Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers - With Thelonious Monk - 180g Vinyl LP

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Limited Edition AAA Pressing Pressed On 180g Vinyl At RTI
Mastered & Cut From Original Tapes By Kevin Gray At Cohearent Audio

This 1958 studio album is a collaboration between the Jazz Messengers led by drummer Art Blakey and special guest Thelonious Monk on piano.

Analog Spark: The best sources: We use the original tapes and work with the most respected mastering studios. The best pressings: Plated and pressed at the highest-rated pressing plants. Quality tested for a superior listening experience. The best jackets: Highest-quality jackets and protective inner sleeves.

Most of the titles on this album are derived from Thelonious Monk's vast catalog of bop standards. Both co-leaders are at the peak of their respective prowess with insightful interpretations of nearly half a dozen inspired performances from this incarnation of the Blakey-led Jazz Messengers. This combo features Art Blakey (drums), Johnny Griffin (tenor sax), Bill Hardman (trumpet), and Spanky Debrest (bass). Immediately, Hardman ups the ante with a piledriving lead during 'Evidence' that underscores the heavy-hitting nature of this particular jazz confab.

Monk counters with some powerful and inspired runs that are sonically splintered by the enthusiastic -- if not practically percussive -- chord progressions and highly logistic phrasings from the pianist. The inherent melodic buoyancy on 'In Walked Bud' contains a springboard-like quality, with Griffin matching Monk's bounce measure for measure. Griffin's incessant efforts create a freshness to the tune that often escapes other less inspired readings. From Blakey's boisterous opening on 'Blue Monk' through to Monk's single-note crescendo during the finale, the Jazz Messengers provide a lethargic propulsion that showcases the melody's bluesy origins.

This directly contrasts the uptempo charge of 'Rhythm-A-Ning.' The quirky yet catchy chorus glides with the dual-lead horn section as the entire arrangement is tautly bound by the understated Debrest and Blakey. Griffin's 'Purple Shades' is the only non-Monk composition that this aggregate recorded. This smartly syncopated blues seems better suited for the Jazz Messengers than for Monk. However, the pianist's opening solo alternately shimmers and shudders with Debrest as well as Griffin and Hardman, who demonstrate their own pronounced capabilities over Monk's otherwise occasional counterpoint.

Lindsay Planer, allmusic.com