Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Art Blakey and the Afro-Drum Ensemble: The African Beat
Art Blakey and the Afro-Drum Ensemble: The African Beat
Man, does Art Blakey play loud on this session! Gentle melodic instruments are served with severe punctuation as Blakey attempts to add his drum set in contrast to the more natural sounds. Strong bass work from Ahmed Abdul-Malik holds it all together. Native drums and smaller percussion instruments set up hypnotic rhythms that form a seamless foundation. Yusef Lateef provides aural images of Northern African dancing women on "Obirin African" through an exotic flute arrangement. "Ayiko, Ayiko" serves to demonstrate a thorough combination of the two cultures as Lateef pours out spirited tenor saxophone jive alongside a relaxed folksong tune. The longest piece on the album, "Love, the Mystery of," places oboe in the featured role in front of various chants, hypnotic percussion and a strong syncopated bass. Art Blakey brought together an ideal membership for his searching project, but laid it on much too harshly each time he decided to add his own drum kit participation.
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Jim Santella has been contributing CD reviews, concert reviews and DVD reviews to AAJ since 1997. His work has also appeared in Southland Blues, The L.A. Jazz Scene, and Cadence Magazine.
Track Listing
Prayer by Solomon G. Ilori; Ife L
Personnel
Art Blakey
drumsArt Blakey- drums, tympani, gong, telegraph drum; Solomon G. Ilori- vocal, pennywhistle, talking drum; Chief Bey- conga, telegraph drum, double gong; Montego Joe- bambara drum, double gong, corboro drum, log drum; Garvin Masseaux- chekere, African maracas, conga; James Ola. Folami- conga; Robert Crowder- bata drum, conga; Curtis Fuller- tympani; Yusef Lateef- oboe, flute, tenor saxophone, cow horn, thumb piano on "Tobi Ilu;" Ahmed Abdul-Malik- bass.
Album information
Title: The African Beat | Year Released: 2000 | Record Label: Blue Note Records
About Art Blakey
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