Indestructible [Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Art Blakey, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 5, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 1964
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B0000AC8N3
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,596 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #39 in Music > Jazz > Bebop > Hard Bop
  • #73 in Music > Jazz > Bebop > Bebop General
  • #73 in Music > Jazz > Bebop > General AAS

Editorial Reviews

No description available.
Genre: Jazz Music
Rating:
Release Date: 0000-00-00
Media Type: Compact Disk

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tight blues grooves with outside edges..., September 27, 2003

By 

A. K. L. "flamotte" (Steilacoom, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Indestructible (Audio CD)

The previous review of this '64 Jazz Messengers sextet classic is accurate and professional in quality, so I won't try to repeat, except to add that if you thought you had heard all Blakey's major recordings and would like the joy of discovering yet another classic from the master drummer/band-leader, this is the one to add to your collection. There is only one slow cut, Cedar Walton's 'When Love Is New.' The rest is heat, but the hard bop heat is tempered to medium by the modal influence of Miles Davis' work - which these guys were obviously listening to in this year just before Wayne Shorter switched over to the Davis lineage. This CD has one composition each by Cedar Walton and Lee Morgan, two each by Curtis Fuller and Wayne Shorter. Shorter's 'Mr. Jon' and 'It's a Long Way Down' sound much like those in his classic album of this period, 'Speak No Evil.' I believe that this was Shorter's finest time, both as a composer and as a tenor sax player - he's full of sizzling funk as well as slightly outside harmonics and gravelly double-tones.(Yes, if you've read my hated reviews of Shorter's latest CD's, you know I believe he was much better in '64 than he's ever been since then. And he's all tenor here - no soprano). The group's new bassist, Regge Workman, is primed from working with the likes of Sonny Rollins: he gives the Messengers a deep edge, a rudder that veers slightly outside the blues into the uncharted waters of post-bop.

I would venture to say that this is among Blakey's five greatest CD's: its right up there with Moanin'. Peak performances by six musicians at their career summits. This session has the tight grooves of 'Moanin' with the outside edges of Blakey's wilder recordings. It's the quintessential Messenger's recording for both the experienced and first-time listener. What a delighful discovery if you, like me, thought you'd already heard their best!

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Once Again, "Indestructible!", August 7, 2003

By 

Michael B. Richman (Portland, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Indestructible (Audio CD)

Art Blakey's "Indestructible!" was recorded over three sessions in the spring of 1964 for Blue Note. The drummer's final album for the label, it was also the last featuring the great sextet line-up. "Indestructible!" was originally released on CD in the late 1980s (and briefly again in the early 90s in the Collector's Choice reprint program), but apparently the bean-counters at Capitol didn't heed the album's title, because it was unceremoniously deleted more than a dozen years ago. Well, thankfully it makes a welcome return to the catalog here in the RVG series, with remastered sound to boot. Unfortunately, "Indestructible!" has too often sat in the shadows of its remarkable predecessors, "Mosaic" and "Free For All." It has done so needlessly because "Indestructible!" is a truly first rate modern jazz album, with memorable original compositions, incredible front-line interplay and soaring solos. The majority of the band -- Wayne Shorter, Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton and Art -- had been working together for over three years and their chemistry is unparalleled. And while Lee Morgan does replace Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, and Reggie Workman the bass for Jymie Merritt, both "newcomers" had actually been members of the Jazz Messengers during large portions of the previous five years. Hopefully with its permanent return to the catalog, "Indestructible!" will gain its rightful place among the greatest Blue Note discs of all-time.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prime Blakey, Prime Blue Note, December 19, 2004

By 

David Hewitt "silent way" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Indestructible (Audio CD)

Not that one can ever really go wrong with an Art Blakey/Jazz Messengers recording, but some are stronger than others; this is among the very strongest. The lineup 'Bu' worked with here for his final Blue Note outing was probably the most prominent overall group of Messengers, with Shorter, Morgan, Workman, and Curtis Fuller on trombone. It's Fuller who contributes the first two tracks, 'The Egyptian' and 'Sortie', and along with Shorter's 'Mr. Jin', they are the strongest, most original and compelling songs on the disc. A typical Morgan romp ('Calling Miss Khadija'), a typically expressive Walton ballad ('When Love Is New'), and a bonus Shorter cut ('It's A Long Way Down', not his most memorable composition) round out the contents. The tracks are appealingly varied, though tied together by the manifest quality of the writing and playing; needless to say, Morgan, Shorter, and Fuller are consistently brilliant, imaginative soloists, and the music doesn't drag for a split-second in the album's entirety. As soon as you hear the first minor chords ring out on Walton's piano after a brief intro from Blakey in the first seconds of the opening track, there is no doubt this promises to be an exciting listen in the most classic vein of hard-bopness.