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Jazz Articles about Art Blakey

12
Album Review

Thelonious Monk: With John Coltrane 1957 Revisited

Read "With John Coltrane 1957 Revisited" reviewed by Chris May


Once again, the ezz-thetics label has taken some of the finest artefacts of mid-twentieth-century US jazz and sonically restored them, bringing an unprecedented level of clarity, precision and presence. It is no exaggeration to say that the Swiss-based label's work can be compared with the restoration of Michelangelo's frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel during the 1980s, both in terms of the quality of the original material and the artistry with which the renovation has been executed. The ...

2
What is Jazz?

Why Hard Bop?

Read "Why Hard Bop?" reviewed by AAJ Staff


When trying to investigate jazz, all the classifications and categories can be a bit confusing. What do they mean when they say “hard bop?" How is it different from other types of jazz? Although a definition of the music may not necessarily enhance your listening enjoyment a little historical perceptive may be helpful for the jazz collector. The term hard bop, like many classifications in the arts, was created by the critics. It describes the new stylistic development ...

14
Album Review

Charlie Parker: At Birdland 1950 Revisited

Read "At Birdland 1950 Revisited" reviewed by Chris May


When it comes to live recordings of Charlie Parker, Jazz At Massey Hall, from a concert in Toronto in May 1953, has been widely considered the slam-dunk number one ever since Charles Mingus released it on his Debut label in 1956. Forensicists might favour the 7-CD The Complete Dean Benedetti Recordings Of Charlie Parker (Mosaic, 1990), but for most people, Massey Hall takes pole position. There have, however, been challengers for the top spot. Prominent among them ...

8
Radio & Podcasts

Richard Brent Turner

Read "Richard Brent Turner" reviewed by Lawrence Peryer


Richard Brent Turner is Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and the African American Studies Program at the University of Iowa. He is the author of Soundtrack to a Movement: African American Islam, Jazz, and Black Internationalism (NYU Press). Soundtrack to a Movement examines the link between the revolutionary Black Islam of the post-WWII generation and jazz music. In the book, Dr. Turner argues that from the late 1940s and '50s though the 1970s, Islam rose in ...

8
Album Review

Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers: Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers With Thelonious Monk (Deluxe Edition)

Read "Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers With Thelonious Monk (Deluxe Edition)" reviewed by Chris May


Rhino's new series of reissues of historic albums from the late 1950s/early 1960s hit the ground running in 2020 with John Coltrane's Giant Steps (Atlantic, 1960). Spring 2022 has already seen Charles Mingus' Trio (Jubilee, 1957) and Coltrane's My Favorite Things (Atlantic, 1961). Hot on their heels comes Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers With Thelonious Monk (Alantic, 1958). Each reissue is a double disc. Disc one contains the original album. Disc two comprises outtakes, some previously ...

5
Album Review

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: First Flight to Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings

Read "First Flight to Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


Perhaps Art Blakey's greatest gift was that he was able to—and also enabled you—to transport through time to when invention was new and not reheated, rebranded, or far worse, rejected out of hand. Just take his opening solo on the Charlie Parker-penned opener “Now's the Time" from the absolutely ribald and raucous First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings and get a riotous earful for yourself. Blakey bops, pops, and booms and you're there in the room in Tokyo, ...

13
Album Review

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: First Flight to Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings

Read "First Flight to Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings" reviewed by Chris May


There is a saying in the opera world which, though innocuous on the face of it, damns a work before the overture has begun let alone after the fat lady sings. The saying, beloved of breathless publicists deaf to its implication, is that such and such an opera is “rarely performed." The reason it is rarely performed, of course, is because nine times out of ten it is a dud. When it comes to jazz albums the parallel ...


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