Music Reviews: Hard Bop

The core lineup of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers changed regularly, but 1964 brought more drastic changes than usual. On trumpet, Freddie Hubbard had joined the Messengers on 1962’s Mosaic; he stayed until March 1964, when Lee Morgan returned. In September, tenor sax player and musical director Wayne Shorter left to join what became Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet. Pianist Cedar Walton and bassist Reggie Workman followed in their departures, and trombonist Curtis... Read More

• Officially Sanctioned Concord Music Group, Inc.
ALL VALVE Heritage pressing cut directly from the original analogue master tapes.
• No equalization, compression or any other processing undertaken during the cutting process.
• Cut in TRUE monaural using 1960's Lyrec SV8 all valve cutting system and Ortofon DS522 mono cutter head.
• Hand-crafted sleeve artwork faithfully recreated using a vintage letterpress procedure.
• Released in strictly limited, individually - numbered edition of 345.

Recorded in 1961 and released in 1962, Mosaic comes from an immensely prolific period of Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. Although the group’s lineup changed frequently, from mid-1961 through early 1964 it was unusually stable. The band was also one of Blakey’s very best: Wayne Shorter on tenor, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Cedar Walton on piano, and Jymie Merritt on bass. The only change was when Reggie Workman replaced Merritt in 1962,... Read More

Last year, Craft Recordings released Genesis Of Genius, a vinyl or CD box set of Ornette Coleman’s two albums for Contemporary Records. The box is now discounted at multiple outlets and since Craft’s Acoustic Sounds series is reissuing the LPs individually, it’s still worth reviewing.Ornette Coleman, born and raised in Fort Worth, was controversial from the start. A working saxophonist (tenor, then a plastic alto after three men smashed his tenor sax following a show)... Read More