OMG! Curtis Fuller!

Moanin'

More hard bop. "Moanin'" from the Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers album of the same name.

Lee Morgan: trumpet
Benny Golson: tenor saxophone
Bobby Timmons: piano
Jymie Merritt: bass
Art Blakey: drums

Art Blakey was at the epicenter of hard bop, and The Messengers was an ever changing group of top notch players, often moving on to front their own great projects. As far as Blakey himself, not may drummers came close to groovin' the way he did. I've heard a couple of recordings of this tune by other artists. One was almost a carbon copy outside of the solos, but it didn't have "it." If I had heard just the opening piano lick I would have said it was the same recording, but it lacked that underlying, pure groove that only Blakey could give it.

What did the drummer get on his IQ test?

Drool.

Dig This...

My friend Sara has a playlist from playlist.com on her blog, and I thought that might be a great way to showcase some music that I wanted to share. I started to create one of my own, but decided I would take a different route. Instead I am going to post music now and then in individual posts.

First up, a little hard bop, Wayne Shorter's "Witch Hunt" from "Speak No Evil."



Freddie Hubbard: trumpet
Wayne Shorter: tenor saxophone
Herbie Hancock: piano
Ron Carter: bass
Elvin Jones: drums

This is a great album, and I really dig the melody in this tune in particular. If you would like to pick this one up, I recommend yourmusic.com. All CDs are $6.99, including shipping, and they have a great selection of jazz albums.