Customer Reviews

VOL. 6-JAZZ MESSENGERS

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

 

 

Teaming up Monk with The Jazz Messengers was an excellent idea, and this album is a fine addition to the Blakey catalog. "I mean you" is a terrific tune and is almost as good as the original recording of it by Monk back in 1948 with Milt Jackson on vibes. Johnny Griffin's tenor is lyrical though forceful, and I guess Monk remembered him from this date when he had Grif with him a year later at the Five Spot. I don't particularly care for the tune "Evidence," which kicks off the session, but all in all it's a very good date.

Listening to this cd is a frustrating experience. You hear enough to know that the music is fantastic. Martin Williams declared that Blakey was the best drummer for Monk, and it seems he was right.
But the sound is thin, the bass is inaudible, and you really dont get the most of what this music has to offer.
There is no doubt that getting the RVG remastering of this session, now available, is highly recommended.

What you have here is a hard-bop album at its finest hence the sketchy quality. The recording sounds like they placed a microphone in the middle of a studio, which they probably did do, and with no rehearsals, and no mixing, just let the artists express themselves.

Johnny Griffin, the tenor sax player on the album is a guy who likes to play fast and Art Blakey lets him too since he has no problem keeping up. Griffin contributes the song ÒPurple ShadesÓ whereas Thelonious Monk wrote all of the other songs.

Bill Hardman plays trumpet and though this guy never became a household word, he did move on to create his own sextet. Though this album is hard bop, his trumpet has a real nice Òwest coastÓ sound.

Spanky Debrest plays bass. Now isnÕt ÒSpankyÓ a great name for a jazz cat. I donÕt know much about him but he sure can lay down a nice line.

Okay, then there is Monk, period!

Art Blakey on the drums, the guy who called his music Òthe funky styleÓ when describing it. Art Blakey, one heck of a drummer who fit hand-in-glove with Thelonious Monk better than any drummer could. (I think it is so cool that this is the guy who coined the word Òfunky styleÓ when describing his music and now it is part of the lexicon.)

This album was recorded on tape with no "fancy-schmancy" 16 track mixing equipment or digital Pro Toolsª to turn it into plain, white, vanilla. No, that didn't happen here. Just picture five guys making music in the same room. What some audio aficionados or audiophiles may believe to be a sketchy sound quality, I happen to believe that it sounds "real" or honest.

I'm not a fan of Bill Hardman at all; and there are other versions of "I Mean You" and "Evidence" recorded by Monk and Blakey that are much better than this. The guys seems to be coasting on this record.