Art Blakey

The Messengers lineup that defined the band: Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, Bobby Timmons, Jymie Merritt, and Blakey. Recorded October 1958 at Van Gelder. Includes the title track, Along Came Betty, Blues March, and Are You Real. A founding document of hard bop.

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The hardest the Messengers ever played on record. Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton, Reggie Workman, and Blakey on a February 1964 date. The title track alone is one of the most ferocious group performances in the Blue Note catalog.

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Cut April and May 1964, just after Free For All but released two years later. Lee Morgan back in the trumpet chair, with Curtis Fuller, Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton, and Reggie Workman. Includes The Egyptian and Sortie. Ends the great Shorter-era band on a high.

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The expanded sextet with Freddie Hubbard, Curtis Fuller, Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton, Jymie Merritt, and Blakey, recorded October 1961. The Cedar Walton title cut is the centerpiece. The sextet format gave the band a richer, more orchestral sound.

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The Riverside date that opened the Hubbard, Shorter, Fuller, Walton, Workman version of the band. Cut October 1962 at Plaza Sound. Includes the title track and the Cedar Walton ballad Skylark. A different feel than the Blue Note records, more open and exploratory.

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The first studio record with Wayne Shorter as music director, recorded August 1960 with Lee Morgan, Bobby Timmons, and Jymie Merritt. The title track stretches to eleven minutes. Also includes Sincerely Diana and Yama. The doorway into the great early sixties run.

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