Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - At The Cafe Bohemia Vol. 1 & Vol. 2(1955)

This live recording made in 1955 at a famous venue marks an early stage in the career of one of the most renowned names in hard bop jazz. In fact, Blakey, drummer par excellence, and Horace Silver, pianist-composer of tremendous talent, had together started the Jazz Messengers a couple of years earlier, and Silver left not long after this recording, but not before the name was changed to put Blakey's name in front to reflect the drummer's position as sole leader.

Blakey and Silver are joined by Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone and Doug Watkins on bass, all almost exact contemporaries of Blakey and Silver and almost as famous in hard bop. The music is catchy, with a compelling, driving beat, a characteristic of the genre. Naturally then, and also because of his leadership role, Blakey's work on drums is much in evidence. He is brilliant even when he is in the background, varying the sounds he produces by using all elements of his drum kit. On the occasional drum solo or drum intro, or in exchanges with Silver, Dorham or Mobley, he is spectacular.

Most of the solos are, however, taken by Dorham, Mobley, and Silver, who get their turns on every track. All three, as well as Watkins, are top-class.

They get plenty of room to show that class. Eight tracks together make up more than 60 minutes of music, allowing for long solos to develop. This applies especially to "Soft Winds", the medium-tempo opener, and "Deciphering the Message", the fast-paced closing track, with over 12 and 10 minutes of playing time respectively. For variety, "What's New?", at an ambling pace, is entirely dominated by Watkins's bass.



Engineer:
Rudy Van Gelder

Personnel:

Art Blakey - drums
Doug Watkins - bass

Also:
Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, Kenny Dorham




Tracks:

CD1:

1. Announcement by Art Blakey
2. Soft Winds
3. Theme, The
4. Minor's Holiday
5. Alone Together
6. Prince Albert
7. Lady Bird - (bonus track)
8. What's New - (bonus track)
9. Deciphering the Message - (bonus track)

CD2:

1. Announcement by Art Blakey
2. Sportin' Crowd
3. Like Someone in Love
4. Yesterdays
5. Avila & Tequila
6. I Waited For You
7. Just One of Those Things - (bonus track)
8. Hank's Symphony - (bonus track)
9. Gone With the Wind - (bonus track)



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DOWNLOAD:

http://rapidshare.com/files/163400977/m_ab1955_atcb.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/163418060/m_ab1955_atcb.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/163421006/m_ab1955_atcb.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/163423989/m_ab1955_atcb.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/163424757/m_ab1955_atcb.part5.rar