African Beat, The

Art Blakey | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 22, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 1962
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Blue Note
• ASIN: B000042OQV
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,933 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #34 in Music > Indie Music > Jazz > Bebop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Art Blakey's fascination with drums went beyond his own playing behind the vaunted Jazz Messengers. He began enlisting multiple drummers, first to chair the Messengers with him (as on the fantastic Drums Around the Corner) and then as stand-alone ensemble like the one that plays on The African Beat. Blakey's nine-drummer wall of rhythm is fronted by Yusef Lateef on horns--and occasionally percussion--and bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik. They play tunes that stand on thick carpets of cymbals, congas, log drums, maracas, and more. As a result, they produce massive soundscapes with floating horn lines over the top, something that conjures Egypt and Manhattan at once. The only downers with the session are the fade-outs that close off the rich dialogues happening across continents, but these come after such a wealth of melody and energy that it's easily forgivable. And while Blakey could easily have powered this band to ungodly speeds, he keeps things midtempo so that everyone is locked into a groove and moves as a magical unit. --Andrew Bartlett

Product Description

African Beat, The by Art Blakey

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable!, May 12, 2000

By 

riot67 (detroit) - See all my reviews

This review is from: African Beat, The (Audio CD)

Hats off to Blakey for assembling this intense drum ensemble. This is perhaps the first jazz record that I know of that successfully combined authentic african rhythms in a jazz setting. The album opens with a traditinal Nigerian prayer spoken in native tongue by Solomon G. Ilori. This prayer sets the stage for what follows; a diverse, engaging, authentic musical experience that travels from Nigeria to Senegal to Jamaica and back to America employing a vast array of percussion instruments and the immense talents of Yusef Lateef. Highly recommended.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Long lost friend finally found, April 17, 2002

By 

Marshal B. Hack (Cary, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: African Beat, The (Audio CD)

In the mid-60's, my college roomate and I would let his reel-to-reel tape deck run overnite, recording the late night jazz station out of New York. One morning as we reviewed the recordings we heard a fantastic song only identified by the D.J. as "The Prayer" by Art Blakey. Many years later, when CDs began to appear, I starting looking for such a recording to no avail. Then as search engines became available, I continued to search.
For some reason, I was never able to find what I was looking for.
I told my office mate about this and when I came in to work this morning, he said he thought he had located what I was looking for. I brought it up and listened to a sample. BRAVO!!!!
What I actually had recorded was Prayer followed by Ife L'Ayo.
The one minute sample was as fantastic as I had remembered. Needless to say the album is now on the way to my home....

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a good example of mix of jazz and african rythmns, January 20, 2009

By 

C. Mora (NM) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: African Beat, The (Audio CD)

i first listened to a tune on [..] from this cd and enjoyed the nice fusion between jazz and African rhythms, so I decided to give it a try. It appears it is one of the first attempts at this , and I was not disseminated by the cd. Overall, I enjoy the drumming of Blakey and the nice intermingling with the African musicians.