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Title: a good slice of blakey
Review: some critics have panned this 1961 session by mr. blakey and the jazz messengers, feeling the album lacks the punch of such classic blakey lp's like 'moanin' or 'a night in tunisia' (blue note records version). this set is more laid-back, for a blakey band, emphasizing groove over hardbop fury. but that is not to say this album is not good, though. mr. blakey had a gift for bringing together great bands of young musicians and forging a solid unit out of them. this version featured the outstanding horns of lee morgan (trumpet), wayne shorter (tenor sax), and curtis fuller (trombone). mr. morgan takes a quiet approach to his soloing (eg., "don't you know what love is") and is wonderful. mr. shorter gives us glimpses of things to come on his own blue note sessions (eg., 'juju' and 'night dreamer'). other highlights are the opening "alamode" and "i hear a rhapsody". for a nice introduction to mr. blakey, or to hear a more groove oriented messengers set, try this album.
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