Art Blakey was a jazz drummer and bandleader who made his name in big bands in the early ’40s before espousing bebop with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker later in the decade. In the mid-1950s he formed The Jazz Messengers, a group which he led for over 30 years, with evolving line-ups that made it a vibrant incubator for emerging talent, and featured some of the current and future great names of the era. This 3-CD collection comprises the complete contents of five albums which were derived from five studio sessions and two ‘live’ performances from Birdland during 1960 and ’61, and released over a two year period. Those albums are “Night In Tunisia”, the ‘live’ albums “Meet You At The Jazz Corner Of The World Vols. 1 & 2”, and “Mosaic” on Blue Note, and the Impulse album “Jazz Messengers!!!”. Musicians featured in the different line-ups are Art Blakey on drums, Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, Bobby Timmons and Cedar Walton on piano and Jymie Merritt on bass. Featuring standards and originals and some notable extended performances, this is a thoroughly entertaining feast of top class modern jazz played by one of the finest and most renowned groups in the annals of the genre.
