Art Blakey - Drums
Chuck Mangione - Trumpet
Frank Mitchell - Tenor Saxophone
Keith Jarrett - Piano
Reggie Workman - Bass
-
Buttercorn Lady *
-
Recuerdo *
-
The Theme
-
Between Races *
-
My Romance
-
Secret Love
Recorded January 1-9, 1966 at the Lighthouse,
Hermosa Beach, California.
* Written by Chuck Mangione
Previously released as
Buttercorn Lady
Liner Notes
There have been very few talent scouts in the
history of jazz on the level of drummer Art Blakey; only
bandleader Fletcher Henderson and Miles Davis come to mind. From
the time he first started regularly leading a group in 1954
(which soon became known as the Jazz Messengers) up until his
death in 1990, Blakey hired and helped to discover scores of
young jazzmen including virtually every major trumpeter that
emerged during this long period; Clifford Brown, Donald Byrd,
Bill Hardman, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Valeri
Ponomarev, Wynton Marsalis, Wallace Roney, Terence Blanchard,
Philip Harper, Brian Lynch and even Chuck Mangione!
Get the Message features a rather unique version of the
Jazz Messengers for, in addition to the drummer-leader, the
quintet includes Mangione, the obscure tenor-saxophonist Frank
Mitchell, bassist Reggie Workman and a young pianist named Keith
Jarrett! But by the time of these Jan. 1-9, 1966 recordings,
Blakey had been a major force as a drummer, bandleader and an
informal teacher for so long that it was already being taken for
granted that the best young musicians were to be found in his
group.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Oct. 11, 1919, Art Blakey
was originally a pianist (at least until he heard Errol Garner
play) but by 1942 (when he joined Mary Lou Williams' group)
Blakey was an up-and-coming drummer. His most important sideman
association was playing with Billy Eckstine's revolutionary
bebop big band during 1944-47. Blakey's exciting drum rolls and
explosive accents propelled Eckstine's orchestra and soon Art
was thought of as one of the big three of bop drummers along
with Kenny Clarke and Max Roach.
Although Blakey led a record session in 1947 and briefly headed
a rehearsal band that he called the Seventeen Messengers, he
primarily worked and recorded as a sideman (most notably with
Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis) up until 1954.
After taking a quintet with pianist Horace Silver, Clifford
Brown and altoist Lou Donaldson to Birdland, Blakey and Silver
joined forces to co-lead the original version of the Jazz
Messengers. When Silver went out on his own in 1956 the drummer
quickly organized a new version of the group. Art Blakey's basic
idea was to encourage his sidemen to write new music (since he
did not want the Messengers to sound like a loose jam session
with the same old songs), play at their maximum creativity at
all times and develop their own styles. Although always open to
the ideas of his younger musicians, Blakey was able to forge a
consistent identity for his pacesetting hard bop group despite
many personnel changes throughout the years. The many graduates
of Art Blakey's school of swinging today form a virtual who's
who of jazz, all talented players who were greatly influenced by
the drummers music philosophy.
Among them are certainly Chuck Mangione and Keith Jarrett. At
the time of this recording, Mangione was 25 and considered a
promising bop-orientated trumpeter. In the early 1970s he would
have some major best-sellers in the pop world (most notably
"Feels So Good" and "Land of Make Believe") before gradually
drifting into semi-retirement. However Mangione's playing
throughout this live session is in the best tradition of Lee
Morgan and Freddie Hubbard. Fate was apparently not so kind to
Frank Mitchell a long forgotten tenor player whose style was
clearly influenced by John Coltrane. Other than appearing on a
somewhat commercial album with Blakey a few months later and Lee
Morgan's The Sixth Sense in 1967, little has been heard of
Mitchell since, despite his obvious talent.
Keith Jarrett was at the beginning of his career when he joined
Blakey. Just 20 at the time, the pianist would later that year
gain fame as a key member of Charles Lloyd's very popular
quartet. His freely improvised solo concerts in the 1970s made
Jarrett into a household name in the jazz world and he has since
conducted a busy schedule as a leader of his own explorative
groups, a solo pianist and much recorded artist for ECM.
Actually, in 1966 bassist Reggie Workman was the most famous of
Art Blakey's current sidemen due to his work with John Coltrane
in 1961. Workman was previously with Blakey during 1962-64 and
has remained a potent force in the jazz scene up to the present
day, constantly in demand for his ability to play with
originality and drive in settings ranging from bop to the
avant-garde.
Get the Message was recorded live at the legendary
Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California. The program has plenty
of variety starting out with the happy "Buttercorn Lady", a
brief calypso piece. "Recuerdo" contains some of the most
adventurous playing of the date. Mangione's warm tone contrasts
well with Mitchell's harder sound while Jarrett (who strums a
bit from inside the piano) and Blakey (who keeps the original
rhythm going throughout) take solo honors. The first half of the
program finishes with the Messengers playing a spirited version
of "The Theme", the traditional set closer.
"Between Races" is a hard charging piece offering some explosive
Blakey fireworks. The standard "My Romance" serves as a feature
for Chuck Mangione's muted trumpet which was already quite
distinctive at this early stage. The date finishes off with a
cooking version of "Secret Love" which has fine solos all
around; Jarrett's improvisation is particularly unpredictable
but never stops swinging.
Art Blakey must have enjoyed this session! -
Scott Yanow |