-leader, pianist Horace Silver, are joined in 1954 by altoist Lou Donaldson, bassist Curly Russell and the remarkable, if short-lived, trumpeter Clifford Brown. The music, which falls between classic bebop and hard bop, is frequently explosive, always exciting and consistently driving. Brown, at 23, was already one of jazz's leading trumpeters, Donaldson was influenced by the innovations of Charlie Parker but was already developing his own sound and Silver was already quite distinctive. Among the highlights on this CD are Brown's feature on A Night in Tunisia, Wee-Dot and Brown's feature on Once in a While.

-Scott Yanow

Just prior to forming the first edition of the Jazz Messengers, drummer Art Blakey led a superb quintet at Birdland for a brief gig in 1954. The band featured the great trumpeter Clifford Brown, altoist Lou Donaldson, pianist Horace Silver, and bassist Curly Russell in addition to the leader/drummer. All of the music has since been reissued as part of a Clifford Brown box set for Mosaic, but this is the original LP. The first volume is highlighted by "A Night in Tunisia," "Quicksilver," and "Once in a While" and finds all of the participants in inspired form. Classic op. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide