Customer Reviews

A Night at Birdland, Vol. 2

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This 1954 live recording is a momentous one in jazz history -- it's one of the first recordings in a style that would be known as hard bop. Blakey's quintet, a clear forerunner of his Jazz Messengers, approaches the classic bop style, mixes in some soul and gospel, and cranks up the energy. Art Blakey's turbocharged drumming, Horace Silver's funky, blues-drenched playing, and the formidable frontline of trumpet wizard Clifford Brown and Bird disciple Lou Donaldson set the mold for the style.

Highlights of Volume 2 are a blistering interpretation of the Kern-Fields classic "The Way You Look Tonight" and two Charlie Parker tunes, "Confirmation" and "Now's The Time". Clifford Brown really burns on these tunes. If you like this CD, be sure to buy Volume 1 as well as the two Bohemia recordings of Blakey a year later.

This second volume of the Art Blakey Quintet live at Birdland (2/21/54) is just as good as volume 1. Clifford Brown, alto man Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver, and Curly Russell join Blakey for some swinging hard bop performances. "Wee-dot" is a fast blues, as is "Lou's blues," which might be just a tad too frantic. All the playing is exceptional, though, on every track. Should be had with volume 1, and both CDs are must-have deals.

Be careful folks, this one can scorch your knickers! Everyone here is in tip-top shape and there are times when this one is a full-blown show of pure firepower.

It also slows down nicely though when it does pull back to the mid and slow tempos. Actually the mid-tempo stuff here is my favorite. Lou Donaldson purely shines here. He really should be more well-known. His playing is an absolute joy from beginning to end and, at least for me, he is the true star of this release. Of course there is also no lack of material here to please the Clifford Brown crowd, either. Sometimes upper-register pyrotechnics types of trumpet players seem to kill my ears. It's not my most favored style, but I still can't help but marvel at the lines Brownie blows here. When listening to him, I get the feeling that audience members probably broke out into a sweat just from hearing and seeing him play.

Even though Jazz at Massey Hall (whether partial or the complete one) is often viewed as a high-water mark in bebop, I'd tend to go with this disc as a better example of what it's all about. The sonic quality of this recording is fuller, richer, and I just think the performance is better, too. This disc has hard-bop-lengthed solos, but bebop style and freneticism... along with the killer slower stuff, as I mentioned earlier.

These live recordings were the first jazz albums I ever bought. Now, after having listened to many more I still think that this live set is one of the most amazing recordings I have. The Art Blakey Quintet was in great form on that particular night, about 50 years ago. The material is bebop as well as early fast hardbop - a nice mix of classics and songs mainly by Horace Silver. I highly recommend this live set to anybody interested in jazz!

The band: Clifford Brown, Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver, Curly Russell, Art Blakey. (Should recognize at least Brown, Silver and Blakey - big names in jazz.)

The venue: Birdland - "Jazz Corner of the World"

The production: Rudy Van Gelder remaster of a live recording. (Hot, but clean.)

The verdict: This is a worthwhile CD and should be in every serious jazz music collector's collection in one form or another (see below). It really swings and is seriously hot live jazz by some of the greatest jazz musicians ever to play music.

The caveat: You can buy Clifford Brown's The Complete Blue Note & Pacific Jazz Recordings, which contains this CD, A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1, The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vol. 1, and another disc of Clifford's that probably shows up somewhere else but I just haven't found it yet.

The summary: If you don't spring for the CB set, get this CD, but be sure and pick up volume one as well for the complete picture of an historic night in jazz history.

It's always wonderful to hear live-recordings from Birdland, and here really everybody plays fantastically. Of course, much has been written about the contributions of Clifford Brown, Lou Donaldson and Horace Silver, who are all together here, so this time let's praise Curly Russell, the bassist. He's something like an unsung hero of the bebop-era and shouldn't be overlooked, because he's doing a great job walking steadily behind those really fast soloists. I'm sure, that all bebop-fans will enjoy this record.

Another Great CD to add to my collection. I like the great solo's by the alto sax player Lou Donaldson, especially in the ballad "If I Had You". And of course Art Blakey's drum solo's were fabulous, probably the best jazz drummer I've heard. The two Charlie Parker hits, "Nows the Time" and "Confirmation" are nice also. This an excellent selection for bebob lovers like me

I picked this up in a store after accidentally coming across the rave reviews here on Amazon - I think I was looking for Charlie Parker music. This band is incredible and, if you like hard bop or want to learn more about it, this is "the way to go!" I have a size-able jazz collection but prior to picking this up I did not have any music by Clifford Brown and Art Blakey was only on a couple of old Miles Davis Blue Notes in my collection.

This music is just a whole lot of fun, no way can you be in a bad mood after listening. There is no darkness here, it's all gloriously brilliant bop. Blakey thunders away rather like Elvin Jones - his daddy maybe (ha ha). Brown is breath-taking. My 2.5 year old grand-daughter quickly learned to say "Art Blakey" and asks me to play this all the time.

I love this so much that I immediately ordered Vol 1. Both releases are wonderful but I think volume 2 has a bit more intensity. Volume 1 has lots of Horace Silver tunes, Vol 2 is mostly covers, including a fantastic version of Confirmation.

Both are HIGHLY recommended.

This is a fantastic recording of Art Blakey's seminal 1950s jazz group.
The musicianship is superb and the remastered recording sounds like it was made yesterday!
Get this along with Volume 1 for a rollicking jazz experience.

The second album produced of a concert done in 1953 at Birdland by Art Blakey, this is actually better than Volume 1, in my opinion. I'd give it 4 stars for material and soloing, but 5 for importance, because there are several things are interesting about this cd:

1. This was the first live recording ever made that is not bootleg, but recorded for the specific purpose of commercial release.

2. Art Blakey is known as the god of hard bop, but this is really a bebop album, with blistering tunes and elongated, flowing lines by all the soloists. But you can begin to sense the elements of hard bop coming in, especially with Clifford Brown's solos, so in this way this is a great historical document.

3. The line up of Brown, Blakey and Silver, the three fathers of hard bop, all playing on the same stage is just a joy.

The album is deffinitely worthwhile, as Clifford Brown and Horace Silver (who I've always loved as a composer but less as a soloist) contributing excellent solos, especially Silver on Quicksilver, and Brown on Now's the Time and especially Confirmation. Altoist Lou Donaldson is a solid, adept player in the Bird tradition. While not the equal of Brown, he has two nice moments early on: he steals the show on the tune Wee Dot, and of course is featured on the ballad If I had You. Art Blakey is as brillaint on the drums as always, rarely taking a solo but shining when he does. This really is jazz history right here, and thus EVERY jazz fan should have it, especially lovers of Blakey, Brown and Silver.