Moanin'

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Benny Golson's "Drum Thunder Suite" was composed to satisfy Blakey's desire to record a song using mallets extensively. The suite consists of three contrasting themes. The first theme, "Drum Thunder," is primarily a drum solo with horns playing short melodic ideas in unison (soli writing). The second theme, "Cry a Blue Tear," utilizes a strongly Latin rhythm in the drums. It features a lyrical melody with trumpet and saxophone playing complementary lines. The final theme, "Harlem's Disciples," begins with a funky melody, and then a piano solo sets the stage for the concluding drum solo. "The Drum Thunder Suite" makes interesting use of different stylistic approaches and arranging techniques. His thunderous approach, deep rooted swing and signature press roll on the snare drum made him one of the most instantly identifiable and influential drummers in jazz. Moanin '" has a call and response melody. [1] One account of its creation was given by Benny Golson, the tenor saxophonist in Blakey's band: Timmons had the opening eight bars, which he often played between tunes, but formed the complete song only after Golson encouraged him to add a bridge. [3] It is played in F minor.

In the ’60s, when John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman were defining the concept of a jazz avant-garde, few knowledgeable observers would have guessed that in another 30 years the music’s mainstream would virtually bypass their innovations, in favor of the hard bop style that free jazz had apparently supplanted. As it turned out, many listeners who had come to love jazz as a sophisticated manifestation of popular music were unable to accept the extreme esotericism of the avant-garde; their tastes were rooted in the core elements of “swing” and “blues,” characteristics found in abundance in the music of the Jazz Messengers, the quintessential hard bop ensemble led by drummer Art Blakey. In the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, when artists on the cutting edge were attempting to transform the music, Blakey continued to play in more or less the same bag he had since the ’40s, when his cohorts included the likes of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Fats Navarro. By the ’80s, the evolving mainstream consensus had reached a point of overwhelming approval in regard to hard bop: this is what jazz is, and Art Blakey — as its longest-lived and most eloquent exponent — was its master. In the first theme, ‘Drum Thunder’ Blakey’s mallets create a rolling thunder cloud with punctuations from the horns, and a dramatic solo from Morgan as befits the building of the storm behind him.A passionate advocate of the jazz that he loved and believed in, he was always willing to share this passion and message to all who would care to listen. Another important associate of the hard bop movement, Horace Silver would also play an important part in Blakey’s development, and in fact the Jazz Messengers band was under Silver’s leadership. The Rising Stars of Tomorrow As a bonus, here’s a very cool interview with pianist Benny Green about playing with Art.He describes his first time on the bandstand with Art at the drums and how incredibly powerful he was.

Drummer and bandleader Art Blakey provides the aggressive, driving pulse that propels the Jazz Messengers and is so characteristic of the hard bop style. Blakey was 39 at the time of this recording, the Jazz Messengers had already progressed through several lineups, and Blakey remained the only constant. Despite the changing personnel, the Jazz Messengers remained the archetypal hard bop group, characterized by an emphasis on the blues roots of the music. Blakey is notable for his aggressive drumming, use of polyrhythm, musical interactions with his soloists, and his personality. Blakey felt strongly that jazz was underappreciated in America and he sought to bring it to a broader audience. As a bandleader, he provided his musicians with ample space for solos and encouraged them to contribute compositions and arrangements. He constantly added new talent to his band and made no effort to prevent musicians from leaving the Jazz Messengers. They confirm what an original and resourceful writer he is, and it is perhaps these that deserve re-evaluation and that make the album such an overall success.

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Through his policy of continually renewing his Jazz Messengersgroup he would constantly be seeking the cream of the rising young players thus giving them a solid grounding and place to hone their craft. As such, the list of musicians who have passed through the Messengers academy is a veritable who’s who of jazz up until his death in 1990. Straight ahead with a good catchy melody line that lends itself to the sort of propulsive swing that Blakey excelled at. Under his leadership the Jazz Messengers became an established institution. A guarantee of hearing some great swinging hard bop with some of the best young soloists on the current scene. Tenor saxophonist Benny Golson was reaching maturity in both his playing and composing that brought a sense of balance to the group, and completing the line up along with Blakey on drums was the funky playing of Bobby Timmons and the firm and steady bass playing of Jymie Merritt.