Recorded in 1956, Art Blakey's Drum Suite is a wonderful hybrid of African, Latin, and hard bop rhythms that prefigures the concept of Afro-beat by at least a decade, and the sheer energy, not to mention its very special and fresh-sounding intimacy, make it especially astounding.
Even more amazing is that the three parts of the suite -- Blakey's "The Sacrifice," Ray Bryant's "Cubano Chant," and Oscar Pettiford's "Oscalypso" -- were recorded straight through live, and were only intended to be a pre-take run-through, but as is obvious here, Blakey and company nailed the whole thing right out of the box.
The original LP was issued by Columbia with the drum suite on one side, and three tracks recorded by a 1956 version of the Jazz Messengers (Bill Hardman, Jackie McLean, Sam Dockery, and Spanky DeBrest) for Blakey's first Columbia album, Hard Bop, on the other side.
Groundbreaking for its time, and still sounding vital, powerful, and visionary, the Drum Suite album is somewhat of a lost masterpiece that deserves a fresh audience.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The SacrificeArt Blakey | Art Blakey, Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers | Play | 07:43 | 17 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Cubano ChantRay Bryant | Art Blakey, Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | OscalypsoOscar Pettiford | Art Blakey, Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers | Play | 08:41 | 19 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Nica's TempoGigi Gryce | Art Blakey, Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers | Play | 08:17 | 19 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Just for MartyBill Hardman | Art Blakey, Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers | Play | 05:48 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Dee's Dilemma | Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers | Play | 08:28 | 19 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Lil 'T (aka the Third) | Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers | Play | 08:10 | 18 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | The New Message (aka Little T) (Take 1) | Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers | Play | 08:38 | 19 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | The New Message (aka Little T) (Take 3) | Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers | Play | 05:32 | 12 MB | 0 MB |
| 65 mins | 149 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Avakian | Producer |
| 2 | Art Blakey | Bongos, Candido, Composer, Drums, Primary Artist, Sabar |
| 3 | Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers | Performer, Primary Artist |
| 4 | Ray Bryant | Composer, Guest Artist, Piano |
| 5 | Donald Byrd | Guest Artist |
| 6 | Candido | Bongos, Guest Artist |
| 7 | Spanky DeBrest | Bass |
| 8 | Sam Dockery | Piano |
| 9 | Kenny Drew | Guest Artist |
| 10 | Gigi Gryce | Composer |
| 11 | Bill Hardman | Composer, Trumpet |
| 12 | Jo Jones | Bongos, Candido, Drums, Guest Artist, Sabar |
| 13 | Cal Lampley | Producer |
| 14 | Jackie McLean | Guest Artist, Sax (Alto) |
| 15 | Arnold Newman | Photography |
| 16 | Oscar Pettiford | Bass, Cello, Composer, Guest Artist |
| 17 | Henri Renaud | Executive Producer |
| 18 | Mal Waldron | Composer |
| 19 | Charles Wright | Drums, Gong, Percussion, Timpani |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |