Art Blakey

 

Art Blakey
Art Blakey.jpg
Übersicht
Geburtsname Arthur William Blakey
Name Abdullah Ibn Buhaina
Geburtstag 11. Oktober 1919
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Gestorben 16. Oktober 1990 (aged 71)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres Jazz, Hard Bop, Bebop
Besetzung Musiker, Bandleader
Instrument Drums, Percussion
aktiv 1942–1990
Labels Blue Note
Zusammen-
Arbeit
  • Horace Silver
  • Freddie Hubbard
  • Benny Golson
  • Curtis Fuller
  • Cedar Walton
  • Wynton Marsalis
  • Chick Corea
  • Johnny Griffin
  • Kenny Dorham
  • Donald Byrd
  • Hank Mobley
  • Bobby Timmons
  • Lee Morgan
  • Ellis Marsalis Jr.
  • Wayne Shorter
  • Thelonious Monk
  • Dizzy Gillespie

Wikipedia EN

Artist Biography by Chris Kelsey (allmusic)

In the ’60s, when John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman were defining the concept of a jazz avant-garde, few knowledgeable observers would have guessed that in another 30 years the music’s mainstream would virtually bypass their innovations, in favor of the hard bop style that free jazz had apparently supplanted. As it turned out, many listeners who had come to love jazz as a sophisticated manifestation of popular music were unable to accept the extreme esotericism of the avant-garde; their tastes were rooted in the core elements of „swing“ and „blues,“ characteristics found in abundance in the music of The Jazz Messengers, the quintessential hard bop ensemble led by drummer Art Blakey. In the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, when artists on the cutting edge were attempting to transform the music, Blakey continued to play in more or less the same bag he had since the ’40s, when his cohorts included the likes of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Fats Navarro. By the ’80s, the evolving mainstream consensus had reached a point of overwhelming approval in regard to hard bop: this is what jazz is, and Art Blakey — as its longest-lived and most eloquent exponent — was its master.

The Jazz Messengers had always been an incubator for young talent. A list of the band’s alumni is a who’s who of straight-ahead jazz from the ’50s on — Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Johnny Griffin, Jackie McLean, Donald Byrd, Bobby Timmons, Cedar Walton, Benny Golson, Joanne Brackeen, Billy Harper, Valery Ponomarev, Bill Pierce, Branford Marsalis, James Williams, Keith Jarrett, and Chuck Mangione, to name several of the most well-known. In the ’80s, precocious graduates of Blakey’s School for Swing would continue to number among jazz’s movers and shakers, foremost among them being trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Marsalis became the most visible symbol of the ’80s jazz mainstream; through him, Blakey’s conservative ideals came to dominate the public’s perception of the music. At the time of his death in 1990, the Messenger aesthetic dominated jazz, and Blakey himself had arguably become the most influential jazz musician of the past 20 years.

A Jazz MessageBlakey’s first musical education came in the form of piano lessons; he was playing professionally as a seventh grader, leading his own commercial band. He switched to drums shortly thereafter, learning to play in the hard-swinging style of Chick Webb and Sid Catlett. In 1942, he played with pianist Mary Lou Williams in New York. He toured the South with Fletcher Henderson’s band in 1943-1944. From there, he briefly led a Boston-based big band before joining Billy Eckstine’s new group, with which he would remain from 1944-1947. Eckstine’s big band was the famous „cradle of modern jazz,“ and included (at different times) such major figures of the forthcoming bebop revolution as Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Charlie Parker. When Eckstine’s group disbanded, Blakey started a rehearsal ensemble called the Seventeen Messengers. He also recorded with an octet, the first of his bands to be called The Jazz Messengers. In the early ’50s, Blakey began an association with Horace Silver, a particularly likeminded pianist with whom he recorded several times. In 1955, they formed a group with Hank Mobley and Kenny Dorham, calling themselves „Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers.“ The Messengers typified the growing hard bop movement — hard, funky, and bluesy, the band emphasized the music’s primal rhythmic and harmonic essence. A year later, Silver left the band, and Blakey became its leader. From that point, the Messengers were Blakey’s primary vehicle, though he would continue to freelance in various contexts. Notable was A Jazz Message, a 1963 Impulse record date with McCoy Tyner, Sonny Stitt, and Art Davis; a 1971-1972 world tour with „The Giants of Jazz,“ an all-star venture with Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt, and Al McKibbon; and an epochal drum battle with Max Roach, Elvin Jones, and Buddy Rich at the 1964 Newport JazzFestival. Blakey also frequently recorded as a sideman under the leadership of ex-Messengers.

Blakey’s influence as a bandleader could not have been nearly so great had he not been such a skilled instrumentalist. No drummer ever drove a band harder; none could generate more sheer momentum in the course of a tune; and probably no drummer had a lower boiling point — Blakey started every performance full-bore and went from there. His accompaniment style was relentless, and woe to the young saxophonist who couldn’t keep up, for Blakey would run him over like a fullback. Blakey differed from other bop drummers in that his style was almost wholly about the music’s physical attributes. Where his contemporary Max Roach dealt extensively with the drummer’s relationship to melody and timbre, for example, Blakey showed little interest in such matters. To him, jazz percussion wasn’t about tone color; it was about rhythm — first, last, and in between. Blakey’s drum set was the engine that propelled the music. To the extent that he exhibited little conceptual development over the course of his long career, either as a player or as a bandleader, Blakey was limited. He was no visionary by any means. But Blakey did one thing exceedingly well, and he did it with genius, spirit, and generosity until the very end of his life.

Art Blakey, 1973 in Hamburg

Leben

Anfänge

Art Blakey arbeitete zunächst im Bergbau. Musikalisch begann er als autodidaktischer Pianist, bis er in seiner eigenen Band von Erroll Garner abgelöst wurde. Daraufhin wandte er sich dem Schlagzeug zu. In den 1940er Jahren war Art Blakey Schlagzeuger in den Bands von Mary Lou Williams und Fletcher Henderson.

Billy Eckstine und Miles Davis

Im Jahr 1944 schloss sich Art Blakey der neugegründeten Bigband von Billy Eckstine an. Im Sommer 1944 spielten Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra in East St. Louis, Illinois, wo sie in der Besetzung Charlie „Yardbird“ Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Anderson, Gene Ammons, Lucky Thompson und Art Blakey auftraten. Ihr Zusammenspiel begeisterte den gerade erst 18-jährigen Miles Davis so sehr, dass er fortan nichts anderes mehr hören wollte. Während seiner Zeit bei Billy Eckstine herrschte ein Aufnahmeboykott seitens der Musikergewerkschaften, weshalb frühe Aufnahmen aus dieser Zeit rar sind. Das gilt für alle Bopper.

Als Billy Eckstine seine Band 1947 auflöste, reiste Art Blakey nach Afrika, wo er die nächsten zwei Jahre verbrachte. Während seiner Afrikareise konvertierte er zum Islam, wurde Anhänger der Ahmadiyya Muslim Gemeinde und nahm für einige Zeit den muslimischen Namen Abdullah Ibn Buhaina an. Art Blakeys musikalische Erfahrungen in Afrika schlugen sich später in Stücken wie Message from Kenya, Abdallah’s Delight und seinen polyrhythmischen Schlagzeugsoli nieder. Weitere Beispiele sind die Alben Holiday for Skins Vol. 1 und Holiday for Skins Vol. 2.

Nach seiner Rückkehr in die USA spielte Art Blakey in vielen Bands und als Begleiter herausragender Solisten, zum Beispiel von Fats Navarro, Thelonious Monk und Miles Davis. Zusammen mit Sonny Rollins, Kenny Drew, Percy Heath und Jackie McLean spielte Art Blakey 1951 im Birdland in der Band von Miles Davis, wovon die Plattenaufnahme Miles Davis At Birdland 1951 zeugt. Ebenfalls für Miles Davis entstand das Blue Note-Album Miles Davis Volume 2 (BLP 5022), für das Art Blakey während einer Session 1953 einen jungen und unbekannten Pianisten hinzuzog: Horace Silver.

Ab 1949 gehörte Blakey zur sogenannten Sugar-Hill-Harlem-Clique, die sich um den Tenorsaxophonisten Sonny Rollins gebildet hatte. In diesem Umfeld und unter dem Eindruck von Charlie Parker, Fats Navarro und Freddie Webster wurde Art Blakey heroinabhängig. Miles Davis dazu in seiner Autobiographie: „Ein paar von den jüngeren Typen wie Dexter Gordon, Tadd Dameron, Art Blakey, J. J. Johnson, Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean und ich selbst fingen ungefähr zur selben Zeit an, schwer auf Heroin abzufahren.“

Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers

1955 gründete Blakey zusammen mit Horace Silver eine eigene Combo, die Hard-Bop-Band The Jazz Messengers. Blakey und Silver blieben aber auch weiterhin als Begleitmusiker aktiv und spielten beispielsweise auf Kenny Dorhams Album Afro-Cuban und dem Debütalbum des Trompeters Clark Terry. Silver stieg bereits 1956 wieder aus und überließ Blakey den Bandnamen, so dass aus „Horace Silver & the Jazz Messengers“ nun „Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers“ wurden.

Art Blakey erwartete von seinen jeweiligen Bandmitgliedern, dass sie ihren Beitrag zum Repertoire der Gruppe leisteten. So stammen die bekanntesten Messengers-Stücke Moanin‘ und Dat Dere aus der Feder des Pianisten Bobby Timmons.

1959 spielte Blakey mit den Jazz-Messengers (Bobby Timmons, Jymie Merritt, Barney Wilen, Lee Morgan) die Musik zu dem Film Les Liaisons dangereuses von Roger Vadim ein.

Einen Großteil seiner Alben als Einzelkünstler oder mit den Jazz Messengers veröffentlichte Art Blakey auf Blue Note Records. Um die Alben zu promoten brachte Blue Note gängige Titel gern in zwei Teile gesplittet als 45er-Singles heraus. Diese wurden zwar selten im Radio gespielt, aber fanden durch die Jukebox landesweit Verbreitung. So gelangten einige Jazz-Nummern in die R&B-Charts. Art Blakey gehörte neben dem Organisten Jimmy Smith, dem Trompeter Donald Byrd und dem Saxophonisten Lou Donaldson dank der Singles zu den einträglichsten Künstlern des Plattenlabels. Art Blakey: „Die allererste 45er-Single, die Alfred herausbrachte, war eine von meinen Aufnahmen (Nothing But Soul/Message From Kenya). Sie veröffentlichten auch so einiges von den Jazz Messengers. Beinahe alles vom Big Beat-Album kam als Single raus (…) Dat Dere ist sicherlich die Nummer, an die sich die meisten erinnern werden. So kam ich rum in der Welt… Paris… Tokio… Berlin.“

Die geschlossensten Formationen aus dieser Zeit (späte 50er/ frühe 60er) waren diejenigen mit den Trompetern Lee Morgan und Freddie Hubbard, den Tenorsaxophonisten Benny Golson (Blues March) und Wayne Shorter, den Pianisten Horace Silver, Bobby Timmons (Moanin) und Cedar Walton. Zu Beginn der 1960er Jahre wurden die Messengers außerdem durch die Hinzunahme des Posaunisten Curtis Fuller gelegentlich zum Sextett erweitert.

In den 1970ern gab es die innovative Kombination mit Valery Ponomarev, Bobby Watson und Walter Davis Jr., die nicht gut dokumentiert ist (Jodi) (Roulette). Die 1980er brachten die letzte Phase der Band, mit auch später sehr umtriebigen Mitgliedern. Das sind Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Jean Toussaint, Bill Pierce, Donald Harrison, James Williams, Geoff Keezer, Mulgrew Miller, Lonnie Plaxico.

Blakey starb 1990 an Lungenkrebs.

Stil

Blakey während eines Konzerts 1985

Blakeys Stil wurde geprägt durch Kenny Clarke, der in der Bebop-Ära den Grundrhythmus von der Basstrommel auf die Becken verlegte und die tiefe Trommel für Akzente benutzte. Diese Art der Rhythmisierung wurde soweit getrieben, dass im Schlagzeugspiel teilweise gar kein Grundrhythmus mehr auszumachen war. Blakey benutzte aber weiterhin die Basstrommel in einer erdigen Betonung, die aus dem Swing stammte, als noch der Grundrhythmus, oft schlicht als vier Viertel, auf der Basstrommel gespielt wurde, hat sich aber von den Beschränkungen im Swingstil völlig befreit. Nach Aussage von Max Roach besaß Blakey eine Unabhängigkeit aller vier Gliedmaßen am Schlagzeug, die den Klang seiner polyrhythmischen Spielweise immer erkennbar macht. Oft hört man von ihm Presswirbel zu Beginn eines neuen Chorus und als Anfeuerung des jeweiligen Solisten, den er energisch begleitet. Er spielte oft polyrhythmische Schlagzeugeinleitungen zu seinen Stücken.

Discography

  • 1946–47: Goin‘ to Minton’s (Savoy), mit Fats Navarro, Sonny Stitt, Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell und Kenny Clarke.
  • 1946/47: Nostalgia (Savoy), mit Fats Navarro, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Dexter Gordon, Al Haig
  • 1954: A Night at Birdland (Blue Note Records), mit Clifford Brown (tp), Lou Donaldson (as), Horace Silver (p), Curley Russell (b)
  • 1955: At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1 & 2 (BLP 1507), mit Kenny Dorham (tp), Hank Mobley (ts), Horace Silver (p), Doug Watkins (b)
  • 1956–1957: The Drum Suite (Columbia), mit Ray Bryant (p), Oscar Pettiford (b), Jo Jones (d), Specs Wright (tymp), Candido (cga), Sabu Martinez (bgo) bzw. Hardman, McLean, Dockery, DeBrest
  • 1957: Ritual (Blue Note), mit Bill Hardman (tp), Jackie McLean (as), Sam Dockery (p), Spanky DeBrest (b)
  • 1957: Orgy in Rhythm, Vol. 1 & 2 (Blue Note), mit Ray Bryant (p), Jo Jones (dr, perc), Herbie Mann (fl), Wendell Marshall (b), Sabu Martinez (perc, voc), Ubaldo Nieto (perc), Evilio Quintero (perc), Arthur Taylor (dr), Carlos „Patato“ Valdes (perc), Specs Wright (dr, perc)
  • 1957: Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk (Atlantic), mit Bill Hardman (tp), Johnny Griffin, Spanky DeBrest
  • 1958: Moanin’ (BST 84003) mit Lee Morgan (tp), Benny Golson (ts), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b).
  • 1958: A Message from Blakey: Holiday for Skins, Vol. 1 & 2 (BLP 4004/4005).
  • 1959: Les Liaisons dangereuses (Soundtrack)
  • 1959: Just Coolin’ (Blue Note, ed. 2020)
  • 1960: The Big Beat (BST 84029), mit Lee Morgan (tp), Wayne Shorter (ts), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b).
  • 1960: A Night in Tunisia (BST 84049), mit Lee Morgan (tp), Wayne Shorter (ts), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b).
  • 1961 (1970): Roots & Herbs (BST 84347)
  • 1961 (1968): The Witch Doctor (BST 84258)
  • 1961: Art Blakey!!!!! Jazz Messengers!!!!! (Impulse!) mit Wayne Shorter (ts), Lee Morgan (tp), Curtis Fuller (pos), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b).
  • 1961: Mosaic (BST 84090) mit Freddie Hubbard, Curtis Fuller, Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton, Jymie Merritt.
  • 1962: Caravan (RLP 438) mit Freddie Hubbard, Curtis Fuller, Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton, Reggie Workman.
  • 1963: A Jazz Message (Impulse!), mit Sonny Stitt (as), McCoy Tyner (p), Art Davis (b).
  • 1964: Free for All (BST 84170), mit Freddie Hubbard, Curtis Fuller, Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton, Reggie Workman.
  • 1984: New York Scene (Concord), mit Terence Blanchard (tp), Donald Harrison (as), Jean Toussaint (ts), Mulgrew Miller (p), Lonnie Plaxico (b)
  • 1985: Live at Kimbals (Concord), Besetzung wie 1984.

Sammlung / Compilation

  • The Complete Blue Note Recordings or Art Blakey’s 1960 Jazz Messengers (1960-1961) – (Mosaic 1992)- 9 LPs oder 6 CDs mit Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons, Jymie Merritt, Walter Davis Jr.

Filmografie / Videos

  • 1965 Live in ’65 (DVD)
  • 1983 Jazz at the Smithsonian
  • 1986 At Ronnie Scott’s London (Video, DVD als Live from Ronnie Scott’s 2003)
  • 1995 The Jazz Messenger (Video/DVD)
  • 1998 Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers
  • 2001 Jazz Life, Vol. 2
  • 2003 Modern Jazz at the Village Vanguard
  • 2004 Live at Village Vanguard

Wikipedia DE

Chronology: Art Blakey (and The Jazz Messengers)

by Steve Schwartz and Michael Fitzgerald – May 1996-July 6, 2008

Pittsburgh

Art Blakey was born in Pittsburgh, PA on October 11, 1919.

“I’ve had bands since I was 15 years old. I was playing piano with the best band in Pittsburgh – 18 pieces – and the best gig, too. We sounded like Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, we played Benny Goodman and Benny Carter things.”

– Art Blakey, quoted by John Litweiler in Down Beat, March 25, 1976, p.16.

1939: John Michel-t; Specs Thomas “Horse-collar”-as; Musa Kaleem (Orlando Wright)-ts; Walter “Woogie” Harris-tb; Art Blakey-p; William McMahon-b; Albert “Skippy” Saunders-d

  • Democratic Club, Pittsburgh, PA (1939) Art Blakey group [Jazz Hot 1/59]

1941: went to New York (as a pianist) with singer Dorothy Matthews before returning to Pittsburgh to form a band that was appropriated by Mary Lou Williams after she left Andy Kirk’s band. [Jazz Hot 1/59]

New York

“He [Monk] was responsible for me when I moved from Pittsburgh to New York. He used to take me and Bud Powell around to all the clubs to play. If the musicians didn’t want us to sit in, he’d run them off the stage, sit down, and play with me. At that time jobs were so few, and musicians had cliques. Times were tight, things were changing, but Monk was just outstanding in himself. He’s a great person.”

– Art Blakey, quoted by John Litweiler in Down Beat, March 25, 1976, p.15.

  • Kelly’s Stables, NYC (Fall until November 1942) Mary Lou Williams gig [Allen]

[This group included: Marion Hazel-t; Norris Turney-as; Musa Kaleem (Orlando Wright)-ts; Mary Lou Williams-p; Edgar Willis-b – Jazz Hot 1/59]

“Art Blakey, one of the original members of the Jimmy Murray orchestra before Henderson took it over, had been with Mary Lou Williams at Kelly’s Stables in New York, into November 1942 at least.”

– Walter Allen, Hendersonia.

“[Mary Lou] Williams (whose time was impeccable) said they felt that Blakey just didn’t have his rhythm down so she planted him right between she and [Shorty] Baker until he got it! Drums was Baker’s first choice of instruments.”

Annie Kuebler

Fletcher Henderson

  • Apollo Theater, NYC (March 19-25, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig [All Fletcher Henderson data from Allen]
  • Jaffe Mosque, Altoona, PA (March 26, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Dayton, OH (March 27, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Club Madrid, Louisville, KY (March 29-April 10, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Dixieland Ballroom (or Armory), Lexington, KY (April 12, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Commodore Perry Hotel, Toledo, OH (April 14, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Paradise Theater, Detroit, MI (April 16-22, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • New Kenmore Hotel, Albany, NY (April 24-? (week?), 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, MI (May 8, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Detroit, MI (May 9, 1943) Fletcher Henderson private dance
  • Elks Club, Fairfield, IA (May 12, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Auditorium, Burlington, IA (May 13, 1943) Fletcher Henderson dance
  • Murat Temple, Indianapolis, IN (May 15, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Savoy Ballroom, Chicago, IL (May 16, 1943) Fletcher Henderson dance
  • Danceland Ballroom, Cedar Rapids, IA (May 19, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Masonic Temple, Freeport, IL (May 20, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Armory, Kokomo, IN (May 21, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Auditorium, Columbus, OH (May 22, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Sunset Terrace Ballroom, Indianapolis, IN (May 23, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Club Madrid, Louisville, KY (May 24-June 5 or 6, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Lexington, KY (c. early June 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Nashville, TN (c. early June 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Forest Park Highlands, St. Louis, MO (June 13-19, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig

“The music went from four to twelve at the Kentucky Club [in Kansas City, MO]. I met Ben Webster, Don Byas there. We played in and out of Kansas City for about a year. Then the drummer from the Fletcher Henderson band came down and said, ‘I like the way you play, we’d like to have you in the band.’ This was Art Blakey. He invited Harold Clark, the tenor player, and myself to come down and play. Harold and I would say, ‘Well, yeah, maybe it would be a chance for us to go to New York.’ And Blakey, being like a quick talker, said, ‘Yeah, I’m doing managing for the band and I can get you in the band.’ So we went down to hear this concert they played in this concert house there (Kansas City). So Harold Clark said, ‘Man, that’s the saddest drummer in the whole world.’ Art Blakey was a terrible drummer at that time, he didn’t have no technique, he’d lose time (laughter), we had never heard him. We said, ‘No, man, not with that drummer, ’cause he’s terrible.’ So we forgot that.”

– Idrees Sulieman, Cadence, September 1979, p.4.

“Oh, Idrees is crazy. That’s the only reason I had the job, the only reason I had the job. I don’t think he heard me that much. What I was playing was kind of different from the drummer that his band was using, maybe he just couldn’t understand it. I just know that’s not true.”

– Art Blakey, Cadence, July 1981.

  • Little Rock, AR (c. June/July 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Army base, Tulsa, OK (c. June/July 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Peoria, IL (late June or July 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Tic Toc, Boston, MA (August 1?-14, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Baltimore, MD (late August 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Pittsburgh, PA (one night late August 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • tour to midwest and south (late August 1943)
  • Auditorium, Raleigh, NC (August 26, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Auditorium, Durham, NC (August 27, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Beach Park, Wrightsville, NC (August 28, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Auditorium, Savannah, GA (August 31, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Auditorium, Columbia, SC (September 2, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Fort Benning, GA (possibly about September 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • University of Texas, TX (possibly about September 1943) Fletcher Henderson dance
  • Indianapolis, IN (c. late September 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Madison, WI (September 22, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Battle Creek, WI (date illegible) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Freeport, IL (September 26, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Toledo, OH (c. late September/early October 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • tour into South Dakota, Texas, etc.
  • Lubbock, TX (October 5, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Fargo, ND (October 10, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Ann Arbor, MI (possibly early October 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • tour by train into Canada (Winnipeg, Manitoba; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Regina, Saskatchewan and places in Alberta; Fargo, ND; small place in Indiana (about October 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Stevens Point, WI (October 22, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Chicago, IL (October 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Milwaukee, WI (October 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Club Madrid, Louisville, KY (October 25-November 7, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • tour, one-nighters probably including Cleveland, OH (November 8-15, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • possibly Graystone Ballroom, Detroit, MI (November 15, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Indianapolis, IN (c. late November 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Southern tour (late November 1943)
  • Chattanooga, TN (late November 1943) Fletcher Henderson concert and dance
  • Birmingham, AL (late November 1943) Fletcher Henderson dance
  • Gadsden, AL (late November 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Tampa, FL (late November 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Lakeland, FL (late November 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • West Palm Beach, FL (late November 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Rockland Palace, Miami, FL (Sunday, November 28?, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Elks Club, Miami, FL (c. November 28, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Valdosta, GA (c. early December 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Albany, GA (December 3?, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Piedmont Club, Atlanta, GA (December 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Jewish Progressive Club, Atlanta, GA (December 1943 – around Chanukah) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Municipal Auditorium, Atlanta, GA (December 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • back to Chicago, IL
  • Jamaica Arena Ballroom, Jamaica, NY (December 18, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Tic Toc, Boston, MA (December 19, 1943-January 8, 1944) Fletcher Henderson gig
  • Turner’s Arena (also probably Howard Theater), Washington, DC (Sunday, January 9?, 1943) Fletcher Henderson gig

[According to Allen, Blakey and Marion Hazel left the band while in Washington, DC, which is in contradiction to Jazz Hot 1/59 which says that Blakey was in Georgia with the band when he was beaten by a policeman and spent several weeks in the hospital.]

[Jazz Hot 1/59 reports Blakey worked at the Tic Toc Ballroom in Boston for approximately a year with a group including: Marion Hazel-t; Leon Taylor-as; Walter Harris-tb; Freddie Speaker-p; Jimmy Schenck, Sr.-b. Clearly this could not have been anywhere near a year.]

Spring 1944: Marion Hazel-trumpet; Lucius Allen-sax; Walter Harris-tb;

  • Ken Club, Boston, MA (Spring 1944) Blakey small band [Allen]

“He was leading his own band in Boston in 1944, when a call came from Billy Eckstine that led to what Blakey calls the greatest musical experience of his life, three years with Eckstine’s big band.”

– Zan Stewart, Down Beat, July 1985, p.22.

“I lived in Boston during the war. Yeah, I had a band there. I had a big band up there. I got there and had a band, you know. Because there was nothing to do and there was a lot of musicians around there and they don’t know, they don’t know how to talk to people. Musicians are not good businessmen and I know – I’m not a good businessman either, but I can bullshit. I know how to talk and get something done. To get things organized, get it going. So that’s what happened and I stayed there, and that’s where I met Roy Haynes. And that’s the world’s most underrated drummer, that man. I met him, and Al Dawson, these kids, you know. And that’s what happened up there. And I joined B from there, and we went on the road from there.” – Art Blakey, Jazz Magazine, Winter 1979, pp.49-50.”So I went up to Boston. Then Art Blakey was in town, but everybody in Boston said, “Man, don’t let this cat sit in ’cause the tempo will start off (fast) and after you play a while it would (be slow). He was the only drummer I knew used to lose time. So anytime he would come in, cats would turn their heads a different way. So one day we were standing on the corner of Massachusetts and Columbus Avenues in Boston and Art came up and said, “Hey man, I got a chance to go with the Billy Eckstine band.” We said, “What!!?” We said, “How’s he going to take that job?” They say the first time was so terrible that Dizzy Gillespie said, “Look man, drummer downstairs gonna show you how to play drums,” and Dizzy took him down and showed him how to drop the bomb and what to do and they say from that night on he’s been like he is now. Dizzy Gillespie taught him how to play drums.

“I couldn’t believe it man, the band came through and I have never been so shocked in my life. He had the audience, he had the band, and I couldn’t believe he was the same drummer. Dizzy knew how to explain things so you learn it in one time. If Billy had asked me then to join the band I would have immediately because of Art Blakey, and when he was with Fletcher Henderson I wouldn’t take the job because he was so bad.”

– Idrees Sulieman, Cadence, September 1979, p.6.

Billy Eckstine

“But when I was in Boston, Billy (Eckstine) sent for me and I took my trombone player (Marion Hazel) and trumpeter (Walter Harris) and he hired both of them. Billy heard about me from musicians in the band.” [The two names have been reversed. Hazel played trumpet and Harris played trombone.]

– Art Blakey, Cadence, July 1981, p.10.

  • NYC (April 13, 1944) Billy Eckstine session (DeLuxe) [can Blakey be on this early date?]

[Allen says Blakey joined Eckstine in St. Louis, MO in mid 1944.]

  • Riviera Club, St. Louis, MO (2 weeks c. July 1944) Billy Eckstine gig [Miles p.7-8, Vail]
  • Regal Theater, Chicago, IL (opened August 18, 1944) [Allen]
  • NYC (September 5, 1944) Billy Eckstine session (Audio-Lab)
  • Club Bali, Washington, DC (2 weeks beginning October 20, 1944) [DeVeaux]
  • NYC (December 5, 1944) Billy Eckstine session (DeLuxe) [The King Labels]
  • Apollo Theater, NYC (one week beginning December 22, 1944) [DeVeaux]

1945

  • Club Plantation, Los Angeles, CA (February 1945) Billy Eckstine session (AFRS Jubilee broadcasts)
  • NYC (April 9, 1945) Billy Eckstine session (National)
  • NYC (May 2, 1945) Billy Eckstine session (National) [The Mercury Labels]
  • NYC (September 1945) Billy Eckstine session (National) [The Mercury Labels]
  • NYC (October 1945) Billy Eckstine session (National) [The Mercury Labels]

1946

  • NYC (January 3, 1946) Billy Eckstine session (National) [The Mercury Labels]
  • NYC (February 1946) Billy Eckstine session (National) [The Mercury Labels]
  • NYC (March 1946) Billy Eckstine session (National) [The Mercury Labels]
  • Lincoln Square Center, NYC (May 12, 1946) Re-bop Jam Session
  • NYC (c. June-July 1946) Billy Eckstine: Rhythm In A Riff (Vintage Jazz Classics Video VJC-2006)
  • Los Angeles, CA (c. late August or September 1946) Billy Eckstine gig [Miles p.94, Vail]
  • – Los Angeles, CA (October 5, 1946) Billy Eckstine session (National) [The Mercury Labels, Lohmann]
  • – Los Angeles, CA (October 6, 1946) Billy Eckstine session (National) [The Mercury Labels, Lohmann]
  • Radio Recorders Studio, Los Angeles, CA (October 18, 1946) Earl Coleman/Ann Hathaway session (Sunset) [Lohmann]
  • Chicago, IL (Fall-Winter 1946) Billy Eckstine gig [Miles p.95]
  • Detroit, MI (Fall-Winter 1946) Billy Eckstine gig [Miles p.96]
  • Cleveland, OH (Fall-Winter 1946) Billy Eckstine gig [Miles p.97]
  • Pittsburgh, PA (Fall-Winter 1946) Billy Eckstine gig [Miles p.97]
  • Rio Casino, Boston, MA (4 weeks beginning December 1, 1946) Billy Eckstine gig [Vail]
  • Grand Ballroom, Hunts Point Palace, Bronx, NY (December 25, 1946) Billy Eckstine gig [Vail]

“It [the Eckstine band] had a tremendous rhythm section: Art Blakey, Tommy Potter, and Richard Ellington on piano. It had excellent soloists, too, like Gene Ammons and Leo Parker. Those six months I was with Eckstine were a groove. Billy brought me in as trumpet soloist to replace Fats Navarro, who had replaced Diz. I was only 22, but already I was accepted on my merits. Billy was a great leader; he’d always let you go when you were having a great night.”

– Kenny Dorham, quoted by Gene Feehan in Down Beat, September 27, 1962, p.17

“On the way back to New York we went through Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and some other places, I forget now. When we got to Chicago, I went home to see my family and my new son for the first time. This was around Christmas, so I spent the holidays with my family. After that, the band stayed together through the first two months of 1947 before we broke up.”

– Miles Davis, Miles, p.97

1947

  • Apollo Theater, NYC (week beginning January 10, 1947) Billy Eckstine gig [Vail]
  • Smalls Paradise, NYC (April 1947) Leo Parker vs. Serge Chaloff gig [Vail]

Africa?

“He is particularly keen to play dates on the African continent, preferably in Nigeria and throughout West Africa, where he spent some time in 1947. ‘Of course, I’d get a tremendous kick out of taking the group to Africa,’ he said smilingly. ‘When I was there 10 years ago, I didn’t play at all. Kind of like to make up for that now.’”

– Art Blakey, quoted by John Tynan in Down Beat, October 17, 1957, p.15.

“I didn’t go to Africa to study drums – somebody wrote that – I went to Africa because there wasn’t anything else for me to do. I couldn’t get any gigs, and I had to work my way over on a boat. I went over there to study religion and philosophy. I didn’t bother with the drums, I wasn’t after that. I went over there to see what I could do about religion. When I was growing up I had no choice, I was just thrown into a church and told this is what I was going to be. I didn’t want to be their Christian. I didn’t like it. You could study politics in this country, but I didn’t have access to the religions of the world. That’s why I went to Africa. When I got back people got the idea I went there to learn about music.”

– Art Blakey, quoted by Herb Nolan in Down Beat, November 1979, p.20.

“In 1947, after the Eckstine band broke up, we — took a trip to Africa. I was supposed to stay there three months and I stayed two years because I wanted to live among the people and find out just how they lived and — about the drums especially. We were in the interior of Nigeria and I met some people called the Ishan people who are very, very interesting people. They live sort of primitive. The drum is the most important instrument there: anything that happens that day that is good, they play about it that night. This particular thing caught my ear of the different rhythms. The first movement is about a hunter who had went out — there was three of them. They were after one girl. She was a very pretty girl. They wanted her. And this particular one, he went out — the guys would tease him a lot because he was the shortest one in the — tribe. And he went out and he was the best hunter, so he ended up with the girl. And this time they started playing the drums and expressing to her that he had caught the most game and to prepare for the feast that night. And the second movement is a movement where there’s a little girl, she wanted to go out and play, and her mother didn’t want her to go out and play and it was an argument going on between the two and so the drummers would play. And the little brother comes up and he persuades the mother to let her go out. So that’s a big deed that day for the little boy who persuaded his mother, so they played about it. And the last part of it, I have a little bit of — American movements in there, the last bit of it is about the first time they had seen an automobile that day. And that’s the reason I put in some American movements on the drums. And — they played about it that day.”

– Art Blakey, transcription of “Art Blakey’s Comments On ‘Ritual’” from the 1957 Pacific Jazz album Ritual.

1947: Seventeen Messengers big band: Ray Copeland-t; Sahib Shihab (Edmund Gregory)-as; [unknown Brooklyn guy]-ts; Cecil Payne-bar; Haleen Rasheed (Howard Bowe)-tb; Thelonious Monk-p; Gary Mapp-b [from Gene Lees Interview of Sahib Shihab, Jazzletter, May 1985] [Both the instrumentation and personnel, however, sound like it would be the nine-piece group (with added congas) from around 1951. Further research needed.]

  • unrecorded

“That wasn’t my idea. The cats put the band together and they come and got me and said, well, you be the leader. It wasn’t my idea at all. But I loved it, and I’m trying to work towards that now.”

– Art Blakey, Jazz Magazine, Winter 1979, pp.45-46.

1947: Seventeen Messengers big band: Sonny Rollins, Sahib Shihab (Edmund Gregory)-as; Bud Powell-p; Ivan Rolle-b; Thelonious Monk-arr

  • unrecorded

1947: Seventeen Messengers big band: Sahib Shihab (Edmund Gregory)-as; Cecil Payne-bar; Bennie Harris-t; Kenny Drew-p;

  • unrecorded

[lasted only a few months, played gigs in NYC at Smalls’ Paradise]

“I worked with the Messengers, I think it was in the ’40s, we founded the Messengers, in fact it broke up because there was a vote in the band whether I would be the leader or Art Blakey. But Art said, ‘Well, if I’m not the leader I’m not going to play’ (laughter). It was a 17-piece band, Dizzy gave us a whole repertoire from his band, his whole book. And were copying like for weeks at night ten or fifteen of his best arrangements. We rehearsed for a whole month from nine in the morning to like six (PM). We made our appearance at Smalls’ Paradise. Dizzy came up and sat in, said, “This is the band I should have had.”

– Idrees Sulieman, Cadence, September 1979, p.6.

“The Jazz Messengers really started in 1949, but then it was called the 17 Messengers. The cats that put the band together came to me and told me I was going to be the leader. Being a musician has nothing to do with being a leader; I was a good organizer. That’s always been my talent. The 17 Messengers was a good band; there were a lot of great players in it like Sonny Rollins and Bud Powell. We were just playing around New York – making a few gigs – but economically the band was a disaster, so we had to break it up.”

– Art Blakey, quoted by Herb Nolan in Down Beat, November 1979, p.21.

“We had the 17 Messengers and most of the guys were Muslims, this was between ’47 and ’50. Guys started rehearsing, and the guy doing most of the writing was Kenny Dorham. But at that time big bands were going out, not coming in. It was a financial disaster. I was leading the band and I couldn’t carry the weight like that. I had four children and a wife and I couldn’t be bothered with that – so the band broke up.”

– Art Blakey, Cadence, July 1981, pp.10-11.

“The Jazz Messengers was originally formed as a 17 piece big band in 1947, however it was not until 1953 that the more popular quintet and sextet editions were formed, with Art Blakey and Horace Silver as co-leaders.”

– James Williams, Down Beat, November 1979, p.89.

  • – NYC (1947) Ida James session (Manor)
  • Lincoln Square Ballroom, NYC (latter 1947) All Star concert [Miles p.105]
  • – WOR Studios, NYC (October 15, 1947) Thelonious Monk Sextet session (Blue Note)
  • – WOR Studios, NYC (October 24, 1947) Thelonious Monk Trio session (Blue Note)
  • – WOR Studios, NYC (November 21, 1947) Thelonious Monk Quintet session (Blue Note)
  • – NYC (December 5, 1947) Fats Navarro session (Savoy)
  • – NYC (December 11, 1947) Dexter Gordon session (Savoy)

December 22, 1947: Abdul Hamid (Kenny Dorham)-t; Sahib Shihab (Edmund Gregory)-as; Musa Kaleem (Orlando Wright)-ts; Ernie Thompson-bar; Haleen Rasheed (Howard Bowe)-tb; Ibrahim Ibn Ismail (Walter Bishop, Jr.)-p; Laverne Barker-b

  • – WOR Studios, NYC (December 22, 1947) New Sounds (Blue Note)

1948

January 25, 1948: Bennie Harris-t; Thelonious Monk-p [others unknown]

  • – Club 845, NYC (January 25, 1948) [unrecorded] [NY Amsterdam News 1/24/48]

“Art Blakely [sic] and his Messengers were advertised as part of ‘Ray Pino Proudly Presents Variation in Modern Music, Sunday, Jan. 25, 1948 3 to 9 PM at Club “845” 160th St. and Prospect Ave., Bronx, NY.’”

NY Amsterdam News, January 24, 1948.

February 16, 1948: Idrees Sulieman-t; Thelonious Monk-p; Curley Russell-b

  • – Festival of American Music WNYC Broadcast (Chazzer 2002)

c. March 1948: Sahib Shihab-as; Thelonious Monk-p; Al McKibbon-b

  • – Minton’s Playhouse, NYC (c. March 1948) [NY Amsterdam News, March 6, 1948, p.25]

[Peter Keepnews supplied personnel as the article only says “Thelonious Monk and his Blue Note recording artists” – this seems related to the following entry.]

c. 1948: Sahib Shihab-as; Walter Bishop, Jr.-p; unknown-b (perhaps Charles “Sonny” Wellesley)

  • – Minton’s Playhouse, NYC (c. 1948) [unrecorded]

“My first gig was with Art and I stayed about 12 or 14 weeks. At that time, Monday was a big night at Minton’s. Blakey had a quartet with Sahib Shihab on alto. I really kind of got it together in that group.”

– Walter Bishop, Jr., Down Beat, March 24, 1977, p.17.

– [Ahmed Abdul-Malik also claims to have played with Blakey in 1948 (as well as in 1945) in his Encyclopedia of Jazz questionnaire.]

[The Minton’s quartet gig is reported as lasting eight months in Jazz Hot 1/59.]

  • Audubon Ballroom, NYC (September 3, 1948) opposite Thelonious Monk and Macbeth the Great
  • Royal Roost, NYC (October 10, 1948) Symphony Sid’s Bop Concert
  • – Apex Studios, NYC (October 25, 1948) James Moody session (Blue Note)

1949

  • Audubon Ballroom, NYC (January 1949) Bud Powell dance [Fujioka, New Grove p.888]
  • – NYC (February 15, 1949) Lucky Millinder session (Victor)
  • – (Spring 1949) Tour with Lucky Millinder big band [Jazz Hot 1/59]
  • – NYC (April 8, 1949) Big John Greer session (Victor)
  • – NYC (June 27, 1949) Big John Greer session (Victor)
  • – NYC (July 11, 1949) Gil Fuller session (Savoy)

1950

  • NYC (February 1950) Dick Hyman session
  • Birdland, NYC (February 9, 1950) Miles Davis-Stan Getz gig [Vail] [Max Roach is on 2/10/50 broadcast of this band]
  • NYC (February 10, 1950) Sonny Stitt WNYC broadcast (Ozone)
  • – NYC (February 17, 1950) Sonny Stitt session (Prestige)
  • – WNYC Studios, NYC (February 18, 1950) Miles Davis broadcast [Lohmann]
  • – NYC (February 18, 1950) Gene Ammons/Sonny Stitt/Dick Hyman WNYC broadcast (Ozone)
  • – NYC (April 25, 1950) Gene Ammons session (Prestige)
  • Café Society, NYC (May 8, 1950) broadcast (MGM) [The MGM Labels]
  • Birdland, NYC (May 1950) Birdland Dream Band [-DG]
  • Café Society, NYC (May 15, 1950) broadcast (MGM) [The MGM Labels]
  • Birdland, NYC (May 17, 1950) Miles Davis Sextet broadcast [Vail, BR]
  • Birdland, NYC (May 17, 1950) Charlie Parker broadcast [Vail]
  • Birdland, NYC (May 18, 1950) Miles Davis Sextet broadcast [Vail]
  • Birdland, NYC (May 20, 1950) Miles Davis Sextet broadcast [Vail]
  • Birdland, NYC (May 20, 1950) Charlie Parker broadcast
  • Birdland, NYC (May 21, 1950) Miles Davis Sextet broadcast [Vail]
  • Birdland, NYC (May 21, 1950) Charlie Parker broadcast
  • Café Society, NYC (May 29, 1950) broadcast (MGM) [The MGM Labels] [?]
  • Birdland, NYC (May 29, 1950) Miles Davis Sextet broadcast [Vail] [?]
  • Birdland, NYC (May 30, 1950) Miles Davis Sextet broadcast [Vail]
  • Birdland, NYC (June 30, 1950) Miles Davis Sextet broadcast [Lohmann, Vail] [possibly earlier – May 1950]
  • – Frolics, Salisbury Beach, MA (July 30, 1950) Billy Eckstine small group gig [Vail]
  • – Chicago Theater, Chicago, IL (August 11-24, 1950) Billy Eckstine small group gig [Vail]
  • – NYC (August 25, 1950) Coleman Hawkins session (Roost)
  • – Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA (September 15, 1950) Billy Eckstine small group gig [Vail]

[Blakey and Miles Davis were arrested for possession of heroin at the LA airport on their way to San Francisco for another Eckstine gig. – Vail p.35]

[The Eckstine sextet is listed as: Miles Davis-t; Budd Johnson-ts; Bobby Tucker-p; Tommy Potter-b – Jazz Hot 1/59]

  • – NYC (December, 1950) Charlie Parker WJZ broadcast (Royal Jazz)
  • – NYC (December 15, 1950) Sonny Stitt session (Prestige)
  • Birdland, NYC (January 3, 1951) Dizzy Gillespie broadcast
  • – Birdland, NYC (January 6, 1951) Dizzy Gillespie broadcast (Oberon)
  • – Birdland, NYC (January 13, 1951) Dizzy Gillespie broadcast (Oberon)
  • – Birdland, NYC (January 20, 1951) Dizzy Gillespie broadcast (Oberon)
  • – NYC (January 31, 1951) Gene Ammons session (Prestige)
  • Birdland, NYC (January 31, 1951) Dizzy Gillespie broadcast
  • – Birdland, NYC (February 3, 1951) Dizzy Gillespie broadcast (Oberon)
  • – NYC (February 10, 1951) Coleman Hawkins session (Phoenix)
  • – NYC (February 1951) Terry Gibbs session (Triumph)
  • Birdland, NYC (February 15-21, 1951) Miles Davis All Stars gig (broadcast exists from 2/17/51) [Vail, Lohmann]
  • – Linden, NJ (February 26, 1951) Lee Richardson session (DeLuxe) [The King Labels]
  • – Birdland, NYC (April 14, 1951) Dizzy Gillespie broadcast
  • – NYC (April 16, 1951) Dizzy Gillespie session (Dee Gee)
  • – Birdland, NYC (April 21, 1951) Dizzy Gillespie broadcast
  • – NYC (May 10, 1951) Martha Davis session (Coral)
  • – NYC (May 10, 1951) Budd Johnson session (La Belle Creole?)
  • – NYC (May 24, 1951) Illinois Jacquet session (Verve)
  • – Birdland, NYC (May 31-June 13, 1951) Miles Davis Sextet gig (broadcast exists from 6/2/51) [Vail, Lohmann, BR]
  • – NYC (June 27, 1951) Bennie Green session (Jubilee)
  • – NYC (June 27, 1951) Edna McGriff session (Jubilee)
  • NYC (July 7, 1951) Slim Gaillard session (Hep)

“At that time, Art had a band consisting of about nine pieces, I believe it was. Let’s see, he had trumpet, trombone, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax, piano, bass, drums, and congas. Right. And it was kind of a dance band. Like, you know, playing around Harlem and in the Bronx and all over Manhattan for different dance functions, you know, club affairs and things like that. And anyway, Bo McCain was working with that band. They weren’t working very regular, but he was working with them. But he also played this weekend job out in Carteret, New Jersey, that I worked on. And Art’s piano player at that time was goofin’ off and wasn’t making the rehearsals, or wasn’t showing up sometime for the gigs, something where he’d be late or something, and they wanted a new piano player. So Bo recommended me and he brought me to a rehearsal one day, and I, you know, sat down, and I was able to read the music okay. I read music pretty good and they hired me, you know, for the gig. That’s how I got that gig, that’s how I first met Art Blakey and started working with him, with that nine-piece band. And, as I said before, that didn’t last very long because we could only get maybe one night a week at a dance gig or something, you know.”

– Horace Silver, Talking Jazz: An Oral History, November 1985.

  • NYC (July 20, 1951) Gladys Bruce session (Coral)
  • S.S. Alexander Hamilton, NYC (July 21, 1951)
  • – WOR Studios, NYC (July 23, 1951) Thelonious Monk Quintet session (Blue Note)
  • Hasidic wedding (no date) with Red Rodney, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk [JT 12/84 p.9]
  • NYC (August 14, 1951) Zoot Sims session (Prestige)
  • – Birdland, NYC (September 20-October 3, 1951) Miles Davis All Stars gig (broadcast exists from 9/29/51) [Vail, Lohmann]
  • – Apex Studios, NYC (October 5, 1951) Miles Davis session (Prestige)
  • – NYC (October 5, 1951) Bennie Green session (Prestige)
  • Apex Studios, NYC (December 17, 1951) Sonny Rollins session (Prestige)
  • Audubon Ballroom, NYC (1952) Miles Davis gig [Fujioka]

“Earl Hines had me so tight when I was in his combo. He bought us all bathrobes and pajamas and he’d send in flowers every morning to put in your bathrobe lapel – ‘You never know when the press is coming.’ (laughter). […] He went out with a combo; he had Etta Jones, Harold Clark, Bennie Green, Jonah Jones and myself and I think Tommy Potter. Osie Johnson came in and took my place. Oh, Gate was so mad, he wanted to beat me up. We had a good thing going, but I had to get out of there, it wasn’t my thing. I wanted to get myself together so I went and joined Buddy DeFranco.”

– Art Blakey, Cadence, July 1981.

  • – Blue Note, Chicago, IL (February 1952) Earl Hines gig [db 2/22/52]
  • – Oasis, Hollywood, CA (1952) Earl Hines gig [db 6/18/52] [uncertain if Blakey is on this]

“Well, he [Buddy DeFranco] had a hell of a rhythm section. He had Curley Russell and Gene Wright and Kenny Drew and myself. We had a ball back there, we didn’t care what he did, just set fire to it. But he was a fine person, something else. He turned down a lot of opportunities because of us. Everything wasn’t roses back then. They’d expect Buddy DeFranco to come in with an all White band. He’d show up with us and some places we’d come in the Midwest, Idaho, we get our reservations and come in to check in and we say, ‘What do you mean there’s no room, we have reservations.’ They’d say, ‘Naw, we got a football game today, your rooms are all gone.’ Buddy would say, ‘What! Football in August?’ (laughter). He’d come in and raise hell; he’s a hell of a man.”

– Art Blakey, Cadence, July 1981.

  • – Radio Recorders, LA (June 30, 1952) Buddy DeFranco session (MGM) [The MGM Labels]
  • – Radio Recorders, LA (July 23, 1952) Buddy DeFranco session (MGM) [The MGM Labels]
  • – Birdland, NYC (September 6, 1952) Coleman Hawkins broadcast (Spotlite)
  • – NYC (September 8, 1952) Zoot Sims session (Prestige)
  • – Birdland, NYC (September 13, 1952) Coleman Hawkins broadcast (Spotlite)
  • – WMGM Studio A, NYC (October 2, 1952) Buddy DeFranco session (MGM) [The MGM Labels]
  • – WOR Studios, NYC (October 9, 1952) Horace Silver Trio session (Blue Note)
  • – NYC (October 9, 1952) Annie Ross session (Prestige)
  • – NYC (October 15, 1952) Thelonious Monk session (Prestige)
  • – WOR Studios, NYC (October 20, 1952) Horace Silver Trio session (Blue Note)
  • WOR Studios, NYC (November 19, 1952) Lou Donaldson Quintet session (Blue Note)

[possible this may be Art Taylor not Blakey]

  • – Birdland, NYC (November 29, 1952) Buddy DeFranco broadcast (BR)
  • – NYC (December 12, 1952) Morris Lane session (Scooter)
  • – Blue Note, Chicago, IL (starting January 2, 1953) Buddy DeFranco gig [db 1/28/53 p.3]
  • – Colonial, Toronto, Canada (early 1953) Buddy DeFranco gig [db 3/25/53 p.21]
  • – NYC (February 16, 1953) Buddy DeFranco MGM broadcast (private recording) [-BR]
  • – NYC (February 23, 1953) Buddy DeFranco MGM broadcast (private recording) [-BR]
  • – Hi-Hat, Boston, MA (February 29-March 9, 1953) Buddy DeFranco gig [db 3/25/53 p.3, db 4/8/53 p.3]
  • – WMGM Studio A, NYC (April 7, 1953) Buddy DeFranco session (MGM) [The MGM Labels]
  • – NYC (April 15, 1953) Buddy DeFranco session (Verve) [The Verve Labels]
  • – WOR Studios, NYC (April 16, 1953) Kenny Drew Trio session (Blue Note)
  • – NYC (April 20, 1953) Buddy DeFranco session (Verve) [The Verve Labels]
  • – WOR Studios, NYC (April 20, 1953) Miles Davis All Stars session (Blue Note)
  • – Blue Note, Chicago, IL (2 weeks beginning April 24, 1953) Buddy DeFranco gig [db 5/6/53 p.3]
  • – Blue Note, Chicago, IL (May 1, 1953) Buddy DeFranco broadcast (Jazz Band) [Kuehn & Astrup]

– [db 5/20/53 p.1 mentions possible European tour for the DeFranco Quartet scheduled to start on 6/5/53. This did not occur.]

  • – Clef Club, Hollywood, CA (June 1-July 20, 1953) Buddy DeFranco gig [db 7/1/53 p.3, db 7/15/53 p.15, db 7/29/53 p.3]
  • – Los Angeles, CA (June 5, 1953) Buddy DeFranco session (GNP) [Kuehn & Astrup]
  • Down Beat Club?, San Francisco, CA (2 weeks in July 1953) [db 9/23/53 p.3] [?]
  • Honolulu, HA (July 1953) [db 8/12/53 p.3] [?]
  • – Audio Video Studios, NYC (August 28, 1953) Clifford Brown Sextet session (Blue Note)

“Before the Jazz Messengers, Art Blakey had a little nine-piece band: alto, tenor, baritone, trumpet, trombone and four rhythm, including conga drum. We didn’t get much work – just a few dances around New York – but it was a good band. I wrote a few things for that group; a couple didn’t come out too well, and a couple of them came out pretty good.”

– Horace Silver quoted by Bill Kirchner in Radio Free Jazz, October 1976, p.4.

“We’re trying to build up a group that has that good old jazz feeling. We want to blow and have a ball and make mistakes, if necessary, but have that good feeling that used to be in jazz. Remember Davey Tough? That’s what I mean.”

– Art Blakey, quoted by Nat Hentoff in Down Beat, December 16, 1953, p.17.

  • October 31, 1953: Kenny Dorham-t; Lou Donaldson-as; Horace Silver-p; Gene Ramey-b
  • – Birdland, NYC (October 31, 1953) Hooray For Art Blakey (Session 110); Kenny Dorham 1953, 1956, 1964 featuring Art Blakey, et al (Royal Jazz 515)
  • – Birdland, NYC (one week opposite MJQ) [db 12/16/53 p.17] [same as 10/31/53]
  • – French Quarter, NYC [db 12/16/53 p.17]
  • – WOR Studios, NYC (November 23, 1953) Horace Silver Trio session (Blue Note)
  • – Rendezvous, Philadelphia, PA (one week) [db 12/16/53 p.17]
  • – Long Island, NY (one niters) [db 12/16/53 p.17]
  • – NYC (November 30, 1953) Paul Bley session (Debut)
  • – Boston, MA (one niters) [db 12/16/53 p.17]
  • – Nob Hill, Chicago, IL (3 weeks) [db 12/16/53 p.17]

“When I saw Clifford Brown, I said, ‘Well, Jesus, I need a trumpet player,’ so Charlie Parker said, ‘When you get to Philadelphia and play in the Blue Note on Ridge Avenue, your trumpet player will be there.’ I said, ‘Who was it?’ He said, ‘Don’t worry about that, you just …uh…and he will be.’ And we get there and in the dressing room somebody’s back there blowing. This guy had a stocking cap on, suspenders, and blowing his horn, warming up. He sounds beautiful. So Ike Quebec was with me at the time. He said, ‘Man, why don’t you tell me you’re getting a farmer to play trumpet.’ (laughter) I say, ‘Well, I don’t know, Bird tells me…’ He said, ‘Man, Jesus Christ, man, plus he ain’t nothin’ but a kid.’ And he (Clifford Brown) had a very high voice and was very sweet. So I said, ‘Well, come on, we’re going to hit.’ He (Brown) came out and played the first chorus of it and after he played the first chorus, Ike turned around and cussed me out, ‘Dirty so-and-so, how come you didn’t tell me the kid could play like that?’ (laughter) That’s what happened. He upset everybody. You don’t know where they’re coming from.”

– Art Blakey, Cadence, July 1981, pp.8-9.

“That’s how I met Clifford Brown. I told Bird I’m going to Philadelphia, and I’ve got to have a trumpet player. He said ‘I got a trumpet player for you, you go to the gig and he’ll be there. He lives down in Wilmington.’ I trusted Bird. I went to Philly and there was Clifford in the dressing room. I’d never seen him before or heard anything about him in my life. He sure surprised the hell out of me.”

– Art Blakey, quoted by Herb Nolan in Down Beat, November 1979, p.21.

“Charlie Parker hired Clifford Brown. He just told me that this was my new trumpet player, and he told Clifford he wanted him to work with me. When I got to Philadelphia, Clifford was in the dressing room waiting for me. That’s the way Bird did everything, that’s how much respect he commanded from everybody. Clifford played with me about a year. He’d gotten so damn popular so damn fast that after we made an appearance at Birdland, that was it: he went out on his own with Max Roach. But I sure had a ball while he was there.”

– Art Blakey, Down Beat March 25, 1976, p.15.

February 21, 1954: Clifford Brown-t; Lou Donaldson-as; Horace Silver-p; Curly Russell-b [definitely all from one night according to Michael Cuscuna]

  • – Birdland, NYC (February 21, 1954) A Night in Birdland vol. 1 (Blue Note 1521); A Night in Birdland vol. 2 (Blue Note 1522)

“A couple of years later I went into Birdland with Clifford Brown, Horace Silver, Curly Russell and Lou Donaldson for a few weeks. We made some live, unrehearsed records and they did pretty well. After that it was Horace who decided we should organize a group. He said, ‘We’ll call it the Jazz Messengers.’ So it was Horace who really put the name on it, and it stuck.”

– Art Blakey, quoted by Herb Nolan in Down Beat, November 1979, p.21.

“I remember when I first met him. I used to call him ‘The Connecticut Yankee.’ We met at Birdland when he was with Stan Getz. I had broken up the 17 Messengers and when we formed the group with Horace, Hank Mobley, and Kenny Dorham, he said let’s call it the Jazz Messengers. It started out as a corporation. That didn’t work out too good. So we just went on with it. We just carried on and tried to get other musicians to play jazz and build names and get them out there because we need more groups out there to hold the joints open, the jazz joints throughout the United States. I wasn’t too successful at doing that but at least we tried and I had a ball doing it.”

– Art Blakey, Radio Free Jazz, March 1977, pp.17-18.

“The group before with Horace, Lou Donaldson and Clifford Brown was a very, very happy group. I never will forget that one. And the records still sound fresh today.”

– Art Blakey, Radio Free Jazz, March 1977, pp.17-18.

“It was just one of those times and it was the right combination, it was a good spirit and the guys really loved each other.”

– Art Blakey, Cadence, July 1981, p.9.

[Clifford Brown joined Max Roach in March 1954 – db 10/12/61 p.19]

  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (March 6, 1954) Miles Davis Quartet session (Blue Note) [Clifford Brown attended this session – Vail, p.57]
  • – Beltone Studios, NYC (March 15, 1954) Miles Davis Quartet session (Prestige)
  • – NYC (March 24, 1954) Art Blakey Quartet session (EmArcy)

1954: Joe Gordon-t; Gigi Gryce-as; Freddie Redd-p; Bernie Griggs-b; Sabu Martinez-cga

  • unrecorded

“After that I met Art Blakey and he asked me would I come with the group. This was the first Messengers, with Gigi Gryce, Joe Gordon, Bernard Griggs, and Sabu on conga. People seem to like the conga a lot now – I guess it stirs those innermost feelings! Purely from a musician’s point of view, it was really something, because Sabu’s a great player. What with Art and Sabu, that was a lot of drums! It was a great experience working with Art because he always maintained a certain level – he never stopped swinging.”

– Freddie Redd, quoted by Valerie Wilmer in Jazz Journal, April 1961, p.4.

  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (May 9, 1954) Elmo Hope Quintet session (Blue Note)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (May 11, 1954) Thelonious Monk session (Prestige)

May 20, 1954: Joe Gordon-t; Gigi Gryce-as; Walter Bishop, Jr.-p; Bernie Griggs-b (unidentified conga probably Sabu Martinez)

  • – Fine Recording Studios, NYC (May 20, 1954) “Blakey” (EmArcy 26030)
  • – Club Tijuana, Baltimore, MD (week? beginning June 29, 1954) [Vail, p.62] [lineup unknown]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (August 18, 1954) Sonny Rollins Quintet session (Prestige)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (August 22, 1954) Lou Donaldson Sextet session (Blue Note)
  • – Mercury Sound Studio, NYC (September 3, 1954) Joe Gordon Quintet session (EmArcy)
  • – Mercury Sound Studio, NYC (September 8, 1954) Joe Gordon Quintet session (EmArcy)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (September 22, 1954) Thelonious Monk session (Prestige)

“Late in 1954 a quartet under the leadership of Horace Silver was playing at Minton’s Playhouse. As a result of earlier successes on the Blue Note label, Horace’s star was in the ascendancy and Alfred Lion was anxious to record more of his brilliant hard driving piano. It was decided that this date would present Horace as a combo leader for the first time. He responded by getting Kenny Dorham and Art Blakey to join himself and two of the members of his Minton’s quartet, Hank Mobley and Doug Watkins. Thus the Messengers were born, or reborn.”

– Ira Gitler, notes to Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers.

– “After leaving Gillespie in September 1954, Mobley joined pianist Horace Silver’s quartet at Minton’s Playhouse, a group completed by bassist Doug Watkins and drummer Arthur Edgehill. ‘On weekends Art Blakey and Kenny Dorham would come to jam, ’cause they were right around the corner,’ Mobley recalled to Litweiler.”

Bob Blumenthal, notes to Mosaic Hank Mobley set.

“So Horace Silver got Hank Mobley and Kenny Dorham and Doug Watkins and myself and said, ‘Art, you should be the leader since you have more experience than the rest of the guys and we’d like to have you up here with us.’ And I said, ‘Well, what should we call the band?’ He said, ‘We can’t call it 17 Messengers, so we’ll call it Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.’ And that’s the way the band started and this is what Horace named it and it’s stuck ever since. We didn’t expect the band to go world wide and make a lot of money, we were just trying to make some gigs and play, because we were tired of goin’ on gigs and jamming with a pick-up band, play the same old tunes. People got tired of that shit and I could see they were getting tired and I don’t like chaos anyhow. I like freedom, but without discipline, it’s chaos. So we wrote arrangements, got sharp – got some suits, started paying attention to the audience and put it together.”

– Art Blakey, Cadence, July 1981, p.11.

November 13, 1954: Kenny Dorham-t; Hank Mobley-ts; Horace Silver-p; Doug Watkins-b

  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (November 13, 1954) Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (Blue Note 1518)

1955

  • – Fine Recording Studio, NYC (January 3, 1955) Clark Terry session (EmArcy)
  • – Fine Recording Studio, NYC (January 4, 1955) Clark Terry session (EmArcy)
  • – Fine Recording Studio, NYC (January 11, 1955) Bud Powell Trio session (Verve)
  • – Fine Recording Studio, NYC (January 12, 1955) Bud Powell Trio session (Verve)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (January 25, 1955) Randy Weston Trio session (Riverside)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (January 30, 1955) Kenny Dorham Sextet session (Blue Note)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (February 6, 1955) Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (Blue Note 1518)
  • – NYC (February 25, 1955) Quincy Jones session (Columbia)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (March 20, 1955) Julius Watkins Sextet session (Blue Note)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (March 27, 1955) Hank Mobley Quartet session (Blue Note)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (March 29, 1955) Kenny Dorham Octet session (Blue Note)
  • – Carnegie Hall, NYC (April 2, 1955 – actually midnight April 3, 1955) Charlie Parker memorial concert [Reisner: Bird p.237]
  • – Open Door Café, NYC (April 1955) [from photo caption – no source]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (May 6, 1955) Herbie Nichols Trio session (Blue Note)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (May 13, 1955) Herbie Nichols Trio session (Blue Note)
  • – Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh, PA (1955) [db Music ’70 p.33]
  • – Rouge Lounge, Detroit, MI (July 1955) [db 9/7/55 p.12] [“appearing here for the first time in 12 years” – looks like 11 years, though]
  • – Baltimore, MD (Summer 1955) [db 9/7/55 p.12]
  • – Washington, DC (Summer 1955) [db 9/7/55 p.12]
  • – Cleveland, OH (Summer 1955) [db 9/7/55 p.12]
  • – Chicago, IL (Summer 1955) [db 9/7/55 p.12]
  • – Las Vegas, NV (Summer 1955) [db 9/7/55 p.12]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (October 10, 1955) Duke Jordan Trio session (Signal)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (October 15, 1955) Gigi Gryce Quartet session (Signal)
  • – Jazz for Israel benefit concert, Carnegie Hall, NYC (October 15, 1955) [unrecorded] [Vail, Porter: John Coltrane, p.353]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (October 22, 1955) Gigi Gryce Orchestra session (Signal)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (November 20, 1955) Duke Jordan Quintet session (Signal)
  • – Café Bohemia, NYC (November 23, 1955) At the Café Bohemia vol. 1 (Blue Note 1507); At the Café Bohemia vol. 2 (Blue Note 1508)
  • – Cambridge, MA (December 2, 1955) Donald Byrd session (Transition)

[In his Encyclopedia of Jazz questionnaire, Donald Byrd indicates he joined the band in December 1955 after working with George Wallington from August to October of that year.]

“My second encounter with him [Horace Silver] was just before I joined the Messengers. Between Horace and Doug Watkins recommending me, I got to join Blakey and the Messengers. I was staying at that same hotel by then and I knew all of Horace’s music, he used to show it to me. We were together in the Messengers about a year, and I used to work off and on with him when he first got his own band together, filling in for Art Farmer. I recorded with him, because Art was under contract elsewhere, so I wound up making “Señor Blues” and “Virgo” and all those things, in 1956.”

– Donald Byrd, Radio Free Jazz, March 1977, p.13

  • – NYC, The Tonight Show TV (December 1955) Bud Powell Trio (Royal Jazz)

March 6, 1956: Donald Byrd (t), Hank Mobley (ts), Horace Silver (p), Doug Watkins (b)

  • – NYC, The Tonight Show TV (March 6, 1956) (private recording) [-TN, DM] [date could be March 15, 1956]
  • – Audio-Video Studios, NYC (March 12, 1956) Kenny Burrell session (Blue Note) [Is Blakey or Shadow Wilson on this?]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (March 17, 1956) Thelonious Monk Trio session (Riverside)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (April 3, 1956) Thelonious Monk Trio session (Riverside)
  • – NYC (April 6, 1956) The Jazz Messengers (CBS 897)
  • Loop Lounge, Cleveland, OH (start April 9, 1956) [C&P 4/7/56 p.7C]
  • Stage Lounge, Chicago, IL (start April 21, 1956) [Def 4/21/56 p.14]
  • – Red Hill Inn, Pennsauken, NJ (“recent weekend date”) [Metronome 6/56 p.17]
  • – Washington, DC (Spring 1956) [photo in RFJ 3/77 p.22]
  • – NYC (May 3, 1956) The Cool Voice of Rita Reys (Philips 8006)
  • – NYC (May 4, 1956) The Jazz Messengers (CBS 897); Originally (CBS 38036)

– [lasted until May 1956. Broke up due to drug problems in the group. Horace Silver’s quintet debuted at the Blue Note, Philadelphia in August 1956.]

“Horace went out on his own and didn’t look back and I’m very proud of him, because he was in the band and he was very shy when he came in and I told him besides playing you’ve got to write. So he started writing and his writing was good. He kept it up and he was going. He was very quiet and very nice to me. One night on TV – I don’t know where he was – he said, ‘I really thank God for Art Blakey because he really got on me and helped me to go on and start writing.’ And that made me feel so good. I’ve never forgotten it. And we’ve been tight ever since. We’ve been very good friends. His music is beautiful. He learned how to voice very well. He learned how to utilize two horns to the fullest extent. That’s one thing I learned from him. Instead of hearing a whole lot of horns he’d take two horns and get just as much out of two as you can get out of three in most cases. He would utilize every thing. He just turned out to be a hell of an arranger. The more he did it, the better he got. He has some very, very beautiful things like “Nica’s Dream.” I had a ball playing with him in the rhythm section. We seem to fit together. When he got his own groups he wanted all his drummers to play in the same style as I was trying to play. We always got along musically as well as spiritually and otherwise.”

– Art Blakey, Radio Free Jazz, March 1977, pp.17-18.

“It first started out being a cooperative thing, but it didn’t work because it wasn’t equal. I had the weight and it had to go my way and Horace went on his own and that’s when we began to bring different cats in. I just kept goin’ with it. Well, somebody got to stay here and keep the store and it’s been continuing ever since.”

– Art Blakey, Cadence, July 1981, p.11.

  • – The Pad, NYC (at least June 1, 1956) [Metronome 7/56 p.6]
  • – NYC (June 18, 1956) Metronome All Stars session (Clef)

– June 25, 1956: Donald Byrd (t), Ira Sullivan (ts, t), Kenny Drew (p), Wilbur Ware (b)

[lasted 2 months]

  • – NYC (June 25, 1956) Originally (CBS 38036); The Cool Voice of Rita Reys (Philips 8006)

“Ira [Sullivan] didn’t get to New York until the summer of 1956 when Art Blakey hired him for the tenor chair with the Jazz Messengers. He was the first white musician to work with the group. This was the edition of the Messengers that included Donald Byrd, Wilbur Ware, and Kenny Drew. But Ira wasn’t happy just playing tenor; he wanted to play trumpet. He says he feels his taking the Blakey job on tenor was ‘the biggest mistake of my life.’ He explains, ‘I was still under Sonny Stitt’s influence at the time. I couldn’t pick up my tenor without thinking of him. I had little originality, and I didn’t want to be exposed to the public as a tenor man. I wanted to play my trumpet.’ ‘I don’t think Art ever thought of me as a trumpet player,’ he continued. ‘Nobody did except Bird.’ After a month and a half, Ira and the Jazz Messengers parted company. He stayed around New York and recorded with J.R. Monterose for Blue Note and Billy Taylor for ABC-Paramount.”

– Down Beat, September 15, 1960, p.19

[Ira Gitler says that Byrd joined Max Roach’s group in July 1956. (notes to Pairing Off, Prestige 7046)]

[Lee Morgan was a member alongside Spanky DeBrest for 2 weeks in the summer of 1956. (EoJ)]

  • – Preview’s Modern Jazz Room, Chicago, IL (late summer or early fall 1956?) [Metronome 1/56 p.8]
  • – Chicago, IL (September 17, 1956) Stan Getz TV broadcast (Moon)

October 30, 1956: Bill Hardman (t), Jackie McLean (as), Sam Dockery (p), Spanky DeBrest (b)

  • – Stars Of Jazz TV Show Sessions Live
  • – Peacock Alley, St. Louis, MO (5 nights in mid November 1956) [Metronome 2/57 p.26]
  • – NYC (December 12-13, 1956) Hard Bop (CBS 1040); Drum Suite (CBS 1002)
  • – Capitol Studios, NYC (January 7, 1957) Milt Jackson session (Atlantic)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (January 13, 1957) Hank Mobley All Stars session (Blue Note)
  • – NYC (January 14, 1957) Ritual (Pacific Jazz 402)
  • – Café Bohemia, NYC (January 29, 1957) [unrecorded] [Grove Dictionary of Jazz p.63 has this photo as 1/29/56, but that is clearly wrong]
  • – NYC (February 11, 1957) Ritual (Pacific Jazz 402)
  • – Manhattan Towers, NYC (February 11, 1957) Jimmy Smith session (Blue Note)
  • – Manhattan Towers, NYC (February 12, 1957) Jimmy Smith session (Blue Note)
  • – Manhattan Towers, NYC (February 13, 1957) Jimmy Smith session (Blue Note)
  • – NYC (February 22, 1957) Art Blakey: Drum Suite session (Columbia)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (March 3, 1957) Clifford Jordan/John Gilmore session (Blue Note)
  • – Manhattan Towers, NYC (March 7, 1957) Art Blakey: Orgy In Rhythm session (Blue Note)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (March 8, 1957) Hank Mobley Quintet session (Blue Note)
  • – Carl Fischer Concert Hall, NYC (March 8-9, 1957) Midnight Session (Elektra 120)
  • – Webster Hall, NYC (March 13, 1957) My Fair Lady (Vik 1103)
  • – Minneapolis, MN (Spring 1957) Tough! (Cadet 4049)

“I went with Art Blakey, the Daddy, when I left Mingus. I worked with Art for nearly three years and traveled all over the States. He is the greatest bandleader I’ve ever worked with, as a leader, you know. He’s strong, tender-hearted, firm and quite intelligent. He sets a pace as far as swinging goes, and very few can keep up with him night after night. He honored me by telling me that I was the only alto player he would hire, and he’s used tenor players since.”

– Jackie McLean, quoted by Valerie Wilmer in Jazz Journal, July 1961, p.4.

March 30, 1957: Bill Hardman (t), Jackie McLean (as), Johnny Griffin (ts), Sam Dockery (p), Spanky DeBrest (b)

  • – Café Bohemia, NYC (March 30, 1957) (private recording) [-DM] (see above?) [Bandstand USA was broadcast from the Café Bohemia, according to Vail, p.103]
  • – Café Bohemia, NYC (April 5-7, 1957) [unrecorded] [Vail, Porter: John Coltrane, p.355]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (April 6, 1957) Johnny Griffin session (Blue Note)
  • – RCA Studio 3, NYC (April 8, 1957) A Night In Tunisia [a.k.a. Theory of Art] (Vik 1115)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (April 14, 1957) Sonny Rollins session (Blue Note)
  • – Blue Note, Philadelphia, PA (April 25, 1957) (private recording) [-F]

“My experience in Art’s band was excellent because that’s exactly the style of music I like to play. Very explosive, strong, fire all the time. We used to have games, like warfare, between the front line and back line – the horns and the rhythm section. There was a spirit of competition, but in a playful and positive spirit.”

– Johnny Griffin, quoted by Len Lyons in Down Beat, August 9, 1979, p.15.

* April 2, 1957: Lee Morgan, Bill Hardman (t), Sahib Shihab (as), Johnny Griffin (ts), Cecil Payne (bar), Melba Liston (tb), Wynton Kelly (p), Spanky DeBrest (b)

  • – RCA Studio 3, NYC (April 2, 1957) Theory of Art (Vik 1115)

May 13, 1957: Bill Hardman (t), Johnny Griffin (ts), Sam Dockery (p), Spanky DeBrest (b)

  • – NYC (May 13, 1957) Cu-bop (Jubilee 1049) [Sabu Martinez (cga) added]
  • – Atlantic Studios, NYC (May 14-15, 1957) Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk (Atlantic 1278) [Monk replaces Dockery]

“Thelonious and Art were good friends, too. When I was with the Jazz Messengers, Art would always say, ‘Why don’t you get Thelonious to play with us?’ Then when I was with Monk, Thelonious would say, ‘Hey, can’t you get Buhaina to play with us?’ They both had excellent bands, though, and we all hung out together anyway. Monk and Blakey played well together, too. They really complemented each other. Listen to some of those recordings they did.”

– Johnny Griffin, quoted by Len Lyons in Down Beat, August 9, 1979, p.15.

  • – Reeves Sound Studios, NYC (June 25, 1957) Thelonious Monk session (Riverside)
  • – Reeves Sound Studios, NYC (June 26, 1957) Thelonious Monk session (Riverside)
  • – Blackhawk, San Francisco, CA (two weeks around July 7, 1957) [Oakland Tribune, July 7, 1957, p.B15]
  • – Stars Of Jazz TV Show Sessions Live

“Griffin has been with the Messengers only seven months, replacing Jackie McLean, who lost his job because he could not break the Habit.”

– Russ Wilson, Oakland Tribune, July 7, 1957, p.B15

October 9, 1957: Bill Hardman (t), Johnny Griffin (ts), Junior Mance (p), Spanky DeBrest (b)

  • – NYC (October 9, 1957) Hard Drive (Bethlehem 6023) [possibly also October 11]
  • – NYC (October 14, 1957) Tony Bennett session (Columbia)
  • – Steve Allen TV Show (October 27, 1957) [unclear if Messengers or Blakey only]

“In October, Blakey and his Jazz Messengers will be Europe-bound on a tour that is to follow the itinerary of Lionel Hampton’s recent jaunt.” [It seems this 1957 trip did not occur.]

– John Tynan, Down Beat, October 17, 1957, p.15.

  • – NYC (2 days in December 1957) Art Blakey Big Band session (Bethlehem)

“Bethlehem recorded Art Blakey and a big band, with John Coltrane, Donald Byrd, Frank Rehak, Wendell Marshall, Walter Bishop, Melba Liston, and Al Cohn. Blakey is working out a schedule for his upcoming overseas tour with the Messengers, including Donald Byrd.”

– Down Beat, February 6, 1958, p.8

  • – Café Bohemia, NYC (6 weeks beginning in mid-February 1958) [db 3/20/58 p.10]
  • – Manhattan Towers, NYC (February 25, 1958) Jimmy Smith session (Blue Note)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (March 6, 1958) Tina Brooks session (Blue Note)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (March 9, 1958) Cannonball Adderley session (Blue Note)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (March 16, 1958) Tina Brooks session (Blue Note)
  • – Smalls’ Paradise, NYC (April 7, 1958) Jimmy Smith session (Blue Note)
  • – Manhattan Towers?, NYC (April 9, 1958) Gil Evans session (Pacific Jazz)
  • – Five Spot, NYC (July 9, 1958) Thelonious Monk session (Riverside)

[No mention of the Jazz Messengers made in Down Beat feature on Golson 5/15/58 pp.19, 41]

“Golson, then 29, was freelancing in New York following the breakup of the Dizzy Gillespie big band when he got an urgent call from Blakey asking him if he could take Jackie McLean’s place with the Messengers. The band was due to open that night in a New York club and McLean had his cabaret card withdrawn.”

– Jazz Journal International, September 1977, p.8

“I said, ‘Art, you’re a great man. This pay is nothing for you. It makes me sad,’ And he looked at me with his sad beautiful cow eyes and said, ‘Can you help me ?’ And I can’t believe what came out of my mouth, this young upstart who hadn’t been in New York too long. I said, ‘Yes, if you’ll do exactly what I tell you.’ How dared I ? But he went for it. He said ‘What should I do ? And I said, ‘Get a new band.’”

Benny Golson, quoted by Doug Ramsey in liner notes to

1958: Bill Hardman (t), Benny Golson (ts), John Houston (p), Spanky DeBrest (b)

  • unrecorded

1958: Bill Hardman (t), Benny Golson (ts), Bobby Timmons (p), George Tucker (b)

  • unrecorded

“Benny Golson stayed on with Art Blakey’s Messengers, including pianist Bob Timmons, bassist George Tucker, and trumpeter Bill Hardman.”

db 6/26/58 p.36

  • – Randall’s Island Jazz Festival, NYC (August 23, 1958) [db 10/2/58 p.54] [Golson and Timmons mentioned]

– [According to db 8/21/58 p.8, Thelonious Monk was scheduled to perform with the Jazz Messengers at Randall’s Island.]

  • – Palm Gardens, NYC [db 5/15/58 p.38]
  • – Birdland, NYC “Gretsch Drum Night At Birdland” [db 5/29/58 p.10 (photo)] [Golson and Hardman are visible, but Lee Morgan is also present next to drummer Charli Persip.]

October 30, 1958: Lee Morgan-t; Benny Golson-ts; Bobby Timmons-p; Jymie Merritt-b

  • – Manhattan Towers, NYC (May 14, 1958) Kenny Burrell session (Blue Note)
  • – Manhttan Towers?, NYC (May 21, 1958) Gil Evans session (Pacific Jazz)
  • – Manhttan Towers?, NYC (May 26, 1958) Gil Evans session (Pacific Jazz)
  • – Blue Bird Inn, Detroit, MI (Summer 1958) [db 7/10/58 p.42]
  • – Lorton Reformatory Festival, Washington, DC (Summer? 1958) [Metronome 9/59 p.14, db 9/28/61 p.14]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (July 16, 1958) Jimmy Smith session (Blue Note)

– [According to Nat Hentoff’s notes to Expoobident, Lee Morgan joined the Messengers in September 1958.]

“Lee Morgan is due to take the trumpet spot in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.”

db 10/2/58 p.10

  • – Harlem, NY (August 13, 1958) [photograph “A Great Day In Harlem” with Blakey, Benny Golson]
  • – Midway Lounge, Pittsburgh, PA (one week) [db 11/13/58 p.56]
  • – Loew’s Sheridan, NYC (September 27, 1958) [VV 9/24/58 p.3] with Sonny Stitt
  • NYC (October 28, 1958) Cannonball Adderley/Milt Jackson session (Riverside)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (October 30, 1958) Moanin’ (Blue Note 84003)

“I went home that night to my room at 116th Street and 7th Avenue and wrote this thing [Blues March]. I knew it couldn’t be the kind of march you hear from military bands. It had to be a funky, Grambling College type thing. It was a blues, but just a little different. I figured it was a novelty and would never last, just something to get us over, maybe. I took it in and we rehearsed it. I told Art to pretend he was with the American Legion band, and he did.”

Benny Golson, quoted by Doug Ramsey in liner notes

  • – Manhattan Towers, NYC (November 2, 1958) Art Blakey: Drums Around The Corner session (Blue Note)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (November 9, 1958) Art Blakey: Holiday For Skins session (Blue Note)
  • – Smalls’ Paradise, NYC (November 11-16, 1959) [NYAN 11/15/58 p.17]
  • – Village Voice Concert, Loew’s Sheridan, NYC (November 1958) [Metronome 1/59 p.36]

“Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers leave Nov. 1 for a month-long tour of Europe” [obviously postponed]

db 10/16/58 p.8

“Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers were set to make a European tour that includes Scandinavia and a week in Paris in mid-November, returning about the end of the year.”

db 11/13/58 p.10

  • – Olympia Theatre, Paris, France (November 22, 1958) 1958 Paris Olympia (Fontana) [two concerts]
  • – Kurhaus, Den Haag, The Netherlands (November 29, 1958) Live In The 50’s (Jazz Band 2128) [date of 11/19 is incorrect as France was first stop]
  • – Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (midnight November 29/30, 1958)
  • – Brussels, Belgium (November? 1958) [Jazz Magazine 12/58 p.10]
  • – Rouen, France (December 1, 1958) [Jazz Magazine 12/58 p.10]
  • – Fontainebleau, France (December 2, 1958) [Jazz Hot 1/59 pp.37-38]
  • – Volkhaus, Zurich, Switzerland (December 4, 1958) (private recording) [-TN, RS]
  • – Club St. Germain, Paris, France (December 6, 1958) [-VB]
  • – Club St. Germain, Paris, France (December 7, 1958) [-VB]
  • – Karlsruhe, Germany (December 1958) (private recording) [-DM]
  • – Club St. Germain, Paris, France (December 13, 1958) [-VB]
  • – Club St. Germain, Paris, France (December 14, 1958) [-VB]
  • – Marseille, France (December 1958) [Jazz Hot 4/59 p.36]
  • – Olympia Theatre, Paris, France (December 17, 1958) 1958 Paris Olympia (Fontana)
  • – France (December 18-19, 1958) Des Femmes Disparaissent (Fontana 660224)
  • – Club St. Germain, Paris, France (December 21, 1958) Au Club St. Germain vol. 1-3 (RCA 430043)
  • – Reeves Sound Studios, NYC (December 1958) Blue Mitchell session (Riverside)
  • – The Town Hall, NYC (December 27, 1958) [unrecorded] [Porter: John Coltrane, p.359, Vail]
  • – Ridgecrest Inn, Rochester, NY [-NC]

Bobby Bryant (t), Benny Golson (ts), Bobby Timmons (b), Jymie Merritt (b)

  • – Sutherland Lounge, Chicago, IL (January 1959) [Def 1/10/59 p.8, -WBF]

– [Lee Morgan had pneumonia]

  • – February 1959: Benny Golson leaves band

“All of us who came through Art’s band, we would do anything for him. Freddie Hubbard and I were talking about that the other day. When I left that band, I was in trouble. I could not play with another drummer. I was irritated, I was annoyed, I would get angry, because I wasn’t hearing what I was used to hearing. When I joined his band, I was playing soft, and mellow, and smooth, and syrupy. By the time I left I was playing another way, because I had to. He would do one of those famous four-bar drum rolls going into the next chorus, and I would completely disappear. He would holler over at me, ‘Get up out of that hole!’ He taught us a lot.”

– Benny Golson, quoted by Gene Lees in Waiting For Dizzy.

March 8, 1959: Lee Morgan (t), Hank Mobley (ts), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b)

  • – Apollo Theatre, NYC (one week) [Jazz Journal 6/59 pp.27-28]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (March 8, 1959) unissued (Blue Note)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (March 29, 1959) Art Blakey/Paul Chambers: Drums Around The Corner session (Blue Note)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ (March 29, 1959) Sonny Clark session (Blue Note)
  • – Birdland, NYC (April 15, 1959) At the Jazz Corner of the World vol. 1 (Blue Note 84015); At the Jazz Corner of the World vol. 2 (Blue Note 84016)
  • – Showboat, Philadelphia, PA [db 6/11/59 p.39]
  • – Bohemian Club, Washington, DC (“10 days”) [db 7/23/59 p.38]

[Hank Mobley arrested.]

1959: Lee Morgan (t), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b)

  • unrecorded

July 1959: Lee Morgan (t), Hank Mobley (ts), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b)

  • – Sutherland Lounge, Chicago, IL (June 1959) [Def 6/6/59 p.16]
  • – Newport’s Copa Club, Cincinnati, OH (“some weeks ago”) [lineup unknown] [Cincinnati Enquirer 7/5/59]
  • – Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI (July 4, 1959) (private recording) [-TN, DM, db 8/6/59 p.14]
  • – Theresa Cabaret, NYC (July 7-19, 1959) [db 7/9/59 p.44]

Summer 1959: Lee Morgan-t; Bobby Timmons-p; Jymie Merritt-b

  • Toronto Jazz Festival, Toronto, Canada (July 24, 1959) [db 6/11/59 p.15, db 9/3/59 p.14]

“We were at a Canadian jazz festival, and the Jazz Messengers came on. And they had no tenor player – Hank Mobley had gone. Blakey was playing Monk’s tune ‘Evidence’. Blakey would say ‘We’d like to play a tune by the high priest of bop. He calls it “Evidence”, but we call it “Justice”.’ Lee Morgan saw me from the bandstand, and after the set he came running over and said, ‘Hey, Wayne, you want to play with us?’ And I said, ‘Shit, yeah!’”

– Wayne Shorter, quoted by Conrad Silvert in Down Beat, July 14, 1977, p.16.

“I went back and saw Art Blakey and he said just one sentence: ‘You got eyes?’ I said yeah, I got eyes but I’d only been with Maynard for four weeks and that would’ve been disloyal. Like hello-goodbye. So, later, Maynard gets a call from Art way down in French Lick, Indiana. ‘Look, we’re in trouble. We don’t have a sax player and you know Wayne ain’t gonna stay with you too long because he’s a small group man.’”

– Wayne Shorter, quoted by Brian Case in Wire, December 1984, p.12.

“We were at some big festival in Canada and I remember Lee Morgan and Bobby Timmons, they hopped a fence and ran across what looked like a race-track, and jumped over another fence where I was sitting. And Lee, he said, ‘How would you like to work with the Messengers?’ Immediately, I said, ‘Yeah.’ I worked one more engagement, at Birdland with [Maynard] Ferguson and the next night I went with Blakey at the French Lick.”

– Wayne Shorter, Down Beat, June 20, 1974, p.16.

* July 28-29, 1959: Lee Morgan (t), Barney Wilen (ss, ts), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b), John Rodriguez, Tommy Lopez, Willie Rodriguez (per)

  • Nola Studio, NYC (July 28-29, 1959) Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960 (Fontana 680203) [Thelonious Monk, Charlie Rouse, Sam Jones, Art Taylor were also in the studio recording music for the film which did not appear on the record.] [Jazz Hot 10/59 pp.11-13, Jazz Magazine 10/59 pp.20-25]

1959: Lee Morgan (t), Barney Wilen (ts), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b)

  • unrecorded – or was this the Newport lineup?

August 1959: Lee Morgan (t), Wayne Shorter (ts), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b)

  • – French Lick Jazz Festival, French Lick, IN (August 1, 1959) [db 6/20/74 p.16, db 6/11/59 p.15, 9/3/59 p.15]
  • – Regal Theatre, Chicago, IL (start August 7, 1959 – 1 wk) [unrecorded] [Def 8/8/59 p.12, -ML, WBF]
  • – Randall’s Island Jazz Festival, NYC (August 21, 1959) [db 6/11/59 p.15, db 9/17/59 p.14] [Vail, p.140 shows Blakey scheduled for 8/22/59]
  • – Five Spot Café, NYC (August 25, 1959) Kenny Burrell session (Blue Note)
  • – Birdland, NYC (August 27-September 10, 1959) [-SL, db 9/3/59 p.41]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Clifs, NJ (August 28, 1959) Benny Golson session (New Jazz)
  • – Birdland, NYC (to September 17, 1959) [db 9/17/59 p.47]
  • – Howard Theater, Washington, DC (late September 1959) [db 10/29/59 p.47]
  • – Jazz for Civil Rights benefit, Hunter College, NY (October 4, 1959) [db 10/1/59 p.10, Vail]
  • – Smalls’ Paradise, NYC (October 1959) [photos of Blakey and Morgan in Ramsay pp.24, 90]
  • – Showboat, Philadelphia, PA [db 10/29/59 p.48]

November 3, 1959: Lee Morgan-t; Wayne Shorter-ts; Walter Davis, Jr.-p; Jymie Merritt-b

  • – Olympia?, Paris, France (October 30, 1959) [Jazz Magazine 11/59 p.11]
  • – Stockholm, Sweden (November 3, 1959) (private recording) [-F] [is date correct? possibly 11/23/59]
  • – K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark (November 5, 1959) Live In Copenhagen 1959 (Royal Jazz 516) [is date correct?]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (November 10, 1959) Africaine (Blue Note 1088) [perhaps THIS date is wrong?]
  • European tour to England, Germany, France [db 4/28/60 p.17]
  • – Kurhaus, Den Haag, The Netherlands (November 14, 1959)
  • – Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (midnight November 14/15, 1959)
  • – Theatre des Champs-Elysees, Paris, France (November 15, 1959) Paris Concert (RCA 430054); Are You Real (Moon 071) (two concerts) (private tape and video also exist) [-HS, Jazz Hot 11/59 p.29]
  • – Dusseldorf, Germany (November 18-19, 1959) (private recording) [-DM]
  • – JMTV, Paris, France (November 21, 1959) (private recording) [-F, RS] [possibly same as below]
  • – Olympia, Paris, France (November 22, 1959) (two concerts) [Jazz Magazine 11/59 p.11]
  • – Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden (November 23, 1959) Live In Stockholm 1959 (DIW 344) [possibly same as 11/3/59?]
  • – Munchen, Germany (November 28, 1959) (private recording) [-TN]
  • – Titania-Palast, Berlin, Germany (November 29, 1959) (private recording) [-TN, DM, RS]
  • – Marseille, France (December 1, 1959) [Jazz Hot 12/59 p.35]
  • – Lyon, France (December 2, 1959) [Jazz Hot 12/59 p.35]
  • – Algiers, Algeria (December 3, 1959) [Jazz Hot 12/59 p.35]
  • – Theatre des Champs-Elysees, Paris, France (December 5, 1959) [Jazz Hot 12/59 p.35]
  • – Zurich, Switzerland (December 7, 1959) [Jazz Hot 12/59 p.35]
  • – Apollo at Anvers, Brussels, Belgium (December 13, 1959) (morning) [Jazz Hot 12/59 p.35]
  • – Palais de Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium (December 13, 1959) (evening) [Jazz Hot 12/59 p.35]
  • – Theatre des Champs-Elysees, Paris, France (December 18, 1959) Paris Jam Session (Fontana 680207) [Bud Powell, Martial Solal, Barney Wilen guests] [Jazz Hot 12/59 p.35]
  • – Vredenburgpaviljoen, Utrecht,  The Netherlands (December 19, 1959)
  • – Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (midnight December 19/20, 1959)
  • – Regal Theatre, Chicago, IL (December 25-31, 1959) [Def 12/26/59 p.12, db 2/18/60 p.21]

1960

  • – Sutherland Lounge, Chicago, IL (start January 13, 1960) [Def 1/2/60 p.12, Def 1/16/60 p.32]

[Down Beat 3/3/60 pp.50-51 says that Vee Jay recorded Wayne Shorter while the Messengers were playing the Sutherland Lounge in Chicago. However, Wayne Shorter’s first Vee Jay record Introducing Wayne Shorter was supposedly recorded on November 10, 1959 when the Messengers were back in NYC. Clearly this cannot refer to the Second Genesis album recorded in Chicago on October 11, 1960.]

  • – Town Hall, NYC (January 30, 1960) [db 3/3/60 p.10, VV 1/20/60 p.2, NYAN 1/23/60 p.13]
  • – NYC (February 3, 1960) Lee Morgan session (Vee Jay)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (February 7, 1960) Hank Mobley session (Blue Note)
  • – Jazz Gallery, NYC (till February 21, 1960) [db 3/3/60 p.49]

January 1960: Lee Morgan (t), Jerome Richardson (bar), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b), Benny Golson (comp, arr)

  • – NYC (January 1960) 45 rpm single (General Board of Temperance of the Methodist Church GRC5748)

[The above edition of the Jazz Messengers recorded the Benny Golson-composed score for a 10 minute cartoon film produced by the Methodist Church designed to promote traffic safety called Stop Driving Us Crazy. Two tunes (“Crazy Drivin’ Blues” and “No Time for Speed” were released on a 45 rpm single. – db 2/4/60 p.11. I am somewhat skeptical of the dating on this recording, which appears in the Bruyninckx and Raben discographies. Seems like pre-Shorter would be a more likely placement. I have heard this item.]

March 6, 1960: Lee Morgan (t), Wayne Shorter (ts), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b)

  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (March 6, 1960) The Big Beat (Blue Note 84029) [Timmons]
  • – “African Holiday” Revue, Apollo Theater, NYC [db 4/14/60 p.10, Jazz Journal 4/60 p.8] [Davis, Jr.]
  • – Ford Auditorium, Detroit, MI (2 shows on March 25, 1960) [db 3/3/60 p.48]
  • – Civic Opera House, Chicago, IL (2 shows on March 26, 1960) [db 3/3/60 p.48]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (April 3, 1960) Dizzy Reece session (Blue Note)
  • – Coq d’Or, Toronto, Canada (April 4-10, 1960) [Toronto Daily Star 4/9/60, db 5/26/60 pp.53-54]

[A private tape from Birdland exists dated 4/5/60 (April 5, 1960) but this date is clearly wrong. Possible that it is later in April 1960. May 4, 1960 is another possibility.]

  • – Birdland, NYC (April 16, 1960) Drums Ablaze (Alto 720); Electric Sticks of Buddy Rich (Alto 721); Unforgettable Lee! (Fresh Sound 1020) [Buddy Rich guest]
  • – Birdland, NYC (April 23, 1960) Unforgettable Lee! (Fresh Sound 1020)
  • – Birdland, NYC (April 25, 1960) “Gretsch Drum Night At Birdland” session (Roulette)
  • – Birdland, NYC (through April 27, 1960) [db 4/27/60 p.81]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (April 28, 1960) Lee Morgan session (Blue Note)
  • – Birdland, NYC (until June 8, 1960) [db 6/9/60 p.46]
  • – Birdland, NYC (May 28, 1960) Hooray For Art Blakey vol. 1 (Session 116); Unforgettable Lee! (Fresh Sound 1020)
  • – Birdland, NYC (June 4, 1960) Unforgettable Lee! (Fresh Sound 1020); More Birdland Sessions (Fresh Sound 1029) [Davis, Jr. (Timmons too?)]
  • – Los Angeles Jazz Festival, Hollywood Bowl, CA (June 18, 1960) [db 6/23/60 p.56, db 7/7/60 p.14, but no mention in db 8/4/60 pp.14-16]
  • – Warren Theatre, Atlantic City, NJ (July 2, 1960) [db 7/21/60 p.18, db 8/18/60 p.17] [Timmons]
  • Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI (between June 30-July 3, 1960) [db 7/7/60 p.14, but no mention 8/18/60 pp.18-19, possibly did not play – db 8/18/60 p.23]
  • – Regal Theatre, Chicago, IL (mid-July 1960) [db 8/18/60 p.49]
  • – Minor Key, Detroit, MI (July 1960) [-PF] [Timmons]

“Art Blakey used my tunes right from the beginning. I wrote ‘Sakeena’s Vision’ about his daughter, who is now 19, and ‘Sincerely Diana’ was about Art’s wife. I was getting away from the old 12-bar structure, you know, the melody can go somewhere else, or come back to itself, but in another way.”

– Wayne Shorter, quoted by Conrad Silvert in Down Beat, July 14, 1977, p.58.

[Bobby Timmons and Walter Davis, Jr. trade off on piano from 1960 into 1961]

“In those bands, when we would play a certain number in order to imitate someone else, we would do it with fun. Sometimes, maybe, I would imitate something that Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis might do. Lee would imitate a lotta people, y’know, like Fats Navarro. For a while, Walter Davis played piano with us and he would go through all of the piano players of the day. And not only Bud Powell, but every once in a while he’d put an Erroll Garner thing in there.”

– Wayne Shorter, Down Beat, June 20, 1974, p.16.

“In fact, Tony [Williams] played with the Messengers, at the Storyville in Boston when he was 13 years old. Art asked him to come up and play. For a few minutes, he would play exactly like Art Blakey, kidding around, and then he’d mix in a little Max Roach thing. Mixing it all with some of his own beginnings.”

– Wayne Shorter, Down Beat, June 20, 1974, p.16.

“There is really no other group to go to from here. I couldn’t find anything in any other group that I can’t find here. The most important thing with the Messengers is that you never have to worry about that swing. As long as Art’s there, that’s always there. So you can just go ahead and seek and search and probe new ideas and carry on.”

– Bobby Timmons, Down Beat, November 24, 1960, p.14

August 7, 1960: Lee Morgan (t), Wayne Shorter (ts), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b)

  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (August 7, 1960) Like Someone in Love (Blue Note 84245) [Timmons]
  • – NYC (August 12, 1960) Bobby Timmons Quartet session (Riverside)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (August 14, 1960) A Night in Tunisia (Blue Note 84049) [Timmons]
  • – NYC (August 17, 1960) Bobby Timmons Quartet session (Riverside)
  • – Randall’s Island Jazz Festival, NYC (August 21, 1960) [Vail, db 9/29/60 p.20 (moved from 8/19/60 – db 9/1/60 p.13)]
  • – Unknown location (August 26, 1960) (private recording) [-BR]
  • – Quaker City Jazz Festival, Connie Mack Stadium, Philadelphia, PA (August 27, 1960) (private recording) [-TN, DM, db 10/27/60 p.13]
  • – Pleasure Island Jazz Festival, Wakefield, MA (August 27, 1960) [db 9/1/60 p.46] [check date?]
  • – Birdland, NYC (September 1-14, 1960) [db 9/1/60 p.46, 9/15/60 p.39] More Birdland Sessions (Fresh Sound 1029) (rec. 9/11/60) Meet You at the Jazz Corner of the World vol. 1 (Blue Note 84054); Meet You at the Jazz Corner of the World vol. 2 (Blue Note 84055) (rec. 9/14/60) [Timmons]
  • England (October 1960) (private recording) [-F] [can date/location of this tape be correct? Down Beat 9/1/60 p.10 mentions a possible two-week tour of England in November 1960, but the schedule seems too busy to have allowed this.]
  • – WHK Auditorium, Cleveland, OH (October 2, 1960) [db 11/24/60 p.48]
  • – Cloister Inn, Chicago, IL (October 3-16, 1960) [db 9/29/60 p.67, db 10/13/60 p.51, db 10/27/60 p.69]
  • – Chicago, IL (October 11, 1960) Wayne Shorter Quartet session (Vee Jay)
  • – Chicago, IL (October 14, 1960) Lee Morgan Quintet session (Vee Jay)
  • – Showboat, Philadelphia, PA (one week) [db 11/10/60 p.50]
  • – Birdland, NYC (October 27-November 9, 1960) [db 10/27/60 p.67, db 11/10/60 p.48] More Birdland Sessions (Fresh Sound 1029) (rec. 10/28/60 and 11/5/60) [Timmons]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (November 13, 1960) Hank Mobley session (Blue Note)
  • – Detroit, MI? [db 1/5/61 p.48] [“The Thanksgiving eve Birdhouse opening of the Jazz Messengers was marred by Art Blakey’s tardy arrival. His plane was reported grounded at Detroit.”]
  • – Birdhouse, Chicago, IL (November 23-December 4, 1960) [db 12/22/60 p.60 (mentions 5 days in late November), db 1/5/61 p.48] [Art Blakey, Jr. guest on 11/23/60]
  • – European tour (beginning November 26, 1960) [db 11/24/60 p.49]
  • – Stockholm, Sweden (December 6, 1960) Live In Stockholm 1960 (DIW 313)
  • – Theatre De Beaulieu, Lausanne, Switzerland (December 8, 1960) Lausanne 1960, part 1 (TCB Records 2022); Lausanne 1960, part 2 (TCB Records 2062)
  • – Paris, France (December 1960) (private recording) [-DM]
  • – Olympia, Paris, France (December 10, 1960) (two concerts) [possibly same as above] [Jazz Hot 12/60]
  • – Bonn, Germany (December 1960) (private recording) [-TN, DM]
  • – Kurhaus, Den Haag, The Netherlands (December 17, 1960)
  • – Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (midnight December 17/18, 1960)
  • – Zebra Club, Los Angeles, CA [Coda 1/61 p.17] [Bobby Timmons “rejoined band”]
  • – Embassy Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA (December 30, 1960) [db 1/19/61 p.52, Coda 2/61 p.17, db 3/2/61 p.45] [Timmons]

“The evening concluded with ‘A Night in Tunisia’ played as an encore at the insistence of emcee [Bob] Leonard. It had little heart but wound up with an electrifying Catherine wheel of sticks by Blakey that infused the sidemen to shout on out to the coda.”

John Tynan, Down Beat, March 2, 1961, p.45.

1961

“When we hit Japan in 1960 or 61, I never saw anything like it. There were 7,000 heads going up and down at the same time and humming every note of everything we played….When we first went to Japan, they had Lee Morgan shirts, Wayne Shorter overcoats, all that kind of stuff in the department stores. The same kind of publicity the Beatles got in the U.S., we got in Japan, and plus. I think we’re the only American artists that had an audience with the emperor. But this country never said a word about it, never a word.”

– Art Blakey, quoted by John Litweiler in Down Beat, March 25, 1976, pp.17, 16.

[January 2, 1961 was the date of the first concert by the Messengers who were joined by vocalist Bill Henderson on this Japanese tour. No recordings with Henderson have been released.]

  • Sankei Hall, Tokyo, Japan (January 2, 1961) A Day With Art Blakey vol. 1 (East Wind 707); A Day With Art Blakey vol. 2 (East Wind 708) [Timmons]
  • Osaka, Japan (early January 1961) [db 1/19/61 pp.12-13] [Timmons]
  • Kobe, Japan (early January 1961) [db 1/19/61 pp.12-13] [Timmons]
  • Nagoya, Japan (early January 1961) [db 1/19/61 pp.12-13] [Timmons]
  • Tokyo, Japan (January 11, 1961) Tokyo 1961 (Somethin’ Else 5503) [Timmons]

“We’ve played a lot of countries, but never has the whole band been in tears when we left. My wife cried all the way to Hawaii.”

– Art Blakey, quoted by Don DeMicheal in Down Beat, May 11, 1961, p.15.

“I gained a lot of worldly knowledge, due to the places we went to. I would say we were the first bebop, progressive band to go through Japan, as a group and play concerts. Art used to refer to Japan as our second home.”

– Wayne Shorter, Down Beat, June 20, 1974, p.16.

[The Jazz Messengers canceled a mid-January engagement at the Jazz Workshop, San Francisco – Coda 2/61 p.24, db 3/16/61 p.40]

  • Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (February 12, 1961) Pisces (Blue Note 3060) [Timmons]
  • Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (February 18, 1961) Roots and Herbs (Blue Note 84347) [Timmons and Davis, Jr.]
  • Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (March 14, 1961) The Witch Doctor (Blue Note 84258) [Timmons]
  • Detroit, MI [Blakey was interviewed there by Don DeMicheal for a db article published 5/11/61 pp.15-16]

[The Jazz Messengers did not show for Impulse jazz revue at the O’Keefe Centre, Toronto the week of March 20, 1961 – Coda 3/61 p.2, 4/61 p.4]

  • NYC (March 29, 1961) Impulse jazz revue [db 4/13/61 p.46]
  • Apollo Theater, NYC [Coda 2/61 p.21] [as upcoming]
  • Village Vanguard, NYC (April 11-16, 1961) [Coda 5/61 p.18, db 4/27/61 p.73]
  • Royal Festival Hall, London, England (two concerts April 29, 1961) [unrecorded] [JJ 6/61 pp.9-10, 12, Coda 3/61 p.9, db 4/27/61 p.68]
  • Hammersmith, London, England (Sunday – prob. April 30, 1961) [unrecorded] [JJ 6/61 pp.9-10, 12]
  • Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England (May 6, 1961) (private recording) [-TN, DM, RS] [Phil Woods guest]
  • Olympia Theatre, Paris, France (May 13, 1961) In Concert, Paris Olympia (RTE 1502 (vol. 1 & 2) and RTE 710571 (vol. 3)]

[Blakey was master of ceremonies at the annual “Gretsch Drum Night At Birdland” “last month” – db 6/8/61 p.11]

  • Birdhouse, Chicago, IL (“future”) [db 5/11/61 p.39]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (May 27, 1961) The Freedom Rider (Blue Note 84156); Pisces (Blue Note 3060)
  • – Abart’s, Washington, DC (May 30-June 5, 1961) [db 6/22/61 p.52]
  • – Show Boat, Philadelphia, PA (“recent”) [db 7/20/61 p.68]

June 13, 1961: Lee Morgan (t), Wayne Shorter (ts), Curtis Fuller (tb), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b)

  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (June 13, 1961) Jazz Messengers (Impulse 7)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (June 14, 1961) Jazz Messengers (Impulse 7)
  • Coliseum, Baltimore, MD (June 18, 1961)

July 2, 1961: Kenny Dorham (t), Wayne Shorter (ts), Bobby Timmons (p) Jymie Merritt (b)

  • – Music At Newport, Newport, RI (July 2, 1961) unissued [-BU, Coda 6/61 p.17, db 7/6/61 p.12, db 10/12/61 p.15] [Curtis Fuller appeared with Quincy Jones’s band on 7/3/61 but is not heard with Blakey.]

Lee Morgan (t), Wayne Shorter (ts), Curtis Fuller (tb)?, Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b)

  • – Abart’s, Washington, DC (July 4-9, 1961) [db 7/20/61 p.70]
  • – WNTA-TV Telethon for C.O.R.E. (July 7, 1961) [db 8/3/61 p.53] [lineup unknown]
  • – Jazz Gallery, NYC (July 1961) [photos of Blakey, Morgan, Merritt in Ramsay pp.61, 73, although this may be August – see below. db 7/20/61 lists Thelonious Monk at the Jazz Gallery until July 31.]

“After leaving the [Quincy Jones] band, he [Curtis Fuller] joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, taking a leave of absence from the group last summer to make a South American tour with Coleman Hawkins, after which he rejoined the drummer.”

db 3/1/62 pp.16-17

“Monte Kay is producing the first Latin American jazz festival. Starting in Rio De Janeiro, July 12, it was scheduled to move from there for two weeks into such countries as Uruguay, Brazil, and Peru. Kay presented Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Jo Jones, Zoot Sims, Curtis Fuller, Ronnie Ball, Tommy Flanagan, Herbie Mann, Ben Tucker, Chris Connor, Ahmed Abdul-Malik, and others. The concerts were emceed by Willis Conover.”

db 8/17/61 p.49

[Fuller recorded (with Jymie Merritt) in Brazil on July 16, 1961.]

Summer 1961: Bill Hardman (t), Wayne Shorter (ts), Curtis Fuller (tb), Bobby Timmons (p), Jymie Merritt (b)

  • unrecorded [did this band really exist? – info from the following quote]

“Bill gave Lee his job – and then when Lee left a year later, Bill came back for a while, found Freddie Hubbard and then let Freddie take his place in the band.”

Art Blakey, Jazz Journal International, September 1977, p.8

“Trumpeter Lee Morgan has left Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers to front his own group. The tentative personnel includes Cliff Jordan, tenor saxophone, and Lex Humphries, drums.”

db 8/31/61 p.44

“Art Blakey now has a sextet: Curtis Fuller, trombone; Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone; Cedar Walton, piano; Jymie Merritt, bass.”

db 9/28/61 p.10

“Art Blakey told him [Freddie Hubbard], at the end of the summer, that Lee Morgan was leaving the Jazz Messengers to form his own group and offered Hubbard the trumpet spot in what was essentially a new sextet, only saxophonist Wayne Shorter and bassist Jymie Merritt remaining from the previous group.”

Ira Gitler, db 1/18/62 p.24

August 8, 1961: Freddie Hubbard (t), Wayne Shorter (ts), Curtis Fuller (tb), Cedar Walton (p), Jymie Merritt (b)

  • – Village Gate, NYC (August 8-September 3, 1961) – 2 tracks on Three Blind Mice vol. 2 (Blue Note) [Porter: John Coltrane, p.365]
  • – Berkshire Music Barn, Lenox, MA (August 20, 1961) [unrecorded] [afternoon show?] [PR material lists this as August 26]
  • – Randall’s Island Jazz Festival, NY (August 27, 1961) [db 10/12/61 p.15]
  • – Jazz Gallery, NYC (“until further notice”) [db 9/14/61 p.45. db 8/31/61 p.45 implies that the band followed Chico Hamilton who closed on August 22, 1961] [unsure where this would fit in]
  • tour to India (September 1961) [db 5/11/61 p.16] [Doubtful that this happened.]
  • – Apollo Theater, NYC (beginning September 15, 1961) [db 9/14/61 p.10]
  • – Birdland, NYC (September 28-October 4, 1961) [db 10/12/61 p.44] (recording exists from 9/30/61) [-BR]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (October 2, 1961) Mosaic (Blue Note 84090)
  • tour to Australia (October 1961) [db 5/11/61 p.16] [did this happen?]
  • – Birdhouse, Chicago, IL (October 25-November 5, 1961) [db 10/26/61 p.51, db 12/7/61 p.53, db 1/4/62 p.36]
  • Jazz Showcase, Chicago, IL (late October or early November 1961) [Metronome 10/61 p.5] [possible that either this or the previous entry could be inaccurate]
  • tour to USSR. (November 1961) [db 5/11/61 p.16] [Doubtful that this happened. I don’t think the Messengers even made it into the USSR on the winter 1962 trip.]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (November 28, 1961) Buhaina’s Delight (Blue Note 84104)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (December 18, 1961) Buhaina’s Delight (Blue Note 84104)

1962

  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (January 13, 1962) Grant Green session (Blue Note)
  • Coronet, Brooklyn, NY (“tentatively”) [db 1/18/62 p.56]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (January 20, 1962) Ike Quebec session (Blue Note)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (January 24, 1962) Art Blakey: The African Beat session (Blue Note)

[db 2/1/62 announced: “Kay Norton, now part owner of the Jazz Gallery, is signing some artists to exclusive contracts – that is, they will play nowhere else in New York City except at the Gallery. Art Blakey is the first on contract.” This didn’t last long as the July Birdland engagement shows. Why? Because the Jazz Gallery closed around then. – db 8/16/62 p.10]

  • – Kurhaus, Den Haag, The Netherlands (February 3, 1962)
  • – City Theater, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (12:30 AM, February 4, 1962)
  • – Berlin, Germany (February 4, 1962) (private recording) [-F, DM]
  • – Helsinki, Finland (February 1962) [db 6/21/62 p.43]

“He [Blakey] spoke of recent experiences with East German and Soviet police. ‘I argued with them,’ he emphasized. ‘These are good men; they just have an idea. The only way we can overcome this is to come up with a better idea.’ During the Messengers’ recent engagement in Helsinki, Finland, Blakey said he took a ride to the Finnish-USSR frontier and right away became embroiled in an argument with the Russian border guards.”

db 6/21/62 p.43

  • – Flonercetret, Copenhagen, Denmark (February 1962) (private recording) [-TN, DM]
  • – Stockholm, Sweden (February 13, 1962) (private recording) [-F]
  • – Salle Pleyel, Paris, France (February 18, 1962) [Jazz Hot 3/62 p.27] [possible that either this or below did not occur – also see SF gig]
  • – Salle Pleyel, Paris, France (February 25, 1962) [Jazz Hot 4/62 p.29] [possible that either this or above did not occur – also see SF gig]
  • – Blackhawk, San Francisco, CA (February 20-March 4, 1962) [db 3/1/62 p.50]
  • – Renaissance Club, Los Angeles, CA (March 9-18, 1962) Three Blind Mice vol. 1 (Blue Note); Three Blind Mice vol. 2 (Blue Note) (rec. 3/18/62) [db 2/15/62 pp.53, 56]

[“Blakey has such a European commitment – a score for the Italian film Eva.” – db 5/10/62 p.12 (interview conducted in L.A.) This film stars Jeanne Moreau and credits the score to Michel LeGrand, but a tune entitled “Eva” was in the Messengers’ repertoire – finally released on the CD issue of Ugetsu.]

  • – Amsterdam, The Netherlands (March 1962) [db 9/13/62 p.43]
  • Café Montmartre, Copenhagen, Denmark (“during the last few months” March-April 1962?) [db 6/7/62 p.45] [jam session, possibly involving Blakey only]
  • – European tour (April 1962) [db 3/1/62 p.46]
  • – Flamingo Club, London, England [“showing interest” – this may never have occurred] [db 4/12/62 p.43]

We’ve been very lucky. We’re the only group that can go abroad and make money. I don’t know why this is; but it’s beautiful, beautiful.”

db 6/21/62 p.20

  • – McKie’s Disc Jockey Lounge, Chicago, IL (May 23-June 3, 1962) [db 5/10/62 pp.44, 46]
  • – Sid McCoy and Friends
  • – Las Vegas Jazz Festival, Las Vegas, NV (July 8, 1962) [db 7/5/62 p.44, 8/16/62 pp.18-19]
  • – Birdland, NYC (c. July 14-25, 1962) Hooray For Art Blakey vol. 2 (Session 117) (rec. 7/21) [db 8/2/62 p.46] (private recording exists from 7/14/62) [-BR]
  • – Benefit for National Student Association, Apollo Theater, NYC [db 9/13/62 p.43]
  • – Basin Street East, NYC (early September 1962) [Coda 10/62 p.14]
  • – Minor Key, Detroit, MI (September 25-29, 1962) [db 9/27/62 p.58]
  • – Jazz Temple, Cleveland, OH (one week in Fall 1962 or later) [db 6/6/63 p.44]

“The pianist, at least when I was with him, really had to be strong; you had to time your playing to be heard over his powerful style. It was when I joined Blakey that I started gaining power and strength. It was really a great time for us. We were encouraged to learn how to be leaders, and Art was a good model for us. He was good at programming the pieces we played, and he was good with audiences. And I think we all inherited that.”

– Cedar Walton, quoted by Arthur Moorhead in Down Beat, January 1981, p.27.

October 12, 1962: Hubbard (t), Wayne Shorter (ts), Curtis Fuller (tb), Cedar Walton (p), Reggie Workman (b)

  • – Birdland, NYC (c. October 12-25, 1962) private recordings exist from 10/12/62 and 10/19/62 [-BR]
  • – Plaza Sound Studios, NYC (October 23-24, 1962) Caravan (Riverside 438)

1963

[January 2, 1963 was the date of the first concert in Japan by the Messengers who were joined by vocalist Johnny Hartman on this tour. -TN, db 4/11/63 p.44]

  • concert in Japan (January 2, 1963) [unrecorded] [-TN]
  • Jazz Workshop, San Francisco, CA (January 25-February 10, 1963) [db 1/31/63 p.46, db 3/14/63 p.47]
  • Tivoli, Chicago, IL (mid-February 1963) [db 3/28/63 p.56]
  • Birdland, NYC (c. March 2-14, 1963) private recordings exist from 3/2/63 and 3/9/63 [-BR]
  • France (Spring 1963) [db 6/6/63 p.43]
  • – Paris, France (March 16, 1963) [-VB]
  • – San Remo Jazz Festival, San Remo, Italy (March 23, 1963) (private recording) [-TN, DM, db 6/6/63 p.43]
  • – Dierentuin, Den Haag, The Netherlands (March 30, 1963)
  • – Apollohal, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (midnight March 30/31, 1963) [db 6/6/63 p.43]
  • – Gino’s, St. Louis, MO (May 3-11, 1963) [db 5/9/63 p.46]
  • – Birdland, NYC (June 16, 1963) Ugetsu (Riverside 464)
  • – NYC (July 10, 1963) Art Blakey Quartet session (Impulse)
  • Jazz Temple, Cleveland, OH (one week) [db 8/1/63 p.44, db 9/12/63 p.44 – or were there TWO engagements?]

[Blakey appeared as part of the annual “Gretsch Drum Night At Birdland” on September 30, 1963 – db 9/26/63 p.10]

  • Birdland, NYC (August 22-September 4, 1963) [db 8/29/63 p.46, db 10/10/63 p.10]

[The Jazz Messengers did not appear at the Monterey Jazz Festival as scheduled. Miles Davis filled in. – db 10/10/63 p.49]

  • – Minor Key, Detroit, MI (October 1-6, 1963) [db 10/10/63 p.50]
  • – First Floor Club, Toronto, Canada (October 14-20, 1963) [Toronto Star, October 5, 1963, db 12/5/63 p.44]
  • (New) Leo’s Casino, Cleveland, OH (occurred “during last several weeks”) [db 1/2/64/ pp.43-44]
  • McKie’s Disc Jockey Lounge, Chicago, IL (two weeks in latter November 1963) [db 1/16/64 p.45, db 12/19/63 p.49]
  • Garden of Eden, Gary, IN (one week) [db 1/16/64 p.45, 1/30/64 p.45]
  • Cork ‘n Bib, Westbury, NY (a weekend) [db 1/16/64 p.43]
  • Philharmonic Hall, NYC (December 31, 1963) [unrecorded] [Wellington Blakey guest] [db 2/27/64 p.34]

1964

  • Japanese tour (January 1964) [Curtis Fuller was arrested for possession of narcotics on this tour – db 2/9/67 p.11]
  • – Kurhaus, Den Haag, The Netherlands (February 3, 1964)
  • – City Theater, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (12:30 AM, February 4, 1964)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (February 10, 1964) Free for All (Blue Note 84170)
  • Jazz Workshop, Boston, MA (“last month”) [Wellington Blakey guest] [db 3/26/64 p.43]
  • – NYC (February 20, 1964) Kyoto (Riverside 493)

“Once with Art Blakey I did 32 takes on a tune. 32 takes! That’s melody and solo. Art probably wasn’t ready to make that record.”

– Freddie Hubbard, quoted by Howard Mandel in Down Beat, June 15, 1978, p.18.

March 10, 1964: Lee Morgan-t; Wayne Shorter-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Cedar Walton-p; Reggie Workman-b

  • – Shelly’s Manne Hole, Los Angeles, CA (February 27-March 8, 1964) [db 3/12/64 p.46] [lineup probable]
  • – Jazz Workshop, San Francisco, CA (March 10-22, 1964) [db 3/12/64 p.46, db 4/23/64 p.46] [Sabu Martinez guest]

“Lee Morgan, the trumpeter who first played with Blakey in 1958, rejoined him last spring after three years of attempts to establish himself as a leader. Ironically, he has since had a hit record of his own (“The Sidewinder” on Blue Note), but he is wisely remaining a sideman.”

– Leonard Feather, New York Post, December 13, 1964, p.54.

[The April 9, 1964 issue of Down Beat p.43 announced that Morgan had replaced Hubbard in the Messengers.]

  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (April 15, 1964) Indestructible (Blue Note 84193)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (April 16, 1964) (Blue Note unissued)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (April 24, 1964) Indestructible (Blue Note 84193)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (May 15, 1964) Indestructible (Blue Note 84193)
  • Tonight Show
  • – Pittsburgh Jazz Festival, Pittsburgh, PA (June 19, 1964) [db 7/30/64 p.13]

* 1964: Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard-t; James Spaulding-as; Wayne Shorter-ts; Charles Davis-bar; Curtis Fuller-tb; Julius Watkins-fr hn; Bill Barber-tu; Cedar Walton-p; Reggie Workman-b

  • – NYC (1964) Golden Boy (Colpix 478)

[While frequently dated as 1963, I think it more likely that this session occurred in 1964 after the Indestructible dates. The musical Golden Boy opened on Broadway on October 20, 1964. Blakey’s Golden Boy was album of the week December 13, 1964 in the New York Post.]

  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (August 11, 1964) Lee Morgan session (Blue Note)

“Wayne waited a year after leaving Blakey before joining Davis, time he used to record Night Dreamer and JuJu for Blue Note.” [clearly wrong, as this chronology shows. Night Dreamer was made April 29, 1964 and JuJu was recorded August 3, 1964]

– Tim Logan, Down Beat, June 20, 1974, p.16.

[Wayne Shorter’s first appearance with Miles Davis was September 18, 1964 at the Hollywood Bowl opposite Duke Ellington (db 7/14/77 p.58, date from Stratemann)]

“The kind of timing I learned with Art was almost always consistent. Building your expressions into sort of a climax, ending your solos on something very worthy of sharing with or being remembered by everyone. In fact, before I left, we were starting to stretch out with the arrangements, trying an extended kind of thing with three horns in front on tunes like “Mosaic” and some of the other things we wrote. But at that time I was getting calls from Miles, so I figured five years, that’s enough for a cycle.”

– Wayne Shorter, Down Beat, June 20, 1974, p.16.

  • – Showboat, Philadelphia, PA (September 8-13, 1964) [db 11/5/64 p.36] [Lee Morgan present]

October 1964: John Hicks-p – [db 6/86 p.27]

“Art was pretty heavy on piano players. There were tons of tunes to learn and Art wouldn’t allow any music on the bandstand. He said you were supposed to remember it. Art just sort of pushed me out there and said, ‘You got it.’ Of course once I got into it I saw how great it was.”

– John Hicks, quoted by Joel Herson in Down Beat, June 7, 1979, p.32.

[Sonny Rollins filled in for the Jazz Messengers at Birdland, NYC (October 13-25, 1964) who were “unable to appear when the drummer-leader sprained his right arm in a fall in early October. The Messengers had originally been scheduled in place of the Miles Davis Sextet, which had to cancel out when the trumpeter’s recurring hip ailment acted up again.” – Down Beat, December 3, 1964, p.9.]

October 21, 1964: Lee Morgan-t; John Gilmore-ts; John Hicks-p; Victor Sproles-b

  • – McKie’s Disc Jockey Lounge, Chicago, IL (October 21-November 1, 1964) [db 10/22/64 pp.45-46]

[Curtis Fuller was “hospitalized in New York City with a serious tonsil infection but is scheduled to rejoin the band after it finished its run at McKie’s.” – db 12/3/64 p.44]

  • – Jazz Workshop, Boston, MA (Sunday matinee) [db 12/3/64 p.43] [Peter Loeb, playing tenor and curved soprano simultaneously, guest] [lineup unknown]

* November 1964: Roy Haynes subs for Art Blakey on a tour of Japan

“Well, he [John Gilmore] was with Sun Ra and he came from Chicago and I made some recordings with him on Blue Note [BLP1549]. I liked the way he played, very hip. So it came we needed a tenor player, we were on our way to Japan and Lee Morgan went and got John Gilmore and he played very well. He made the tour with us, but he had other commitments.”

– Art Blakey, Cadence, July 1981, p.11.

November 14, 1964: Lee Morgan-t; John Gilmore-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; John Hicks-p; Victor Sproles-b

  • – UCLA, Los Angeles, CA (November 14, 1964) [db 10/8/64 p.12]
  • – Los Angeles, CA (November 15-16, 1964) ‘S Make It (Limelight 82001)
  • – Jazz Workshop, San Francisco, CA (November 17-22, 1964) [db 10/22/64 p.46]
  • – Los Angeles, CA (November 25, 1964) ‘S Make It (Limelight 82001)
  • – Hollywood, CA (December 1, 1964) Buddy DeFranco session (Vee Jay)
  • – Hollywood, CA (December 3, 1964) Buddy DeFranco session (Vee Jay)
  • – Plugged Nickel, Chicago, IL (December 9-13, 1964) [db 11/5/64 p.46]
  • – NYC (December 20, 1964) Quincy Jones Big Band session (Limelight)

1965

[January 2, 1965 was the date of the first concert in Japan by the Messengers, who were joined on this tour by vocalist Pat Thomas.]

  • – concert in Japan (January 2, 1965) [unrecorded] [-TN]
  • – Birdland, NYC (two weeks in February 1965) [db 3/25/65 p.13]

February 27, 1965: Lee Morgan-t; John Gilmore-ts; John Hicks-p; Victor Sproles-b

[The Messengers began a concert tour of France, Switzerland and England on February 27, 1965. – db 3/25/65 p.13]

  • – Olympia, Paris, France (February 27, 1965) [Jazz Hot 3/65 p.63]
  • – Olympia, Paris, France (February 28, 1965) [Jazz Hot 3/65 p.63]
  • – Jazz 625

Are You Real

Live on BBC-TV

Spring 1965: Gary Bartz-as

  • Leo’s Casino, Cleveland, OH (March 25-28, 1965) [Call & Post 3/20/65 p.6A, 3/27/65 p.7A] [Hicks and Sproles probably present, but not Lee Morgan who performed opposite the Messengers on the double bill]
  • – North End Lounge, Baltimore, MD (Spring 1965) [-GB]

“Art didn’t have any music, so we didn’t have that problem. We’d have a rehearsal during the day and play the music that night. You either learned it or messed it up…and you’d keep messing it up until you learned it.”

Gary Bartz, db 3/2000 p.34.

* May 12, 1965: Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard-t; Gary Bartz-as; John Hicks-p; Victor Sproles-b

  • – NYC (May 12, 1965) Soulfinger (Limelight 82018)
  • – NYC (May 13, 1965) Soulfinger (Limelight 82018)

May 14, 1965: Lee Morgan-t; Gary Bartz-as; John Gilmore-ts; John Hicks-p; Victor Sproles-b

  • – Half Note, NYC (May 14, 1965) [unrecorded]
  • – Jazz Workshop, Boston, MA (May 17-23, 1965) [db 6/3/65 p.46]
  • Leo’s Casino, Cleveland, OH (date??) [db 5/6/65 p.41] [lineup unknown]
  • Half Note, NYC (June 8-13, 1965) [VV 6/3/65 p.18, VV 6/10/65 p.16, db 7/29/65 p.18]

June 11, 1965: Gary Bartz-as; John Gilmore-ts; John Hicks-p; Victor Sproles-b

  • – Half Note, NYC (June 11, 1965) (broadcast – Alan Grant’s “Portraits in Jazz”) [during broadcast, Alan Grant mentions that Morgan is sick that night.]

– [Ben Tucker played bass at some point during the Half Note engagement – photo in db 7/29/65 p.18]

June 18, 1965: Charles Tolliver-t; Gary Bartz-as; John Hicks-p; Victor Sproles-b

  • – Pittsburgh Jazz Festival, Pittsburgh, PA (June 18, 1965)
  • – Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI (July 2, 1965) [Burt Goldblatt: The Newport Jazz Festival, Jazz Hot 9/65 p.39, Jazz Magazine 10/65 p.28]

[It appears that Goldblatt is in error in listing Lee Morgan and John Gilmore in the band.]

[Blakey also participated in a drum workshop on July 3, 1965 at Newport with Louis Bellson, Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Papa Jo Jones and Roy Haynes playing with Johnny Coles, George Coleman, Billy Taylor, Ben Tucker. – Goldblatt, Jazz Magazine 10/65 p.28]

  • – Jazz Workshop, San Francisco, CA (July 20-August 1, 1965) [db 8/12/65 p.54] [lineup unknown]
  • – Shelly’s Manne Hole, Los Angeles, CA (August 3-8, 1965) [db 8/12/65 p.54] [lineup unknown]

August 13, 1965: Gary Bartz-as; Frank Mitchell-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; John Hicks-p; Eddie Gomez-b (subbing)

  • – Down Beat Jazz Festival, Chicago, IL (August 13, 1965)
  • – North End Lounge, Baltimore, MD (August? 1965) [db 10/7/65 p.41] – “opened last month”
  • – Ohio Valley Jazz Festival, Columbus, OH (August 27, 1965) [Call & Post 8/21/65 p.6A] [Bartz, Hicks present]
  • – Berlin, Germany (October 30, 1965) Sonny Rollins quartet performance (Bandstand)

* October 30, 1965: Freddie Hubbard-t; Nathan Davis-ts; Jaki Byard-p; Reggie Workman-b

  • Berlin, Germany (October 30, 1965) (private recording) [-TN]
  • – Palais de la Mutualite, Paris Jazz Festival, Paris, France (November 3, 1965) [unrecorded] [db 1/13/66 p.33]
  • – Kurhaus, Den Haag, The Netherlands (November 5, 1965)
  • – Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (midnight November 5/6, 1965)

[This group was billed as Art Blakey’s New Jazzmen and although George Tucker was scheduled to participate, his death on October 10, 1965 prevented this. Poster for the Paris Jazz Festival with Tucker’s name listed is reproduced in Jazz Journal 1/66 p.6.]

“One time, in 1966, we had come back to New York from a gig in Cincinnati, and all that week we were hearing advertisements on the radio for Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers at the Jazzmobile. Neither Hicks nor I had heard from Bu about this, but we figured, ‘Well, we know where we’re working.’ So we went up there. We could hear music from all the way down the block. And there was the Jazzmobile moving down the street, with Art and a whole new band!” [It would seem that the 1966 date mentioned should be 1965.]

– Gary Bartz, quoted by Karen Bennett in Musician, February 1991, p.36.

“I came back to Rochester for a weekend during this time and promptly got a call from Art Blakey in New York. So I went with Art for two years and recorded two albums with him. At that time we had Frank Mitchell on tenor and Reggie Johnson on bass. John Hicks had just left so Keith Jarrett was on piano. Then Mike Nock was on for a while and then Chick Corea came on the band. What a school that was! I went to school with piano players. But then after two years I couldn’t handle it anymore…work two weeks, off a week, work a weekend, be off the week…”

– Chuck Mangione, quoted by Jim Szantor in Down Beat, November 25, 1971, p.12.

November 9, 1965: Chuck Mangione-t; Frank Mitchell-ts; Lonnie Liston Smith-p; Reggie Johnson-b

  • – Five Spot, NYC (November 9, 1965) [VV 11/4/65 p.12, VV 11/11/65 p.14]

On November 19, 1965, Blakey participated in a drum workshop at Hunter College, NYC with Max Roach, Jo Jones, Joe Morello, Roy Haynes, Louie Bellson and pianist Billy Taylor [VV 11/11/65 p.16]

  • – Pep’s Show Bar, Philadelphia, PA (“recently”) [db 12/2/65 p.38] [only Mangione named]
  • – Pete’s Hideout, NYC (November 24, 1965) Blakey listed as guest with Ali Jackson and Wilbur Harden. Possible that he never appeared. [poster]
  • – Five Spot, NYC (November into December 1965) [VV 11/25/65 p.12, VV 12/16/65 p.18] [personnel unknown]

“Then in New York I was sitting at home twiddling my thumbs and playing the drums and getting all the neighbors mad. Finally I got to play for about ten minutes at the Vanguard; it was a jam session thing. Tony Scott and Art Blakey were both there. So I worked with Tony a few times at the Dom and then Art got in touch with me. I was with him four months.”

– Keith Jarrett, quoted by Bob Palmer in Down Beat, October 24, 1974 p.16.

1966

January 1, 1966: Chuck Mangione-t; Frank Mitchell-ts; Keith Jarrett-p; Reggie Johnson-b

  • – Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, CA (January 1-9, 1966) Buttercorn Lady (Limelight 82034) [db 1/13/66 p.44]
  • – Half Note, NYC (February 4-5, 1966) (private recording from February 4) [-BR] [lineup unknown]

“I never did believe in separatism. Don’t forget that as far back as 1965 I had Chuck Mangione and Keith Jarrett in the band. The 1960’s were a difficult time for everybody to get along together, because the black consciousness thing was very strong, and instead of just playing the music, some cats were using the bandstand for a political rostrum. That hurt. It had nothing to do with our musical objectives. Most of those guys didn’t even vote. All we’re supposed to do, I feel, is try to make people happy.”

– Art Blakey, quoted by Leonard Feather in L.A. Times, October 30, 1977, p.78.

“And these musicians were black. And they couldn’t keep time. And they couldn’t play. They couldn’t play the blues. I had to get a white trumpet player to play the blues! At least Chuck Mangione come in here and play the blues. He tried to play the blues, do everything he possibly could. You know? And these kids standin’ around trying to put these guys down. Oh, they put Keith Jarrett down in my band, Chuck Mangione. When they heard the band, I said, come on, you want to sit in? They didn’t dare. Not one of them. They didn’t dare. I knew exactly what I was doing. When I needed a trumpet player, I called Dizzy. Dizzy said, ‘I got it. Chuck Mangione.’ Sent him right to me. And that was a blessing, ’cause I didn’t have any. Couldn’t find none nowhere. And this is what was happening. Oh, there probably were some down in the south or out west, but I didn’t hear anyone here in New York. Regardless of what they doing out there, if you ain’t in New York you in trouble. You know what I mean, you don’t want no musician coming out from Chicago coming in unless he’s an exception. But he’s got to be in New York. That’s what I tell all the musicians when I meet them. Get to New York. Get there. Go there and stay. Exchange ideas.”

– Art Blakey, Jazz Magazine, Winter 1979, p.48.

“It was really a misfit. The reason why things were so terribly unbalanced there was because we had Keith, who was a very accomplished musician and there were other musicians in the band who were growing. Sometimes a man has so much talent he would get bored waiting for the rest of the cats to catch up. And Keith could play other instruments too and he knew what the saxophone player was doing wrong, what the trumpet player was doing wrong. He was in the band because of me, because he liked me. But it’s like a kid in school, put him in the wrong class and he gets bored.”

– Art Blakey, Cadence, July 1981, p.9.

“At the time, the management of that band was a complete shambles, but there were other things, all through that period, like nearly crashing on a drive out to the West Coast. It was one of the most nervewracking trips anybody has ever taken; Chuck got out of the car in Oklahoma and took a plane the rest of the way. At any rate, I decided to leave and our last job was in Boston. I had met Charles Lloyd there earlier. […] Now, when I decided I was leaving Art’s group, I looked at the club’s schedule and Charles was coming in the following week, so off the top of my head I called him up. He had already asked Steve Kuhn but somehow he got out of that or Steve had to do something else.”

– Keith Jarrett, quoted by Bob Palmer in Down Beat, October 24, 1974 p.16.

[Jarrett was performing with Charles Lloyd as early as February 16, 1966 (TV broadcast)]

c. Spring 1966: Chuck Mangione-t; Frank Mitchell-ts; Mike Nock-p; Reggie Johnson-b

  • – Plugged Nickel, Chicago, IL (March 11-20, 1966) [unrecorded] [db 3/24/66 p.17, 53, -SL]
  • – Pep’s Show Bar, Philadelphia, PA (March 28-April 2, 1966) [db 3/24/66 p.53]

April 1966: Chuck Mangione-t; Frank Mitchell-ts; Lonnie Liston Smith-p; Reggie Johnson-b

  • – Village Vanguard, NYC (April 26-28, 1966) [unrecorded] [VV 4/21/66 p.18, NYAN 4/28/66 p.16, db 6/2/66 p.14]

“Drummer Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, at the Village Vanguard in April, had pianist Lonnie [Liston] Smith in place of Mike Nock, who had replaced Keith Jarrett.”

– Down Beat, June 2, 1966, p.14

Spring 1966: Chuck Mangione-t; Frank Mitchell-ts; Chick Corea-p; Reggie Johnson-b

  • – Blues Unlimited, Detroit, MI (Spring 1966) [unrecorded] [db 6/2/66 p.42] [“recently appeared”]
  • – Half Note, NYC (May 6-7, 1966) [VV 5/5/66 p.16]
  • – Half Note, NYC (May 13-14, 1966) [db 5/19/66 p.54]
  • Five Spot, NYC (3 weeks c. late May 1966) [db 6/30 p.15]
  • – NYC (May 27, 1966) Art Blakey: Hold On, I’m Comin’ session (Limelight) [The Mercury Labels]
  • – Braves Stadium, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Atlanta, GA (May 28, 1966) [db 6/2/66 pp.12-13]
  • – Jazz Society for Performing Artists, Baltimore, MD (May 30, 1966) [db 6/30/66 p.45, db 7/14/66 p.69]
  • – Jazzmobile, 137th St. & Lenox Ave., NYC (July 13, 1966) [db 7/28/66 p.10]
  • – Village Gate, NYC (August 2-14, 1966) [db 8/11/66 p.44]

October 1966: Chuck Mangione-t; Frank Mitchell-ts; Chick Corea-p; Juni Booth-b

  • – Town Tavern, Toronto, Canada (one week October 1966) [Toronto Star, October 4, 1966] [db 11/17/66 p.53]
  • – Varty’s, Boston, MA [-JW, db 12/1/66 p.41]

“Yeah, it was just after the time that Chuckie Mangione and Chick were playing in Art Blakey’s band. They left the band at the same time, and so Chick, Chuck, Joe Romano, Frank Pullara, and myself got a job playing six nights a week in Rochester, while I was going to Eastman.” [This could not have lasted long because Corea soon joined the Stan Getz group, reported in db 1/12/67. This article also mentioned Bobby Timmons taking Corea’s place for a tour of Japan (the one that was canceled).]

– Steve Gadd, Down Beat, July 1982, p.16.

* November 3, 1966 Jimmy Owens-t; Wayne Shorter-ts; McCoy Tyner-p; Ben Tucker-b; Elvin Jones, Tony Williams-d

  • – concert in Japan (November 3, 1966) [unrecorded] [-TN]
  • – Japanese tour (until November 17, 1966) [db 12/1/66 p.13]

“After Coltrane, I did a little stint with Art Blakey. We went to Japan, and the Japanese put together a tour of drummers – Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and Tony Williams, and I was part of that band. When we’d get through at night there was a piano in the lobby of the hotel, so I sat down and played by myself. One night Art snuck in – I didn’t know he was listening – but then he said, ‘Ooohh, so you like to play by yourself, huh?’ The next night, he said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, here’s McCoy Tyner, by himself!’”

– McCoy Tyner, db 3/2000 p.14.

[db 7/14/66 p.15 has Blakey scheduled for Berlin, Germany (November 3-6, 1966), but Berlin Jazz Festival records indicate this did not take place.]

[The Japanese immigration department canceled the group’s visas because of “possibility of narcotics offenses by the group’s personnel”, scuttling a tour which was to have started on December 29, 1966. – db 2/9/67 p.11]

1967

  • Royal Arms, Buffalo, NY (January 1967) [Coda 3/67 p.19] [lineup unknown]

February 7, 1967: Bill Hardman-t; Frank Mitchell-ts; McCoy Tyner-p; Juni Booth-b

  • – Shelly’s Manne Hole, Los Angeles, CA (February 7-19, 1967) [db 1/12/67 p.44, db 4/6/67 p.49]
  • – Jazz Workshop, San Francisco, CA (February 21-March 5, 1967) [db 1/12/67 p.44]
  • Jazz Workshop, Boston, MA (“recently”) [db 3/23/67 p.50]
  • – Penthouse, Seattle, WA (March 9-18, 1967) [db 2/9/67 p.43]
  • – Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, CA (March 19-April 1, 1967) [db 3/9/67 p.46, db 5/4/67 p.40, db 5/18/67 p.48]
  • Village Gate, NYC (April 1967) [db 5/18/67 p.48, VV 4/6/67 p.37] [lineup unknown]

April 30, 1967: Bill Hardman-t; Joe Henderson-ts; McCoy Tyner-p; Juni Booth-b

  • – Longhorn Jazz Festival, Austin, TX (April 30, 1967) [db 6/15/67 pp.26-29]

– [Blakey also participated in a Sunday drum clinic with Elvin Jones, Jo Jones and Don Lamond]

  • – Drome, Detroit, MI (May 19-28, 1967) [db 5/18 pp.50, 52] [lineup unknown]

June 25, 1967: Bill Hardman-t; Billy Harper-ts; Slide Hampton-tb; McCoy Tyner-p; Juni Booth-b

  • American Festival of Music, Boston, MA [db 6/15/67 p.50] [lineup unknown]
  • – Bohemian Caverns, Washington, DC (May 1967) [db 6/29/67 p.55] [lineup unknown]
  • – Left Bank Jazz Society, Baltimore, MD (June 25, 1967) [db 7/27/67 p.42, db 8/10/67 p.43]
  • – Jaycees Convention, Civic Center, Baltimore, MD (June 26, 1967) [db 8/10/67 p.43]
  • NYC (1967) (private recording) [-TN, DM]
  • Jazzmobile, NYC (August 9, 1967) [db 8/24/67 p.13, NYAN 8/5/67 p.16]
  • – Laurel International Jazz Festival, Laurel, MD (September 1-3, 1967) [db 9/7/67 p.12, db 11/2/67 p.23]

“Briefly, some time before, [Mickey] Bass had worked a one-nighter in Philadelphia with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. In 1967, Bass left [Gloria] Lynne and became the full-time anchorman with Buhaina.” [This would be prior to Fall 1967 when Bass entered NYU.]

– Bill Quinn, RFJ, 9/79 p.17.

[Blakey replaced Ben Riley for one set with Thelonious Monk at the Village Gate, NYC in October 1967 – db 9/21/67 p.16]

  • -Memory Lane, Los Angeles, CA [db 11/2/67 p.38 says that the Messengers “did such good business that they’ve been invited back”]
  • San Francisco, CA [db 11/30/67 p.44 mentions drummer Dick Berk sitting in with the Jazz Messengers while on vacation in SF] [lineup unknown]
  • – It Club, Los Angeles, CA (October 1967) [db 12/14/67 p.13] [Slide Hampton still in band]
  • Plugged Nickel, Chicago, IL (late October 1967) [Chicago Defender 10/28/67 p.12] [Hardman, Hampton, Tyner present]

1968

February 7, 1968: Bill Hardman-t; Billy Harper-ts; Julian Priester-tb; Ronnie Mathews-p; Larry Evans-b

  • London, England (February 7, 1968) (private recording) [-TN]
  • Slug’s, NYC (March 1968 “long stint”) [db 4/18/68 p.15]
  • Blue Coronet, Brooklyn, NY (to April 5, 1968) [db 5/16/68 p.46]
  • Olatunji Center, NYC (Sunday, April [7?], 1968) [db 5/30/68 p.15]
  • Civic Auditorium, Charlotte, NC (May 10-11, 1968) [db 4/18/68 p.13]
  • Slug’s, NYC (one week in May 1968) [db 6/27/68 p.50]
  • Newport Jazz Festival, Philadelphia, PA (June 22, 1968) [db 6/13/68 p.52]
  • Showboat, Philadelphia, PA [db 7/11/68 p.42]
  • Jazzmobile, Harlem Meer, NYC (June 26, 1968) [db 8/8/68 p.11]
  • Jazz Interactions, The Dom, NYC (Sunday) [db 8/8/68 p.13]
  • Hartford, CT (August 5, 1968) [db 8/8/68 p.39]
  • Slug’s, NYC (August 1968) Live! (Trip 5034)
  • (c. 1968) Moanin’ (LRC 9052)
  • concert in Japan (August 24, 1968) [unrecorded] Evelyn Blakey-voc [-TN]
  • Japanese tour (“a month’s tour” August-September 1968) [db 10/31/68 p.43] [Wynton Kelly, Art Blakey, Jr., Elvira (s/b Evelyn) Blakey guests]
  • Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, Detroit, MI (September 27-October 5, 1968) [db 9/5/68 p.46]
  • Jazz Expo 68, Hammersmith Odeon, London, England (during October 19-26, 1968) [db 10/31/68 p.10, db 11/28/68 p.41, db 12/26/68 p.23]

[Blakey also participated in a drum workshop on October 21, 1968.]

  • Rotterdam, The Netherlands (October 25, 1968) [Elvin Jones and Sunny Murray also on this performance] [-F]
  • Copenhagen, Denmark (October 29, 1968) (private recording) [-F]

November 3, 1968: Randy Brecker-t; Joe Farrell, Billy Harper-ts; Ronnie Mathews-p; Larry Evans-b

  • Vienna, Austria (November 3, 1968) [-HS] [can this lineup be correct?]
  • Paris Jazz Festival, Salle Pleyel, Paris, France (November 6, 1968) [A “Drums Panorama” with Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Sunny Murray (and Dizzy Gillespie big band) also on this performance] [Jazz Hot 10/68, p.13]

November 8, 1968: Bill Hardman-t; Billy Harper-ts; Julian Priester-tb; Ronnie Mathews-p; Larry Evans-b

  • Berlin Jazz Festival, Berlin, Germany (November 8, 1968) (private recording) [-HS, db 10/31/68 p.10]

1968: Woody Shaw-t; Billy Harper-ts; Kenny Barron-p; Buster Williams-b

  • Mexico City Jazz Festival, Mexico City, Mexico (1968) [-JA]

1969

1969: Isao Suzuki-b

“After working in New York with Art Blakey (1969-70), he [Isao Suzuki] returned to Japan where he worked again as a leader.”

– New Grove p.1174.

April? 1969: Woody Shaw-t; Tyrone Washington-ts; George Cables-p; Scotty Holt-b

  • – Wollman Auditorium, Columbia University, NYC (February 24, 1969) [db 3/20/69 p.15]
  • – Loeb Student Center, New York University, NYC (March 3, 1969) [db 3/20/69 p.15]
  • – Fillmore East, NYC (March 9, 1969) [db 3/20/69 pp.14, 52]
  • Black Bottom, Montreal, Canada (April? 1969) [Coda 6/69 p.34]
  • Café La Boheme (early April-early May 1969) [Voice] [this is questionable considering the below activity]

April 15, 1969: Woody Shaw-t; Carlos Garnett-ts; George Cables-p; Scotty Holt-b

  • – New York University, Bronx, NY (April 14, 1969) [db 3/20/69 p.15]
  • Mellow Blues
  • Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ (April 1969) (private recording) [-DM] [same as above?]
  • – Carnegie Recital Hall, NYC (April 18, 1969) [db 3/20/69 p.15, db 5/1/69 p.58]
  • – Greek Theater, University of California, Berkeley, CA (April 25 or 26, 1969) [db 3/20/69 p.14 – but no mention in db 7/24/69 pp.26-28]

early June 1969: Woody Shaw-t; Carlos Garnett-ts; John Hicks-p; Jan Arnet-b

  • – Aqua Musical Lounge, Philadelphia, PA (early June 1969) [db 8/7/69 p.41; RW]

“When I developed confidence with the Samaritans, I got my first long-term gig, in 1969 with Art Blakey, then with Sonny Rollins. I was still learning. It was like going to graduate school. I was really digging into the music, feeling it, watching Art’s or Sonny’s face light up when I’d get into it.”

– George Cables, quoted by Lee Underwood in Down Beat, August 1981, p.28.

July 5, 1969: Woody Shaw-t; Carlos Garnett-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; George Cables-p; Jan Arnet-b

  • – Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI (July 5, 1969) [db 5/15/69 p.12, -JA] [no mention of Fuller in db 8/21/69 p.25 nor in Goldblatt]

[Blakey also participated in a festival jam session on July 4, 1969 – db 8/21/69 p.25]

  • Festival of Stars, Montreal, Canada (Sunday in June or July 1969) [Coda 8/69 p.36]
  • – Club Baron, NYC [db 7/24/69 p.38] [lineup unknown]
  • New York Jazz Festival, Randall’s Island, NY (August 16, 1969) [db 8/21/69 p.14]

[Blakey and Wilbur Ware sat in with Thelonious Monk at the Village Gate, NYC in 1969 – db 10/2/69 p.38]

  • Slug’s, NYC (September 9-14, 1969) [db 10/16/69 p.39]
  • Village Gate, NYC (October 3-4, 1969) [db 11/27/69 p.11, Voice]
  • Slug’s, NYC (October 14-19, 1969) [db 12/11/69 p.11, Voice] [lineup unknown]

late 1969: Randy Brecker-t; Carlos Garnett-ts; Sonny Donaldson-p; Skip Crumby-b

  • Cellar Door, Washington, DC (late 1969) [db 12/25/69 p.51]
  • Slug’s, NYC (November 18-23, 1969) [db 1/8/70 p.8, Voice] [lineup unknown]

1970

January 5, 1970: Bill Hardman-t; Carlos Garnett-ts; Joanne Brackeen-p; Jan Arnet-b

  • concert in Japan (January 5, 1970) [unrecorded] Etta Jones-voc [-TN]
  • Tokyo, Japan (February 19, 1970) Jazz Messengers ’70 (Catalyst 7902)
  • Atlanta, GA [db 2/19/70 p.41]

“When I had Joanne Brackeen in the band, we were playing down South. This was in Georgia or somewhere. This guy came up and said, ‘Hey, there, Mr. Blakey. You know you got a white gal in the band!’ I said, ‘No shit, I have to check it out. I thought I had a piano player!’”

– Art Blakey, Jazz Magazine, Winter 1979, p.46.

  • Slug’s, NYC (June 9-14, 1970) [db 7/23/70 p.13]
  • Cadillac Club, Newark, NYC [db 8/6/70 p.41]
  • Jazz On The Hudson cruise, NYC (“recent”) [db 8/20/70 p.12]
  • Jazzmobile, NYC (Summer 1970 “already performed”) [db 9/3/70 p.7] [see below]
  • Slug’s, NYC (August 4-9, 1970) [db 9/3/70 p.39]
  • Jazz Workshop, Boston, MA (“recently”) [db 10/1/70 p.42]
  • Jazzmobile, NYC (September 11, 1970) [db 10/15/70 p.8] [final concert of the season – not the same as earlier concert]
  • Laborers Union Hall, New Orleans, LA (Sunday) [db 10/29/70 p.42]

1970: Woody Shaw-t; Ramon Morris-ts; Albert Dailey-p; Mickey Bass-b [RFJ 9/79 p.17]

September 13, 1970: Albert Dailey-p

  • Left Bank Jazz Society, Baltimore, MD (September 13, 1970) [db 11/12/70 p.46]

January 4, 1971: Bill Hardman-t; Don Byas, Ramon Morris-ts; Donald Smith-p; Jymie Merritt-b [bassist may have been Hal Dodson, confirmation needed]

  • concert in Japan (January 4, 1971) [unrecorded] [-TN]
  • Japanese tour of over fifty concerts [db 4/29/71]

early 1971: Bill Hardman-t; Don Byas, Ramon Morris-ts; Donald Smith-p, voc; Hal Dodson-b

  • Club Baron, NYC [unrecorded] (early 1971) [db 4/29/71 photo]

“I had two tenor players. Jeeminy, he [Byas] was here in the United States (in 1970) and he wasn’t working, and I couldn’t stand that, so I said, ‘Come on, work with me.’ Fantastic artist, plus the young guys in the group took advantage of his experience.”

– Art Blakey, Down Beat, March 25, 1976, p.16.

“He [Byas] left the group after one U.S. engagement – at the Club Baron in Harlem.”

– Down Beat, October 26, 1972, p.10.

May 11, 1971:

  • Slug’s, NYC (May 11-16, 1971) [flyer]
  • Jazzmobile, NYC (August 1971)

[From the Fall of 1971 through early 1973, Blakey performed with The Giants Of Jazz – usually Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt, Kai Winding, Thelonious Monk, and Al McKibbon. Max Roach replaced Blakey for at least one Los Angeles concert in 1973. (db 3/15/73, p.38). A more detailed chronology of these activities can be found here. Blakey was in NYC on 12/29/71 for an interview with Art Taylor for Notes And Tones.]

“I have yet to meet the man who can beat him at chess, or even checkers, or ping-pong. Monk had all the drummers, everybody was so happy to work with Monk. I joined the Giants Of Jazz just because Monk was in there, and I had a chance to be around Dizzy and the cats for a minute. We just made the one tour. The cats are stars, and they’re set in their ways. We did the one trio date in London [the two Black Lion Monk LPs], and he just did it because they asked him to and I did it because I’d do anything they’d ask me to do with Monk.”

– Art Blakey, quoted by John Litweiler in Down Beat, March 25, 1976, p.15.

March 23, 1972: Woody Shaw-t; Buddy Terry-ts, ssx; Joanne Brackeen-p; Austin Wallace-eb

  • Swing Club, Torino, Italy (March 23, 1972) (private recording) [-TN, DM]

“Meanwhile, Blakey’s crew, with [Mickey] Bass along, did a Japan tour and returned to record two albums back-to-back.”

Bill Quinn, RFJ, 9/79 p.18.

May 20, 1972: Lee Morgan Memorial Concert, Lincoln Center, NYC [Blakey participated] [db 6/26/72 p.11]

May 23, 1972: Woody Shaw-t; Ramon Morris-f; Buddy Terry-ssx; Essien Nkrumah-g; John Hicks, Walter Davis, Jr.-ep; Stanley Clarke, Mickey Bass-b; Nathaniel Bettis, Sonny Morgan, Pablo Landrum-perc; Emmanuel Rahim-cga

  • Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (May 23, 1972) Child’s Dance (Prestige 10047)
  • Newport Jazz Festival, Radio City Hall, NYC (July 6, 1972) Jam Session (Cobblestone)

July 28, 1972: Woody Shaw-t; Manny Boyd-f; Ramon Morris-ts; George Cables-p; Stanley Clarke-b; Ray Mantilla-cga

  • Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (July 28, 1972) Child’s Dance (Prestige 10047)
  • Jazz Now Festival, Munich, Germany (between August 17-20, 1972) [Coda 8/72 p.39] [lineup unknown]

* August 20, 1972: Jeremy Steig-f; George Cables-p; Stanley Clarke-b; Tony Williams-d; Buck Clarke, Ray Mantilla-cga

  • Chateauvallon Jazz Festival, France (August 20, 1972) (private recording) [-HS]
  • Berlin Jazz Festival, Berlin, Germany (November 5, 1972) (private recording) [-HS] drum duo with Elvin Jones

1972?: Woody Shaw-t; Ramon Morris-ts; Slide Hampton-tb; John Hicks-p; Stanley Clarke-b

  • [from 1973 Prestige press bio after release of Buhaina – but 1972 seems like the right year]

1972?: George Adams-ts

“It’s funny, when Art called for the gig he said, ‘You’re part of the Messengers.’ I don’t remember what band I was playing with then. Art is such a beautiful cat, he just started telling me the names of all the cats who played with him. He said, ‘Anybody who comes through New York has got to come through the Messengers. About that time he was giving me all sorts of little pointers. He said, ‘You don’t have to prove to me that you can play; I wouldn’t have called you to come play the gig.’ I thought a lot of Art. He just told me to express myself. ‘There’s no hassling, you don’t have to prove to me that you can do anything,’ he said.”

– George Adams, quoted by Lee Jeske in Down Beat, November 1979, p.34.

  • Jazz Boat, NYC (January 1973) [db 2/1/73 p.36] [lineup unknown]

1972?: Don Pullen-p [“short time” prior to joining Mingus (tapes exist from 2/73) Mandel p.27]

  • Left Bank Jazz Society, Baltimore, MD (January 21, 1973) [db 5/29/73 p.37] [lineup unknown]

1973: James “Blood” Ulmer-g [“Ulmer only played five jobs in three months with the group”] [db 10/80 p.23] Ulmer recommended by Ramon Morris who was probably also in this group.

[Possible that Ulmer introduced George Adams to Blakey as the two had worked together with Hank Marr in the mid 1960s. No confirmation of this.]

c. February 1973: (weekends only for three weeks)

  • Village Gate, NYC (c. February 1973) [db 3/15/73 p.14]

February 28, 1973: Olu Dara-t, Carter Jefferson-ts; Cedar Walton-p; Mickey Bass-b; Tony Waters, Ray Mantilla-perc

  • concert in Japan (February 28, 1973) [unrecorded] [-TN]
  • Famous Ballroom, Baltimore, MD (1973) [db 10/11/73 p.50] [lineup unknown]

March 26-27, 1973: Woody Shaw-t; Carter Jefferson-ts; Cedar Walton-p; Mickey Bass-b; Tony Waters-cga

  • Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, CA (March 26-27, 1973) Anthenagin (Prestige 10076)

May 3, 1973: Woody Shaw-t; Carter Jefferson-ts; Steve Turre-tb; Cedar Walton-p; Mickey Bass-b

  • Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, CA (May 3, 1973) Anthenagin (Prestige 10076) Buhaina (Prestige 10067)

July 4, 1973: Eddie Henderson-t; Curtis Fuller-tb; Carter Jefferson-ts; Cedar Walton-p; Mickey Bass-b; Ray Mantilla-cga, timb

  • Newport In New York Festival, Apollo Theater, NYC (July 4, 1973) (broadcast) [-DM]
  • Radio City Music Hall, NYC (July 6, 1973) midnight jam session [Goldblatt]

July 7, 1973: Bill Hardman-t; Carter Jefferson-ts; Cedar Walton-p; Mickey Bass-b

  • Wollman Amphitheater, Central Park, NYC (July 7, 1973) [Goldblatt] [Sonny Stitt, Roy Haynes guests] [Hardman, not Henderson?]
  • Village Gate, NYC (mid-August 1973) [db 9/13/73, p.43] [lineup unknown]
  • Dayton, OH (November 22-December 2, 1973) [db 12/6/73 p.11] [lineup unknown]

1973: John Hicks-p [db 6/86 p.27]

August 28, 1973: Eddie Henderson-t; Carter Jefferson-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; John Hicks?-p; Mickey Bass?-b

  • Village Gate, NYC (August 28-September 15, 1973) [NYT 9/3/73]
  • Apollo Theatre, NYC (September 4, 1973) (private recording) [-TE] [tape date correct? see 7/4/73 above]

1973-74?: Eddie Henderson-t; Carter Jefferson-ts; John Hicks-p; Mickey Bass-b

  • NYC [db 6/7/79 p.32]

1973-74?: Eddie Henderson-t; Carter Jefferson-ts; John Hicks-p; Stafford James-b

  • Ronnie Scott’s, London [db 6/7/79 p.32]

December 5-9, 1973:

  • Jazz Showcase, Chicago, IL [db 12/6/73 p.38, db 12/20/73, p.11]

January 22, 1974: Olu Dara-t, Carter Jefferson-ts, ssx, Cedric Lawson-p, org, Stafford James-b

  • concert in Japan (January 22, 1974) [-TN]
  • Japan (February 14-17, 1974) [db 2/28/74 p.9]
  • Rotterdam, The Netherlands (private recording) (March 1, 1974) [-TN]
  • Europe (March 31-May 5, 1974) [db 2/28/74 p.9]
  • Pescara Festival, Italy (April 2, 1974) [www.pescarajazz.com]
  • Half Note, NYC (May 31, 1974) (WRVR broadcast) [-DM, -BR]
  • Newport Jazz Festival, Radio City Music Hall, NYC (July 7, 1974) jam session with Diana Ross [Goldblatt]
  • La Bastille, Houston, TX (August 23-31, 1974) – [db 9/12/74 p.46]

“I’ve been working with Blakey now for about eight months.”

– Cedric Lawson, Down Beat, May 23, 1974, p.32.

1975

January 3, 1975: Bill Hardman-t; David Schnitter-ts; Albert Dailey-p; Jymie Merritt-b

  • Jazz Workshop, Boston, MA (January 3, 1975) (private recording) [-F] [check date? This sounds like 1976 personnel.]

1975: Shunzo Ono-t; Nelson Santiago-as; David Schnitter-ts; Kasal Allah-p; Yoshio Suzuki-b

1975: Woody Shaw-t; David Schnitter-ts; Kasal Allah-p; Yoshio Suzuki-b

1975: Woody Shaw-t; David Schnitter-ts; Walter Davis, Jr.-p; Yoshio Suzuki-b

May 13, 1975: Bill Hardman-t, David Schnitter-ts, Ronnie Mathews-p, Yoshio Suzuki-b

  • concert in Japan (May 13, 1975) [unrecorded] [-TN]
  • Tokyo, Japan (1975) (private recording) [-DM] [same as above?]

May 16, 1975: Bill Hardman-t; David Schnitter-ts; Walter Davis, Jr.-p; Yoshio Suzuki-b

  • (May 16, 1975) In Walked Sonny (Sonet 691) [Sonny Stitt guest]
  • Five Spot, NYC (1975) [re-opening night] [New Grove p.894]
  • Newport Jazz Festival, Avery Fisher Hall, NYC (July 5, 1975) [Goldblatt, RFJ 6/75 p.16 dates as 7/4/75]
  • WNYC broadcast (July 22, 1975) (private recording) [-BR]
  • Jazz Interactions (August 1975) [Coda 9/75 p.32] [lineup unknown]

October 11, 1975: Bill Hardman-t, David Schnitter-ts, Ronnie Mathews-p, Yoshio Suzuki-b

  • A Touch of Class, Newark, NJ (October 3-5, 1975) [Nite Lite 10/9/75 p.16] [lineup unknown]
  • “In Concert”, Montreal, Canada (week of October 11, 1975) [Coda 11/75 p.30]

* October 18, 1975: Bill Hardman, Woody Shaw-t, Jackie McLean-as; Hank Mobley-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Walter Davis, Jr., Harold Mabern-p; Jymie Merritt, Reggie Workman-b

  • Fine Arts Center Concert Hall, University of Massachusetts (October 18, 1975) [-WRD]

“Cedar told me he stayed the better part of three years. Horace started and went 2 ½, when it was a co-op band. Walter Davis was in and out five or six times. Timmons was already a star – “Dis Here”, “Dat Dere”, “Moanin’” – and he stayed two years. John Hicks and Albert Dailey were practically platooning on the gig. Schnitter told me that around 1974-75 on a given night, he wouldn’t know who’d be on the stool.”

– James Williams, quoted by Fred Bouchard in Jazz Times, January 1983, p.5.

February 15, 1976: Bill Hardman-t; David Schnitter-ts; John Hicks-p; Yoshio Suzuki-b

  • The Childe Harolde, Washington, DC (February 15, 1976) [RFJ 6/76 p.4] [“Hicks missed an opening set to play Baltimore Left Bank Jazz Society concert with Betty Carter.” – J.R. Taylor, RFJ 6/76 p.4, -GC]

March 15, 1976: Bill Hardman-t; David Schnitter-ts; Albert Dailey-p; Yoshio Suzuki-b

  • Moers, Germany (January 1, 1976) (private recording) [-F] [lineup unknown] [should this be dated as June 1976?]
  • NYC (March 15-16, 1976) Backgammon (Roulette 5003)

[Albert Dailey and John Hicks at different times replaced Walter on piano and Bill Hardman sometimes replaced Woody Shaw. – DS]

  • New Jazz Emporium Room, Eastown Motor Inn, Cleveland, OH (March 30-April 10, 1976) [db 4/22/76 p.48]
  • Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, CA [April 20-25, 1976] [db 5/6/76 p.48]

April 1976: Bill Hardman-t; David Schnitter-ts; Mickey Tucker-p; Chris Amberger-b

  • Pioneer Bank, Seattle, WA (one week) [-CA]
  • Jazz de Opus, Portland, OR [-CA]
  • Keystone Korner, San Francisco, CA (May 4-9, 1976) [db 4/22/76 p.48] (10 days around May 9, 1976) [Billboard 5/29/76] [Eddie Henderson guest on 5/9/76]

c. May 1976: Sonny Lewis-sax; Russell Ferrante-p; Chris Amberger-b

  • Doubletree, Tucson, AZ (one week) [-CA]

c. May 1976: Wallace Roney-t; Chris Amberger-b

  • Stockton State College, NJ [unrecorded] [-CA]

c. May 1976: Bill Hardman-t; David Schnitter-ts; Mickey Tucker-p; Chris Amberger-b

  • Mikell’s, NYC [-CA]

* June 3, 1976: Bill Hardman, Woody Shaw-t; David Schnitter-ts; Mickey Tucker-p; Chris Amberger-b

  • Kliene Schouwburg, Rijswijk, The Netherlands (June 3, 1976) (broadcast) [-DM, RS] [Slide Hampton guest]

June 19, 1976: Bill Hardman-t; David Schnitter-ts; Mickey Tucker-p; Chris Amberger-b

  • Moers Festival, Germany (between June 4-7, 1976) [Coda 6/76 p.25]
  • Ljubljiani, Yugoslavia (June 19, 1976) Na Concertnom Podiju (Jugoton 61417)
  • Kongsberg Jazz Festival, Kongsberg Kino, Kongsberg, Norway (June 25, 1976) (recorded by NRK radio) [-JB]
  • Club 7, Oslo, Norway (June 27, 1976) [poster]
  • NYC (July 1, 1976) New York Jazz Repertory Company gig [Goldblatt]
  • Club Harlem, Atlantic City, NJ (July 3, 1976) [-CA]
  • Pescara (July 9, 1976) Pescara Jazz (Philology 100/101)
  • Orvieto, Italy (July 20, 1976) [Coda 10/76 p.26]

* June 29, 1976: Freddie Hubbard, Bill Hardman-t; David Schnitter-ts; Mickey Tucker-p; Chris Amberger-b

  • Kool Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall, NYC (June 29, 1976) [RFJ 8/76 pp.5, 9]

“‘Backgammon’ was a warmup with Blakey switching from brushes to sticks and back again. His licks varied the mood but the rest of the group was up to it. ‘Along Came Betty’ started innocently enough for this Benny Golson gem written for Blakey, until Freddie Hubbard showed up from his gig with Herbie Hancock at another hall. He came on blowing and showed that his technique was still intact. Schnitter, never at a loss for ideas, rose to the occasion and blew some fine choruses while Hardman matched Hubbard all the way.

“Hubbard’s face was like a child’s, as he watched his ex-boss Blakey move about on traps – utilizing crescendo rolls, stops, double-tempo brushwork and the like. He almost seemed envious, perhaps longing to play again with the old master.

“Hubbard’s feature, ‘Lover Man’, had Blakey shouting at him at the coda, ‘Act like a fool!’ Art’s excitement carried over to the audience as well as his soloists, and his slashing rolls, rim shots and triplets, as he moved from toms to snare, drew shouts and applause each time. At the conclusion of ‘A Night in Tunisia’, Freddie started an a capella challenge round that saw Hardman triple-tongue in double time with Hubbard matching it.”

– Arnold Jay Smith, Down Beat, September 9, 1976, pp.13, 40.

“Wow! Wasn’t that somethin’? Freddie’s so fantastic, isn’t he? I really believe in my heart, about Freddie, he loved me like he would his father. I really love that man. He is different, I’ve heard a lot of people say bad things about him. Around me, he’s Freddie Hubbard.”

– Art Blakey, Jazz Magazine, Winter 1979, p.52.

  • Blakey and Hubbard also participated in a jam session at Radio City [RFJ 8/76 pp.5, 9-10]

1976: Bill Hardman-t; David Schnitter-ts; Mickey Tucker-p; Cameron Brown-b

  • Oslo, Norway (c.1976) Art’s Break (Lotus 8250)
  • Tunis (c. 1976) Art’s Break (Lotus 8250)
  • Nice, France (between July 8-18, 1976) (private recording) [-DM, Coda 9/76 p.25] [is this really Brown and not Amberger on bass? Only Hardman and Schnitter mentioned in Coda.]
  • Maastricht (August 5, 1976) (private recording) [-DM]
  • Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux, Switzerland (1976) [photo by Bob Holt in RFJ 10/76 p.8]

[For about six or seven months, this group toured Japan and Europe as well as the U.S. Nigerian percussionist Ladji Camara was added for the Japanese tour -DS]

“I got a fantastic African drummer who’ll be working with me as soon as the economic situation makes it feasible. His name is Ladji Camara, and when he comes on, there’s no doubt in your mind where he comes from. He has on his regalia and his clothes, and he has his drums that his great-grandfather built. He has little drums, I guess about six inches, with decorations on the side, and whenever he hits them all the other drummers sound like tin pans. Scare you to death. And then soft as a woman’s hands. Ladji does his own tunes, sings, he’s there by himself with his vibraphones and everything. I don’t try to bring him into jazz, and there’s no place in his music for the type of thing that I’m doing. So I just accompany him, without playing the cymbals and stuff.”

– Art Blakey, quoted by John Litweiler in Down Beat, March 25, 1976, p.17,44.

  • Five Spot, NYC [db 6/21/79 p.46] [Hardman]

[Blakey sat in with Curtis Fuller at Storyville in NYC late summer 1976 and met Bobby Watson – db 5/90 p.19]

“Art asked me, ‘Whatcha doin? How’d you like to join the Messengers?’ Looking back on it, I’m probably one of the only guys he’s asked who wasn’t beating the doors down. When I told everyone Art had asked me to join, nobody believed me.”

Bobby Watson, quoted by Kevin Whitehead in db 5/90 p. 19

October 21, 1976: Bill Hardman-t; David Schnitter-ts; Mickey Tucker-p; Cameron Brown-b; Ladji Camara-perc

  • concert in Japan (October 21, 1976) [unrecorded] [-TN]
  • Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, CA (late 1976) [Coda 2/77 p.32] [lineup unknown]
  • Village Vanguard, NYC (December 1976) Blakey sat in with Dexter Gordon [RFJ 1/77 p.6]

December 12, 1976: Frank Gordon-t; David Schnitter-ts; Walter Davis, Jr.-p; Cameron Brown-b

[This group existed for about five weeks – DS]

  • Left Bank Jazz Society, Famous Ballroom, Baltimore, MD (December 12, 1976) [Coda 2/77 p.35, -GC]

1977: Johnny Coles-t; Bobby Watson-as; David Schnitter-ts; Amina Claudine Myers-p; Dennis Irwin-b

  • Village Gate, NYC (one weekend only)

January 1977 “Valery Ponomarev joined the band last January.” – Leonard Feather, L.A. Times 10/30/77 p.78

February 14, 1977: Valery Ponomarev-t; Bobby Watson-as; David Schnitter-ts, Walter Davis, Jr.-p, Dennis Irwin-b

  • Sound Ideas Studio A, NYC (February 14, 1977) Gypsy Folk Tales (Roulette 5008)
  • Sound Ideas Studio A, NYC (February 17, 1977) Gypsy Folk Tales (Roulette 5008)
  • NYC (February 19, 1977) Walter Davis, Jr. session (Denon)
  • Sound Ideas Studio A, NYC (February 28, 1977) Gypsy Folk Tales (Roulette 5008)
  • Sound Ideas Studio A, NYC (March 1, 1977) Gypsy Folk Tales (Roulette 5008)
  • New Haven, CT (May 10, 1977) (private recording) [guests Dexter Gordon, Woody Shaw] [-RR]
  • Rise Club, Cambridge, MA (1977-78) (broadcast) [-JW]
  • Village Vanguard, NYC (May 17-22, 1977) [db 6/2/77 p.45]
  • Jazz Showcase, Chicago, IL (June 22, 1977) (broadcast) [-WRD] [Willie Pickens-p]
  • Everson Museum, Syracuse, NY (Summer 1977) [db 5/90 p.19]
  • Newport Jazz Festival, Avery Fisher Hall, NYC (July 2, 1977) [db 10/6/77 p.48, RFJ 8/77 p.8] [Joe Morello guest]
  • Kristianstad, Sweden (July 9, 1977) (private recording) [-JS, RS]
  • Club 7, Oslo, Norway (July 12, 1977) [poster]
  • North Sea Jazz Festival, Den Haag, The Netherlands (July 1977)
  • Antibes Jazz Festival, Antibes, France (July 20, 1977) (private recording) [-DM]
  • Café Montmartre, Copenhagen, Denmark (1977) 1st Anniversary of re-opening [RFJ 12/77 p.4]
  • Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, CA (September 6-11, 1977) [unrecorded] [db 10/6/77 p.58]
  • Keystone Korner, San Francisco, CA (September 12-17, 1977) [unrecorded] [db 10/6/77 p.58]
  • Monterey Jazz Festival, Monterey, CA (September 18, 1977) Monterey Jazz Festival retrospective (Warner Bros. 46703) [RFJ 8/77 p.13, RFJ 11/77 p.7]
  • Keystone Korner, San Francisco, CA (September 28, 1977) [-BF]
  • Rising Sun, Montreal, Canada (October 1977) [Coda 12/77 p.29]
  • Atlanta, GA (“last week” 1977) [RFJ 12/77 p.24]

James Williams joined in October 1977 – JT 1/83 p.5

November 27, 1977: Valery Ponomarev-t; Bobby Watson-as; David Schnitter-ts, James Williams-p, Dennis Irwin-b

  • Palais de Glaces, Paris, France (November 27, 1977) [unrecorded] [Jazz Hot 2/78 p.60] [no pianist mentioned, but probably Williams as he made other dates on this European tour]
  • Genova, Italy (December 4, 1977) (private recording) [-RSI] [David Schnitter and Bill Hardman listed, but seems unlikely for Hardman]
  • Ressegna Internazionale del Jazz, Padova, Italy (December 7, 1977) [unrecorded] [Musica Jazz 2/78 pp.36-37]

“About half a year after I got to the U.S. they were playing at the Five Spot in New York. I went down there and somebody introduced me to Art, saying that I was a trumpet player from Russia. He said, ‘Yeah man, bring your horn.’ He always welcomes new musicians. He’s so open-hearted, so warm-hearted, you feel at home right away and I felt I was at home. So I brought my horn, I played a tune and he seemed to like me. He took my number, and when Bill Hardman left they called me and I took his place. I’ve been with Art Blakey two years and two months now.”

– Valery Ponomarev, quoted by Larry Birnbaum in Down Beat, June 21, 1979, p.46.

  • Village Vanguard, NYC (December 27, 1977-January 1, 1978) [NYT 12/29/77] [add Curtis Fuller-tb]
  • CI Recording Studio, NYC (December 29, 1977) In My Prime vol. 1 (Timeless 114) [add Curtis Fuller-tb, Ray Mantilla-perc]

“Bu made me conscious of trying to swing consistently and be rhythmically interesting instead of just thinking of ways to get through tunes. Before him I’d always been the leader, or people could adjust to my playing. So I learned to discipline myself, listen hard, adjust to others, but, most of all, consciously making it swing. I knew that all along, but sometimes you lose your concentration, and do things out of context. You have to edit, check yourself, playing the right thing at the right time.”

– James Williams, quoted by Fred Bouchard in Jazz Times, January 1983, p.5.

  • – The Bank, Akron, OH (February 24-26, 1978) [-JS]
  • – Jazz Showcase, Chicago, IL (March 22-26, 1978) [db 3/23/78 p.45] (NPR broadcast week of October 8, 1978) [RFJ 10/78 p.3]
  • – Washington University, St. Louis, MO (March 1978) [RFJ 3/78 p.24]
  • – Parisian Room, Los Angeles, CA (May 1978) [db 5/4/78 p.48]
  • – Molde, Norway (May 29, 1978) [-CBK]
  • – Trondheim, Norway (late May 1978) [this show was canceled due to problems with Valery Ponomarev’s visa]
  • – Club 7, Oslo, Norway (May 31, 1978) [poster] [this show was canceled]
  • – Drammen, Norway (early June 1978) [this show was canceled]
  • – Amsterdam, The Netherlands (early June 1978) [this show NOT canceled]
  • – Goteborg, Sweden (Summer 1978?) [OJ 9/78 p.20]
  • – Kongresshaus, Innsbruck, Austria (July 3, 1978) [-BF]
  • – La Spezia, Italy (July 8, 1978) (private recording) [-RSI]
  • – Sangerhalle, Untertürkheim, Germany (July 15, 1978) (Arthaus Musik)
  • – North Sea Jazz Festival, Den Haag, The Netherlands (between July 14-16, 1978) [RFJ 5/78 p.6]
  • – San Remo, Italy (July 22, 1978) (private recording) [-RSI]
  • – Cleveland International Jazz Festival, Ayresome Park Football Stadium, Middlesbrough, England (July 23, 1978) (private recording) [-DM, -ST, RFJ 12/78 p.13] [not July 22 – date corrected from program]
  • – Ronnie Scott’s, London, England (Summer 1978? – several days) [unrecorded] [Jazz Journal, 8/78, p.20]
  • – Paris, France (Summer 1978?) [Jazz, Blues & Co., Summer 1978, p.9]
  • – Jazzmobile, Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY (Summer 1978) [-NC]
  • – Lincoln Center Out of Doors, NYC (August 24, 1978) [unrecorded] [flyer]
  • – Ann Arbor Jazz Festival, Ann Arbor, MI (September 24, 1978) [actually early hours of 9/25/78] [Coda 2/1/79 p.60, RFJ 9/78 p.3]
  • – Santa Barbara, CA (November 16, 1978) [RFJ 11/78 p.3]
  • – Laguna Beach, CA (November 17, 1978) [RFJ 11/78 p.3]
  • – San Diego, CA (November 18, 1978) [RFJ 11/78 p.3]
  • – Hatfield, England (Fall 1978?) [Melody Maker, December 9, 1978, p.59]
  • – Teatro Tenda a Strisce, Rome, Italy (November 27, 1978) [Jazz Magazine, February 1979, p.22]
  • – Milan, Italy (Fall 1978?) [Musica Jazz, January 1979, pp.21-22]
  • – Fendal Sound Recording Studio, Loenan aan de Vecht, The Netherlands (December 4, 1978) In My Prime vol. 1 (Timeless 114) In My Prime vol. 2 (Timeless 118) Reflections In Blue (Timeless 128)
  • – Muziekcentrum, Utrecht, Netherlands (December 6, 1978) [Jazz Nu, January 1979, p.155]
  • – Hamburg, Germany (December 11, 1978) (private recording) [Frohne NDR list]
  • – NYC (December 12, 1978) In My Prime vol. 2 (Timeless 118) [location (or date) seems wrong. Probably recorded in Europe.]
  • – De Speeldoos, Vught, Netherlands (December 14, 1978) Sesjun Radio Shows (Out Of The Blue)
  • – Moers, Germany (December 16, 1978) (private recording) [-DM]

“Bu and I had good rapport and we’re still friends. He sometimes made suggestions to me that made me feel good that he brought them out: ‘I need you stronger here, take more authority, don’t let this happen here, don’t let that drag…’ He’s very comfortable as an accompanist, happy to ‘let the cats play.’ Many’s the night he’d hardly take but one solo. Usually leaders have egos too strong for that – especially drummers!”

– James Williams, quoted by Fred Bouchard in Jazz Times, January 1983, p.5.

  • Jazz Showcase, Chicago, IL (NPR broadcast in June 1979) [RFJ 6/79 p.3] [DATE UNKNOWN – same as earlier NPR broadcast?]
  • Dino’s, Philadelphia, PA (a Thursday-Sunday “in the past few months”) [RFJ 3/79 p.6]
  • concert in Japan (February 5, 1979) [-TN]
  • Victor Studios, Tokyo, Japan (February 12, 1979) Night In Tunisia (Philips 6386943)
  • Jazzerie, Miami, FL (“plans”) [RFJ 2/79 p.3]
  • Keystone Korner, San Francisco, CA (March 6-11, 1979) [RFJ 3/79 p.5] [was this changed to below?]
  • Keystone Korner, San Francisco, CA (March 13-18, 1979) [flyer] [-BF]
  • Symphony Space, NYC (April 9, 1979) [unrecorded] [flyer]
  • London, England (Spring 1979?) [Melody Maker, May 5, 1979, p.42]
  • Caveau de la Huchette, Paris, France (May 16-18, 1979) [Jazz Magazine, July-August 1979, p.17]
  • Playboy Jazz Festival, Hollywood Bowl, CA (between June 15-16, 1979) [RFJ 6/79 p.3]
  • Newport Jazz Festival, New York (June 22, 1979) [RFJ 8/79 p.14] [Dizzy Gillespie percussion concert]
  • Newport Jazz Festival, Saratoga, NY (June 30, 1979) (PBS Summerfest broadcast) [RFJ 8/79 p.24] [Art Blakey Trio and jam session]
  • Newport Jazz Festival, 52nd Street Fair, NYC (July 1, 1979) [photo in Jazz Magazine Winter 1979 p.45, RFJ 8/79 p.25]
  • Atlantic City Jazz Festival, Atlantic City, NJ (July 7, 1979) [RFJ 6/79 p.13]
  • Ronnie Scott’s 20th Anniversary Celebration, Royal Albert Hall, London (Summer 1979) [db 8/9/79 p.12]
  • Village Gate, NYC (late August 1979) [Musica Jazz, November 1979, pp.25-26] [Dizzy Gillespie guest seen in db 12/88 p.18 photo] [party for Gillespie’s autobiography]
  • Jazz Showcase, Chicago, IL (August 1979) [db 9/6/79 p.56]
  • Portland, OR (private recording) [-RS]
  • Harlem World Cultural & Entertainment Complex, NYC (September 23, 1979) [unrecorded] [flyer]
  • – Club 7, Oslo, Norway (October 14, 1979) [poster]
  • – Umea, Sweden (October 18, 1979) (private recording) [-JS, RS]
  • – Berlin Jazz Festival, Berlin, Germany (October 30, 1979) (private recording) [-TN, DM, RFJ 2/80 p.15]
  • – CIAK, Milan, Italy (November 4, 1979) One By One (Palcoscenico 15005)
  • Keystone Korner, San Francisco, CA (December 31, 1979) (private recording) [-DM, RFJ 2/80 p.9]

* October 30, 1979: Bill Hardman-t; Jackie McLean-as; Benny Golson-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Cedar Walton-p; Reggie Workman-b

  • – Berlin Jazz Festival, Berlin, Germany (October 30, 1979) (private recording) [-TN, DM, RFJ 2/80 p.15]

* October 30, 1979: Valery Ponomarev, Bill Hardman-t; Bobby Watson, Jackie McLean-as; David Schnitter, Benny Golson-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; James Williams, Cedar Walton-p; Dennis Irwin, Reggie Workman-b

  • – Berlin Jazz Festival, Berlin, Germany (October 30, 1979) (private recording) [-TN, DM, RFJ 2/80 p.15]

“Now I’m going to Europe and they’re gonna have the old Messengers. They’re gonna have all of ’em come back and play. I know I will have a ball. Any place I feel that I will have something to do with it or some kinda say, I feel it.”

– Art Blakey, Jazz Magazine, Winter 1979, p.52.

* December 30, 1979: Eddie Henderson-t, flg; Jackie McLean-as; Billy Harper-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Cedar Walton-p; ?-b; Airto Moreira-perc [probable that Ponomarev, Watson, Schnitter, Williams, and Irwin were also present]

  • – Keystone Korner, San Francisco, CA (December 30, 1979) [-BF]

* December 31, 1979: Valery Ponomarev-t; Eddie Henderson-t, flg; Bobby Watson, Jackie McLean-as; David Schnitter, Billy Harper-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; James Williams, Cedar Walton-p; Dennis Irwin-b; Airto Moreira-perc; Flora Purim-voc

  • Keystone Korner, San Francisco, CA (December 31, 1979) (private recording) [-DM, RFJ 2/80 p.9]

“One final point, for the benefit of those who saw Freddie Hubbard’s name advertised or heard it mentioned on the air as a Blakey alumnus due at the San Francisco bash, the story depends on whom you believe. Freddie never showed, that is certain.”

– Leonard Feather, Radio Free Jazz, 2/80 p.9

“And that’s not unusual that I played with some of the guys that used to be with me. I often travel with some of the old Messengers to San Francisco – we recorded there for Timeless – or Japan, where we also recorded. It’s interesting, I take some of the guys who are free. I’ve used Cedar Walton, Curtis Fuller, and others. We go over, do some concerts and have a ball.” [The mention of a Timeless recording by a Messengers alumni group appears to be an error.]

– Art Blakey, Down Beat, July 1985, p.22.

1980

c. early 1980: Avery Sharpe-b

“While on the big band tour with Shepp, Avery met Art Blakey who came to hear the band. Art said he’d like to have Sharpe be his next bass player. After Dennis Irwin left Blakey, Sharpe was called into the Messenger service. While working with Blakey, McCoy Tyner first heard Sharpe and was impressed. Sharpe remembered the changes in bass players between Blakey’s Messengers and McCoy Tyner’s group, and laughed: ‘When Charles Fambrough left McCoy I joined him and Fambrough went to Art. It was kind of a trade off. Art is a hell of an institution.’”

– John Howard, Down Beat, August 1981, p.52.

March 11, 1980: Valery Ponomarev-t; Bobby Watson-as; Billy Pierce-ts; James Williams-p; Charles Fambrough-b

  • – Jazz Showcase, Chicago, IL (March 12-16, 1980) [Chicago Sun-Times 3/14/80, RFJ 2/80 p.4]
  • – Edison Theater, Washington University, St. Louis, MO (March 24, 1980) [db 4/80 p.80]
  • – De Doelen, Rotterdam, Netherlands (April 20, 1980) [-HK]
  • – Nick Vollebregt’s Jazz Cafe, Laren, Netherlands (May 1, 1980) Sesjun Radio Shows

(Out of the Blue)

  • – Volksbuhne, Berlin, Germany (May 3, 1980) Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers (Repertoire 4904)

“He was taking a semi-big band out on tour. The Jazz Messengers were playing a gig in Boston, and some cats in the band asked me to come down to audition, so I just sat in the next night and Art liked me. I got the job.” [apparently this larger band was only used for a European tour in the summer of 1980]

– Kevin Eubanks, quoted by Bill Milkowski in db 7/83 p.48.

June 21, 1980 Valery Ponomarev, Wynton Marsalis-t; Robin Eubanks-tb, Bobby Watson-as; Billy Pierce-ts; Branford Marsalis-bar, as; Kevin Eubanks-g; James Williams-p; Charles Fambrough-b; John Ramsay-d

  • – Bottom Line, NYC (June 21, 1980)
  • – Kongsberg Jazz Festival, Kongsberg Kino, Kongsberg, Norway (June 27, 1980) (recorded by NRK radio and TV) [-JB]
  • – Ravenna, Italy (July 11, 1980) (private recording) [-RSI] [Kenny Clarke guest]
  • – North Sea Jazz Festival, Den Haag, The Netherlands (July 13, 1980) Live At Montreux And North Sea [a.k.a. Stairway To The Stars] (Timeless 150)
  • – Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux, Switzerland (July 17, 1980) Live At Montreux And North Sea [a.k.a. Stairway To The Stars] (Timeless 150)
  • – Antibes Jazz Festival, France (July 24, 1980) Jazz at Antibes 
  • – Jazz Fest Wiesen, Austria (one date between July 24-27, 1980)
  • – Zeleste, Barcelona, Spain (July 26, 1980)

“I was lucky to get so much documentation: ten albums and a bootleg. Five or six of my compositions got recorded, a pretty good number. I’d like to have done more, but I got lazy at certain stretches, fell into a slump and did not write consistently. I got really interested in playing, for when the Marsalis brothers and Billy joined the band, there was a whole new dimension to ensembles that had not been there before, that inspired Robert [Watson] and myself to write more challenging music, though still in the tradition. Yeah, Donald [Brown] and I were saying that if we had lead sheets of all the great tunes that the band had played through the years it would be quite a library.”

– James Williams, quoted by Fred Bouchard in Jazz Times, January 1983, p.5.

August 9, 1980: Wynton Marsalis, Wallace Roney-t; Robin Eubanks-tb; Bobby Watson-as; Billy Pierce-ts; Branford Marsalis-bar, as; Kevin Eubanks-g; James Williams-p; Charles Fambrough-b; [no added drummer?]

  • European tour (Summer 1980) [Leonard Feather notes to Roney’s Seth Air album]
  • – Fort DuPont Park, Washington, DC (August 8-9, 1980) [Washington Post 8/11/90, JT 8/80 p.5]
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (August 11, 1980) Dexter Gordon session (CBS)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (August 12, 1980) Dexter Gordon session (CBS)

“During my first 2 ¾ years there were no changes in the band: Schnitter, Watson and Ponomarev on the line. I thought that the band took off with more consistency and tradition when Billy [Pierce, his old tenor sax buddy from Boston], Charles [Fambrough], and Wynton joined. The first band I was in had an emphasis on solo playing, and didn’t really know much about ensemble playing. We paid more attention to detail: subtleties of dynamics, textural changes, more excitement and adventure. We brought Bu out more, too.”

– James Williams, quoted by Fred Bouchard in Jazz Times, January 1983, p.5.

late August 1980: Wynton Marsalis-t; Bobby Watson-as; Billy Pierce-ts; James Williams-p; Charles Fambrough-b

  • – Fat Tuesday’s, NYC (August 26-31, 1980) [JT 11/80 p.9, NYT 8/24/80 p.D32]
  • Art Park Jazz Festival, Niagara Falls, NY (NPR broadcast May 31, 1981) [JT 4-5/81 p.4] [DATE UNKNOWN]
  • – Mayport & All That Jazz Festival, Jacksonville, FL (Fall 1980 prob. early Oct. – Saturday) [db 1/81 p.9] [lineup unknown]
  • – Cannonball Adderley Jazz Festival, Tallahassee, FL (between October 1-6, 1980) [JT 10/80 p.10] – may not have performed
  • – Bubba’s Jazz Restaurant, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (September 29, 1980-October 11, 1980 [rec]) Featuring Wynton Marsalis vol. 1 (Break Time 4039) Featuring Wynton Marsalis vol. 2 (Break Time 4040)
  • Village Gate, NYC (October 28, 1980) [JT 12/80 p.7] [Benefit jam session for Carter/Mondale – perhaps Blakey and Wynton Marsalis only]
  • Montreal, Canada (November 15, 1980) [James Emery (the guitarist?) added] [Cadence 7/81 p.9]
  • – Jazz Showcase, Chicago, IL (December 31, 1980-January 4, 1981) [db 1/81 p.64] [see Keystone Korner engagement below]

* c. December 31, 1980: Valery Ponomarev, Eddie Henderson-t; Jackie McLean, Bobby Watson-as; Billy Harper-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Cedar Walton-p; Dennis Irwin-b; Airto Moreira-perc

  • – Keystone Korner, San Francisco (c. December 31, 1980 – two weeks) (12/31/80 private recording) [-F] [date cannot be correct considering Chicago engagement]

1981

  • – Famous Ballroom, Baltimore, MD (February 8, 1981) [JT 2/81 p.19]
  • – Fat Tuesday’s, NYC (February 10-15, 1981) [db 3/81 p.65, NYT 2/13/81, NY Post 2/12/81, Bennett Public Relations Press Release]
  • – Manchester Royal Exchange, Manchester, England (March 1, 1981) (private recording) [-DM]
  • – Stockholm, Sweden (March 9, 1981) Art Blakey In Sweden (Amigo 839)
  • – Roundhouse, London, England (March 18, 1981) (private recording) [-DM]
  • – Cosenza, Italy (April 3, 1981) (private recording) [-RSI]
  • – Paris, France (April 12, 1981) Album of the Year (Timeless 155)
  • – Wichita Jazz Festival, Wichita, KS (April 24, 25 or 26, 1981) [db 4/81 p.9]
  • – Tambour, Hoogeveen, The Netherlands (May 2, 1981) [-RS] [date needs confirmation]
  • Fat Tuesday’s, NYC (“recently”) [JT 6/81 p.8]
  • – Stockholm Jazz and Blues Festival, Stockholm, Sweden (between June 11-15, 1981) [Cadence 5/81 p.4]
  • – Keystone Corner, San Francisco, CA Straight Ahead (Concord 168) (June 1981)
  • – Playboy Jazz Festival, Hollywood Bowl, CA (June 21, 1981) [db 5/81 p.11, -SB flyer does not list Marsalis]

June 26, 1981: Wallace Roney-t; Bobby Watson-as; Billy Pierce-ts; James Williams-p; Charles Fambrough-b

* June 26, 1981: Bill Hardman-t; Jackie McLean-as; Johnny Griffin-ts; Walter Davis, Jr.-p; Victor Sproles-b [MsManagement schedule, rehearsal photo in JT 2/85 p.11]

* June 26, 1981: Donald Byrd-t; Billy Harper-ts; Cedar Walton-p; Jymie Merritt-b [MsManagement schedule]

* June 26, 1981: Freddie Hubbard-t; Billy Harper-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Cedar Walton-p; Jymie Merritt-b [JT 9/81 pp.10-11]

* June 26, 1981: Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard-t; Billy Harper-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Cedar Walton-p; Jymie Merritt-b [MsManagement schedule]

* June 26, 1981: Bill Hardman, Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, Wallace Roney-t; Jackie McLean, Bobby Watson-as; Johnny Griffin, Billy Harper, Billy Pierce-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Cedar Walton, Walter Davis, Jr., James Williams-p; Jymie Merritt, Victor Sproles, Charles Fambrough-b [MsManagement schedule mentions Wynton Marsalis who had been replaced by Wallace Roney, JT 9/81 pp.10-11]

  • Kool Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall, NYC (June 26, 1981) [unrecorded] [db 11/81 p.18; db 10/81 p.20, JT 9/81 p.10-11]

“Jesus Christ, what a night! I saw guys I hadn’t seen for years! They’d got fat and changed. Donald Byrd was twice the size of me! I looked at him and said, that’s you? Freddie Hubbard was up there bustin’ outta his suit. Somebody said we shoulda been called Art Blakey and The Jazz Bellybands.”

– Art Blakey, quoted by Brian Case in Wire, December 1984, p.13.

between July 2-12, 1981: Wallace Roney-t; Bobby Watson-as; Billy Pierce-ts; Donald Brown-p; Charles Fambrough-b

  • – Montreal Jazz Festival, Montreal, Canada (between July 2-12, 1981) 

[CBC may also have tape] [Coda 10/1/81 p.34] [must be before 7/7/81]

“We had discussed it; then the day came when he said – ‘Hey man, I think it’s time for you to go.’ By that time, he knew pretty well what I was about, what I could do. And he’d shown me this too. I loved Art and he loved me; we could have said -‘Let’s carry on playing like this forever’. But that’s not what he is about. He is about giving as many young people as possible a chance, before he has to hang up his drums.”

– Bobby Watson, quoted by Anthony Troon in Wire, October 1985, p.37.

July 7, 1981: Wallace Roney-t; Bobby Watson, Branford Marsalis-as; Billy Pierce-ts; Donald Brown-p; Clarence Seay-b

  • – Blues Alley, Washington, DC (July 7-12, 1981) (private recording from 7/11/81) [tape sometimes incorrectly dated as 7/4]

“After [Branford Marsalis’s] graduation came five months with the Jazz Messengers. ‘Blakey taught me how to play the drums when I play. Rhythm is it. It’s what makes soloists different, what makes Sonny Rollins or Bird so great. I understood how time worked when I left Art.’”

– Branford Marsalis, quoted by Kevin Whitehead in Down Beat, March 1987, p.18.

Summer 1981: Wynton Marsalis-t; Branford Marsalis-as; Billy Pierce-ts; Donald Brown?-p; Charles Fambrough-b [lineup uncertain, but WM & BM definitely.]

  • Indianapolis Children’s Museum, Indianapolis, IN (Summer 1981) [-HP]

July 31, 1981: Wallace Roney-t; Bobby Watson-as; Billy Pierce-ts; Donald Brown-p; Charles Fambrough-b

  • – Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland, OH (July 31, 1981) [flyer incorrectly lists personnel, but Jim Szabo corrected]
  • – Atlantic City Jazz Festival, Atlantic City, NJ (between August 7-9, 1981) [JT 8/81 p.5]
  • – Fort DuPont Park, Washington, DC (August 8, 1981) [db 8/81 p.12, JT 7/81 p.4] [lineup unknown]
  • – Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI (between August 22-23, 1981) [JT 8/81 p.5]
  • – White House, Washington, DC (September 10, 1981) [Blakey participated in a tribute to Lionel Hampton] [JT 11/81 p.9]
  • – Ronnie Scott’s, London, England (November 6, 1981) (private recording) [-DM]
  • – Høvikodden Art Center, Høvik, Norway (November 1981) [-CBK]
  • – Tinker’s, Boston, MA (weekend) [JT 12/81 p.4]

* December 4, 1981: Wallace Roney-t, Branford Marsalis-as, ts, Slide Hampton-tb, Donald Brown-p; Charles Fambrough-b; George Kawaguchi-d

  • – CBS Studio B, NYC (December 4, 1981) Killer Joe (Storyville 4100)
  • – Jazz Alley, Seattle, WA (December 31, 1981) (KUOW broadcast) [JT 2/82 p.18] [lineup unknown]

1982

January 1982: Wynton Marsalis-t; Branford Marsalis-as; Billy Pierce-ts; Donald Brown-p; Charles Fambrough-b

  • The Jazz Life
  • NYC (January 1982) (private recording) [-JS]
  • – Keystone Korner, San Francisco, CA (January 1982) Keystone 3 (Concord 196) (other private recordings also exist) [guests included Bobby Hutcherson for a week and Joe Williams for one song] [-GC] [-BF January 13, 1982]

“Art Blakey, Kenny Burrell and other top jazz names are seen on a still experimental TV project called Keystone for Kids. Chevron/Standard Oil is thus far picking up the tab for this music education series, which is principally aimed at Bay Area school children through classroom video. Wynton Marsalis appeared with Blakey in a demonstration of jazz rhythms, while Burrell had a seven-piece group which went through the many roles of the jazz guitar. For both tapings the audience consisted of local 5th and 6th graders, brought to the Keystone Korner especially for the presentations.”

JT 8/82 p.17.

  • – Famous Ballroom, Baltimore, MD (February 7, 1982) [JT 2/82 p.19]
  • – Baird Auditorium, Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (February 19, 1982) Jazz at the Smithsonian 

[JT 1/82 p.3]

* c. 1982?: Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard-t; Branford Marsalis, Donald Harrison-as; Billy Pierce-ts; others unknown

  • unrecorded [photo in Down Beat, March 1987, p.19 – Branford playing alto seems significant]

“Then, in February of 1982, Wynton Marsalis called. ‘Wynton had just done his album, he had just come off the tour with Herbie and he was still playing in the band with Art, but he was getting ready to break it off and just get his own band, so he had called me to come and take an audition at Fat Tuesday’s. A couple of other trumpet players came down, I auditioned, and they just hired me for the gig. I had three days to learn all the music. Then it was off to Chicago for a week, a couple of gigs in Reno and Boston, and then we went to Europe for 10 weeks.’”

– Terence Blanchard, quoted by Lee Jeske in Down Beat, August 1983, p.44.

“We [Blanchard and Harrison] auditioned in the band at Fat Tuesday’s. We’d listen to tapes and learn the melodies and the changes and then come back and sit in. One night we played a whole set while Wynton and Branford sat in the back. And then Art said, ‘You’re a Jazz Messenger now.’ And what was wild was that he said, ‘I don’t want you to give a shit about Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, none of them. I just want you to be in this band and work hard at being the best you can be.’ He was naming all my heroes! He wanted me to understand that I couldn’t be them. There was no sense for me to try. I just had to be myself.”

– Terence Blanchard, quoted by Michael Bourne in Down Beat, May 1994, p.18.

[Donald Brown’s arthritis led to his leaving the band.]

April 1, 1982: Terence Blanchard-t; Donald Harrison-as; Billy Pierce-ts; Johnny O’Neal-p; Charles Fambrough-b

  • – NYC (February 1982) (private recording) [-JS]
  • – Kresge Auditorium, Detroit, MI (February 13, 1982) (private recording) [-TE]
  • – Strasboug (private recording) (April 1, 1982)
  • – Ronnie Scott’s, London, England (April 2-10, 1982) [JARS 4/82 p.1]
  • – The Netherlands (May 20, 1982) Oh, By The Way [a.k.a. My Funny Valentine] (Timeless 165)
  • – P’jazz, Detroit, MI (a Monday or Wednesday, probably late in June 1982) [Coda 8/1/82 p.24]
  • – Carver Cultural Center, San Antonio, TX (June 20, 1982) [unrecorded] [db 7/82 p.13]
  • – Jazz Forum, NYC (June 25, 1982) (private recording) [Woody Shaw guest] [photos in db 12/82 p.12 and JT 2/83 p.17 from this or later gig? It was the first live broadcast from JF by WKCR.]
  • – Central PA Friends of Jazz Festival, Penn Harris Convention Center, Harrisburg, PA (June 27, 1982) [unrecorded] [db 7/82 p.12, JT 6/82 p.19]
  • – Hidden Pond Park, Hauppauge, NY (July 7, 1982) [JT 7/82 p.3]
  • – North Sea Jazz Festival, Den Haag, The Netherlands (between July 16-18, 1982) [JT 5/82 p.2]
  • – Genova, Italy (July 23, 1982) (private recording) [-RSI]
  • – Capital Radio Jazz Festival, Knebworth Park, Hertfordshire, England (July 25, 1982) [JT 7/82 p.4, JARS 6/82 p.10]
  • – Beppu Jazz Festival, Beppu, Japan (August 7, 1982) [db 12/82 p.12, JT 12/82 p.12] [Freddie Hubbard guest]
  • – Fat Tuesday’s, NYC (August 1982) [JT 10/82 p.7]

* April 11, 1982: Freddie Hubbard-t; Benny Golson-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Cedar Walton-p; Buster Williams-b

  • – NYC (April 11, 1982) All-Star Jazz Messengers (RCA 45365)

September 1982: Terence Blanchard-t; Donald Harrison-as; Jean Toussaint-ts; Johnny O’Neal-p; Charles Fambrough-b

  • – Chicago Jazz Festival, Chicago, IL [db 12/82 p.58]
  • – Kool Jazz Festival, New Orleans, LA (September 18 or 19, 1982) [db 10/82 p.12]
  • – Jazz Forum, NYC (September 24-25, 1982) [Hot House 9/82 p.10]
  • – Blue Note, NYC (October 19-24, 1982) [Hot House 10/82 p.3, -WRD] (private recording exists from 10/23/82]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (October 26-30, 1982) [db 11/82 p.12]
  • – Le New Morning, Paris, France (November 13-14, 1982) [Jazz Magazine (France) 12/82 p.6]
  • – concert in Japan (November 15, 1982) [unrecorded] [-TN]
  • – Tokyo, Japan (November 16, 1982) (private recording) [-TN]
  • – Jazz Forum, NYC (December 30, 1982-January 2, 1983) [Hot House 12/82 p.10] [December 31, 1982 broadcast with Woody Shaw guest]

1983

  • Nick Vollebregt’s Jazzcafé, Laren, Netherlands (January 27, 1983) Sesjun Radio Shows (Out Of The Blue)
  • Blue Note, NYC (February 22-26, 1983) [-WRD, Coda 4/1/83 p.37] (private recording exists from 2/26/83)
  • – Keystone Korner, San Francisco, CA (March 1-13, 1983) [Cadence 3/83 p.2]
  • – Left Bank Jazz Society, Baltimore, MD (Spring 1983) [unrecorded] [db 12/88 p.18]
  • – Jazz Forum, NYC (May 12-15, 1983) [Hot House 5/83 p.5, but NYT 5/8/83 p.G18 lists these exact dates at the Village Gate] [lineup unknown]
  • – Kennedy Center, Washington, DC (June 5, 1983) [JT 6/83 p.3] [lineup unknown]
  • – Kool Jazz Festival, Cleveland, OH (between June 8-12, 1983) [db 7/83 p.13] [Dizzy Gillespie & Jon Faddis guests]
  • – Village Gate, NYC (June 17-18, 1983) [Hot House 6/83 p.12] [Woody Shaw guest]
  • – Tribute to Kai Winding, Kool Jazz Festival, Village Gate, NYC (June 23, 1983) [db 10/83 p.21] Blakey participated in a jam session
  • – Village Gate, NYC (June 24-25, 1983) [Hot House 6/83 p.12] [Mongo Santamaria guest]
  • – Kool Jazz Festival, Saratoga Springs, NY (July 2, 1983) [Hot House 7/83 p.12] [Dizzy Gillespie & Jon Faddis guests]

Michael Philip Mossman-t; Donald Harrison-as; Marchel Ivery-ts; Johnny O’Neal-p; Charles Fambrough-b

  • – Village Gate, NYC (2 wks?) [-WBF] [possibly the 6/83 Village Gate date]

* March 21, 1983: Jon Faddis, Terence Blanchard, Wynton Marsalis, Wallace Roney-t; Donald Harrison-as; Jean Toussaint, Branford Marsalis-ts; Robin Eubanks-tb; Donald Brown-p; Charles Fambrough-b; Ralph Peterson-d (big band)

  • Boston Globe Jazz Festival, Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA (March 21, 1983) [unrecorded] [db 8/83 p.45, JT 6/83 p.5, Coda 6/1/83 p.31] [Blakey and Fambrough also accompanied Makoto Ozone at this festival]

* April 13, 1983: Freddie Hubbard-t; Benny Golson-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Walter Davis, Jr.-p; Buster Williams-b

  • – NYC (April 13-14, 1983) Caravan (Baystate 8071)

July 23, 1983: Terence Blanchard-t; Donald Harrison-as; Jean Toussaint-ts; Johnny O’Neal-p; Lonnie Plaxico-b

  • Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark (between July 8-17, 1983) [JT 9/83 p.6]
  • Rome Jazz Festival, Rome, Italy (July 1983) [JT 10/83 p.8]
  • Umbria Jazz Festival, Italy (July 11-17, 1983) [Jazz Express 11/83 p.5]
  • Cagliari, Sardinia (July 18, 1983) [JT 11/83 p.9]
  • Montreux, Switzerland (July 23, 1983) (private recording)
  • Molde Jazz Festival, Molde Cinema, Molde, Norway (July 27, 1983) [-CBK, -JB]
  • Kool Jazz Festival, Seattle, WA (August 2, 1983) [db 8/83 p.54]
  • Concord Jazz Festival, Concord, CA (between August 5-7, 1983) [Coda 10/1/83 p.38, Boston Globe 8/9/83]
  • Long Island Jazz Festival, Heckscher State Park, Islip, NY (August 20, 1983) [JT 8/83 p.3, Coda 10/1/83 p.37]
  • Newport Jazz Festival (August 21, 1983) (private recording) [-F]
  • Entermedia, NYC (August 26-27, 1983) [poster -WRD]
  • Mikell’s, NYC (2 nights in late August 1983) [JT 12/83 p.9] [Mulgrew Miller guest]

“O’Neal, who left the band after the gig to pursue a solo career, was spelled on ‘Moanin” by incoming keyboardist Mulgrew Miller, who fit right in the groove.” [Apparently O’Neal stayed for the Japanese trip before departing.]

– Ira Gitler, Jazz Times, December 1983, p.9.

* September 1, 1983: Woody Shaw, Wynton Marsalis-t; Benny Golson-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Johnny O’Neal-p; Lonnie Plaxico-b

  • concert in Japan (September 1, 1983) [unrecorded] [-TN]

* September 2, 1983: Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard-t; Benny Golson-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Johnny O’Neal-p; Lonnie Plaxico-b

  • Aurex Jazz Festival, Tokyo, Japan (September 2, 1983) Aurex Jazz Festival ’83 (East World 80270)
  • Village Gate, NYC (September 9-10, 1983) [Hot House 9/83 p.7] [lineup unknown]
  • Seaway Hotel, Toronto, Canada (September 18, 1983) [Coda 2/1/84 pp.30-31] [Bernie Senensky -p guest]
  • Afro-American Museum, Philadelphia, PA (October 7, 1983) [Coda 12/1/83 p.33]
  • Sunshine ’83, Compton Terrace, Tempe, AZ (October 9, 1983) [JT 10/83 p.4] [lineup unknown]
  • International Jazz Festival, Vienna, Austria (fall 1983?) [JT 7/83 p.7] [lineup unknown]
  • Jazz Showcase, Chicago, IL (November 16-20, 1983) [Coda 2/1/84 p.31]

1984

* February 2, 1984: Freddie Hubbard-t; Benny Golson-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Walter Davis, Jr.-p; Buster Williams-b

  • – Tokyo, Japan (February 2, 1984) A Groovy Night With The Magnificent Six (Baystate 1053)
  • – concert in Japan (February 3, 1984) [unrecorded] [-TN]
  • – Tokyo, Japan (February 4, 1984) (private recording) [-TN]

May 8, 1984: Terence Blanchard-t; Donald Harrison-as; Jean Toussaint-ts; Mulgrew Miller-p; Lonnie Plaxico-b

  • – Ronnie Scott’s, London, England (March 26-April 7, 1984) [JARS 3/84 p.1] [Jazz Express 4/84 p.20 has April 2-7, 1984]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (May 8-13, 1984) [Hot House 5/84 p.16]
  • Mikell’s, NYC (May 1984) New York Scene (Concord 256)
  • International Jazz Festival of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA (between May 25-27, 1984) [JT 2/84 p.4]
  • Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark (between July 6-15, 1984) [JT 6/84 p.6]
  • Stanford Hall, Nr. East Leake, Nottinghamshire, England (July 15, 1984) [JARS 7/84 p.8]
  • – Ronnie Scott’s, London, England (July 16-21, 1984) [JARS 7/84 p.1]
  • Kuumbwa Jazz Society, Santa Cruz, CA (August 6, 1984) [JT 8/84 p.15]
  • V.I.S., San Francisco, CA (August 9-12, 1984) [JT 8/84 p.15]
  • Ivey’s, Oakland, CA (August 22, 1984) (private recording) [-GC]
  • Montreux-Detroit Festival, Hotel Pontchartrain, Detroit, MI (August 29, 1984) [JT 8/84 p.3]
  • Chicago Jazz Festival, Chicago, IL (September 2, 1984) (private recording) [-HS] Johnny Griffin-ts; Randy Weston-p; Richard Davis-b
  • Chicago Jazz Festival, Chicago, IL (September 2, 1984) (private recording) [-NT] with Dizzy Gillespie, Randy Weston, Machito big band
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (September 11-16, 1984) [Hot House 9/84 p.16]
  • Bamboo, Toronto, Canada (late October 1984) [Coda 12/1/84 p.30]
  • Page Auditorium, Duke University, Durham, NC (November 3, 1984) [JT 1/85 p.7] [Duke Jazz Ensemble guests]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (November 6-11, 1984) [Hot House 11/84 p.16]

1985

  • – Mikell’s, NYC (2 nights c. January 1985) [JT 3/85 p.10] [Wynton Marsalis subs for Terence Blanchard who was working with Larry Willis at Seventh Avenue South]
  • – Subway, Berlin, Germany (February 1, 1985) (private recording) [-RSI]
  • – Ronnie Scott’s, London, England (two weeks including February 17, 1985) Live at Ronnie Scott’s (Apollon Jazz Road BY32-5009) [JARS 3/85 p.9]
  • – Ronnie Scott’s, London, England (February 21, 1985) VIDEO [Wire 10/85 p.24]
  • – Grenoble (March 8, 1985) (private recording)
  • – Monster, The Netherlands (March 17, 1985) Blue Night (Timeless SLP217) or On The Tradition (Baystate 8105)
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (March 19-24, 1985) [Hot House 3/85 p.16] Farewell (K Paddle Wheel 41-42) (March 21, 24, 1985); Hard Champion (ProJazz 657) (March 24, 1985)
  • – Kimball’s, San Francisco, CA (April 10-13, 1985) Live at Kimball’s (Concord 307) [JT 4/85 p.5]
  • – Kool Jazz Festival, Saratoga Performing Art Center, Saratoga Springs, NY (June 30, 1985) [schedule -WRD]
  • – Montreal Jazz Festival, Montreal, Canada (between June 28-July 7, 1985) [JT 9/85 p.9]

– The Jazz Messengers did not appear at the Lugano Jazz Festival, Lugano, Switzerland (July 3, 1985) [JT 7/85 p.15] – the McCoy Tyner Trio replaced them. [JT 9/85 p.10].

– The Jazz Messengers did not appear at Pendley Manor, Tring, England for the Pendley International Jazz Festival (July 6, 1985) [Wire 7/85 p.24] – the McCoy Tyner Trio replaced them. [Wire 9/85 p.12].

  • Umbria Jazz Festival, Perugia, Italy (between July 5-14, 1985) [JT 6/85 p.4] [may be more than the four dates below] [“One night it rained and the concert at the Giardini was moved to the Quasar Music Hall (purportedly Europe’s largest disco) in Ellera, near Perugia.” – JT 10/85 p.9] [no tenor mentioned]
  • Perugia, Italy (July 10, 1985) (private recording) [-RSI]
  • Perugia, Italy (July 12, 1985) (private recording) [-RSI]
  • Perugia, Italy (July 13, 1985) (private recording) [-RSI]
  • Piazza IV Novembre, Perugia, Italy (July 14, 1985) (private recording) [-RSI, JT 10/85 p.11]]
  • Royal Festival Hall, Capital Music Festival, London, England (July 17, 1985) [Wire 7/85 p.2]
  • Hamburg, Germany (1985) (private recording) [-F] [Lou Donaldson, Kenny Drew guests]
  • Concord Jazz Festival, Concord, CA (August 2, 1985) [JT 8/85 p.9]
  • Performing Arts Center, Portland, ME (August 17, 1985) [Coda 6/1/85 p.38]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (August 27-September 1, 1985) [Hot House 8/85 p.20]
  • Gabriel’s, Minneapolis, MN (“recently”) [JT 10/85 p.4] [Art Blakey Day was celebrated and the Messengers “were named honorary citizens of St. Paul.”]
  • – Lewisham Theatre, Lewisham Jazz Festival, Catford, England (November 1, 1985) [Wire 10/85 p.20]

“The book is so large that we forget a lot of the tunes and play the same ones. But we played in Minneapolis for a week, two shows a night, and we didn’t repeat one song till the last night. Not one. And I wasn’t even thinking about doing that.”

– Terence Blanchard quoted by Richard Cook in Wire, June 1986, p.21.

* February 22, 1985: Freddie Hubbard-t; Johnny Griffin-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Walter Davis, Jr.-p; Reggie Workman-b

  • – Town Hall, NYC (February 22, 1985) One Night With Blue Note, Vol. 3 (Blue Note 85115 and VIDEO) [JT 4/85 p.7]

* April 1985: Bill Hardman-t; Jackie McLean-as; Benny Golson-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Cedar Walton-p; Reggie Workman-b

  • – (April 1985) (private recording) [-F]

December 27, 1985: Terence Blanchard-t; Donald Harrison-as; Jean Toussaint-ts; Tim Williams-tb; Mulgrew Miller-p; Lonnie Plaxico-b

  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (December 27, 1985-January 5, 1986) [Hot House 12/85 p.16] Dr. Jeckyl (ProJazz 651) (December 30, 1985); Farewell (K Paddle Wheel 41-42) (December 30-31, 1985); New Year’s Eve At Sweet Basil (ProJazz 624) (December 31, 1985) private recording (January 4, 1986) [-DHc]

“Art’s personality is real strong, so it always sounds like Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, but I don’t feel any limitation. He’s open to anything. The Herbie Hancock tune ‘Eye of the Hurricane’, in 5/4 – we hadn’t done that in a while, but when the idea came up he went for it. You listen to some of the earlier records, man, you’ll hear 7/4, five over four…he’s on it.”

– Terence Blanchard quoted by Richard Cook in Wire, June 1986, p.21.

1986

January 11, 1986: Wallace Roney-t; Javon Jackson-ts; Benny Green-p; Peter Washington-b

  • – San Marco Café, Miami, FL (January 11, 1986) Art Blakey & Jazz Messengers (Arco 107) [this lineup seems like it should be later, like 1987]
  • – Nightstage, Cambridge, MA (February 9, 1986) (private recording) [-F] [lineup unknown]

March 9, 1986: Terence Blanchard-t; Donald Harrison-as; Jean Toussaint-ts; Tim Williams-tb; Donald Brown-p; Lonnie Plaxico-b

  • – concert in Japan (March 9, 1986) [unrecorded] [-TN]
  • – Tokyo, Japan (March 12, 1986) (private recording) [-TN]
  • – Dublin Jazz Festival, Dublin, Ireland (April 5, 1986) [JJI 6/86 p.16] [lineup unknown]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (April 8-13, 1986) [Hot House 4/86 p.16] [lineup unknown]

“The arrangements change from night to night. So does the mood of the band, Art’s mood. It’s more open. The dynamics on a tune change every night – Art might make a press roll, then a crescendo, then we all hit it, then a rim shot so we all come down…it changes. That’s what’s great – if you have musicians around you who are in tune to a certain concept, everything’s a joy. This band is really starting to get to another level of playing music.”

– Terence Blanchard quoted by Richard Cook in Wire, June 1986, p.21.

* Terence Blanchard, Colin Graham-t; Philip Bent-f; Donald Harrison, Bobby Watson-as; Jean Toussaint, Courtney Pine, Steve Williamson-ts; Gail Thompson-bar; Tim Williams-tb; Mulgrew Miller-p; Lonnie Plaxico-b; Jalal Nuriddin-voc; IDJ, Mahogany-dancers

  • – Camden Jazz Week, Shaw Theatre, London, England (March 21, 1986) The Jazz Messenger 

[Wire 5/86 p.11, JJI 5/86 p.23]

* May 11, 1986: Terence Blanchard-t; Donald Harrison-as; Jean Toussaint-ts; Tim Williams-tb; Mulgrew Miller-p; Peter Washington-b

* May 11, 1986: Wallace Roney-t; Kenny Garrett-as; Courtney Pine-ts;

* May 11, 1986: Wynton Marsalis-t; Billy Pierce-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Walter Davis, Jr.-p; Reggie Workman-b

* May 11, 1986: Frank Gordon, Valery Ponomarev-t (possibly also Donald Brown-p)

  • – Apollo Theater, NYC (May 11, 1986) [JT]

June 14, 1986: Terence Blanchard-t; Donald Harrison-as; Jean Toussaint-ts; Mulgrew Miller-p; Lonnie Plaxico-b

  • Playboy Jazz Festival, CA (June 14, 1986) [-SB flyer lists above personnel – I am somewhat skeptical]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (June 24-29, 1986) [Hot House 6/86 p.16] [lineup unknown]

July 1986: Jon Faddis, Wallace Roney-t; Kenny Garrett-as; Jean Toussaint-ts; Tim Williams-tb; Donald Brown-p; Peter Washington-b

  • – North Sea Jazz Festival, Den Haag, The Netherlands (July 13, 1986) [Wire 9/86 p.13] [w/Roney]
  • – Wigan Jazz Festival (July 19-26, 1986) [Wire 7/86 p.6] [lineup unknown]
  • – Pori Jazz Festival, Finland (August 1986) (private recording) [-TN, Wire 9/86 p.4]
  • – Village Gate, NYC (August 22, 1986) [schedule -WRD]

* August 30, 1986: Wallace Roney-t; Kenny Garrett-as; Johnny Griffin-ts; Curtis Fuller-tb; Walter Davis, Jr.-p; Charnett Moffett-b

  • – Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival, Japan (August 30, 1986) (private recording, EMI Video also exists) [-TN, IJS]

September 8, 1986: Wallace Roney-t; Kenny Garrett-as; Jean Toussaint-ts; Tim Williams-tb; Donald Brown-p; Peter Washington-b

  • – Russian River Jazz Festival, Midway Beach, Guerneville, CA (September 6, 1986) [JT 9/86 p.5]
  • – Berkeley, CA (September 8-9, 1986) Feeling Good (Delos 4007)
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (October 7-12, 1986) [Hot House 10/86 p.16] [lineup unknown]
  • – Ronnie Scott’s, London, England (October 27-November 8, 1986) [Wire 11/86 p.7]
  • – Music Inn, Rome, Italy (November 18, 1986) Blakey did not appear [Republicca 11/20/86]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (December 26, 1986-January 4, 1987) [Hot House 12/86 p.16] [lineup unknown]

1987

  • – Mikell’s, NYC (January 31, 1987) (private recording) [-TE]
  • Suncoast Jazz Festival, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL (between February 27-March 1, 1987) [JT 2/87 p.4, Jazziz 3/87 p.29]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (March 24-29, 1987) [Hot House 3/87 p.16] [lineup unknown]

May 3, 1987: Philip Harper-t; Kenny Garrett-as; Javon Jackson-ts; Benny Green-p; Peter Washington-b

  • – NYC (May 3, 1987) Hard Champion (ProJazz)
  • – Chicago, IL (June 1987) (private recording) [-WRD]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (June 23-28, 1987) [Hot House 6/87 p.20] [lineup unknown]
  • NYC (June 26, 1987) James Williams Trio session (EmArcy) [Bruyninckx]
  • – Pompeii Jazz, Italy (July 2, 1987) [Republicca 6/24/87]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (July 21-26, 1987) [Hot House 7/87 p.16] [lineup unknown]

August 16, 1987: Wallace Roney-t; Javon Jackson-ts; Benny Green-p; Peter Washington-b

  • – Queens Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland (August 16, 1987) [-ST]

August 28, 1987: Wallace Roney-t; Bobby Watson-as; Javon Jackson-ts; Robin Eubanks-tb; Benny Green-p; Peter Washington-b; George Kawaguchi-d

  • – Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival, Japan (August 28, 1987) (private recording)

* August 30, 1987: Wallace Roney, Don Sickler, Michael Philip Mossman-t; James Spaulding, Kenny Garrett, Bobby Watson-as; Billy Pierce, Ralph Bowen, Javon Jackson-ts; David Schumacher-bar; Grachan Moncur, Robin Eubanks-tb; Benny Green-p; Peter Washington-b; guests: Michele Hendricks, Dianne Reeves-voc; Stanley Jordan-g; Herbie Hancock-p; Freddie Hubbard-t; George Adams-ts

  • – Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival, Japan [unrecorded]

September 5, 1987: Terence Blanchard-t, Javon Jackson-ts, Robin Eubanks-tb; Benny Green-p, Peter Washington-b

  • – Chicago Jazz Festival, Petrillo Band Shell, Chicago, IL (September 5, 1987) (private recording)

* September 5, 1987: Bill Hardman, Woody Shaw-t; Benny Golson-ts; Julian Priester-tb; Walter Davis, Jr.-p; Reggie Workman-b

  • – Chicago Jazz Festival, Petrillo Band Shell, Chicago, IL (September 5, 1987) (private recording)

November 12, 1987: Philip Harper-t; Javon Jackson-ts; Robin Eubanks-tb; Benny Green-p; Peter Washington-b

  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (September 29-October 4, 1987) [Hot House 10/87 p.16] [lineup unknown]
  • – Firenze, Italy (November 3, 1987) [Republicca 10/27/87]
  • – JazzFest Berlin, Berlin, Germany (November 8, 1987) [Coda 2/88 p.32] [Jackson]
  • – ? (November 12, 1987) Blue Moon (Zounds 2720010)
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (December 27, 1987-January 5, 1988) [Hot House 1/88 p.16]

1988

  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (February 1, 1988) [Hot House 2/88 p.16]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (February 8, 1988) [Hot House 2/88 p.16]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (February 15-22, 1988) [Hot House 2/88 p.16]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (February 29, 1988) [Hot House 2/88 p.16]
  • – France (March 5, 1988) (private recording)
  • – Milan, Italy (March 19, 1988) Not Yet (Soul Note 121 105)
  • – Bologna, Italy (March 20, 1988) (private recording) [-RSI]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (April 4, 1988) [Hot House 4/88 p.16]
  • – Village Gate, NYC (May 13, 1988) [unrecorded] [-MF] [Valery Ponomarev guest]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (June 6, 1988) [Hot House 6/88 p.16]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (June 13, 1988) [Hot House 6/88 p.16]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (June 20, 1988) [Hot House 6/88 p.16]
  • – Verona, Italy (June 27, 1988) (private recording) [-RSI]
  • – Stockholm, Sweden (July 1, 1988) (private recording) [-F, RS]
  • – North Sea Jazz Festival, Den Haag, The Netherlands (July 10, 1988) (private recording) [-WRD]
  • – JVC Grande Parade du Jazz, Nice, France (July 18, 1988) [Coda 12/88 p.38-39]
  • – San Sebastian Jazz Festival, Spain (July 22, 1988) (private recording) [-DM, RS] [Wynton Marsalis, Marcus Roberts guests]
  • – Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival, Japan (August 26, 1988) (private recording) [George Kawaguchi, Ralph Peterson-d; guests: Yamanaka Myoujin-daiko percussion group]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (September 5, 1988) [Hot House 9/88 p.16] Standards (K Paddle Wheel 6026)
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (September 12, 1988) [Hot House 9/88 p.16] [lineup unknown]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (September 19, 1988) [Hot House 9/88 p.16] [lineup unknown]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (September 26, 1988-October 3, 1988) [Hot House 9/88 p.16, Hot House 10/88 p.20] [lineup unknown]

* August 28, 1988: Michael Philip Mossman, Don Sickler, Roy Hargrove, Philip Harper, Terumasa Hino-t; Bobby Watson, Steve Wilson-as; Javon Jackson, Ralph Bowen-ts; Howard Johnson-bar; Robin Eubanks, Roswell Rudd, Frank Lacy-tb; Benny Green-p; Peter Washington-b; Ralph Peterson-d; Giovanni Hidalgo-cga; guests: Jackie McLean-as; Johnny Griffin, George Adams-ts; Michele Hendricks-voc

  • – Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival, Japan [unrecorded]

* October 31, 1988: Freddie Hubbard-t; Javon Jackson-ts; Benny Green-p; Leon Dorsey-b

  • – Monster, The Netherlands (October 31, November 1, 1988) 70 Years Anniversary: Special Edition vol. 1 (Al Alfa Jazz 26)

November 11, 1988: Philip Harper-t; Javon Jackson-ts; Robin Eubanks-tb; Benny Green-p; Leon Dorsey-b

  • – Milan, Italy (November 11, 1988) I Get A Kick Out Of Bu (Soul Note 121 155)

December 1988: Bryan Lynch-t [Cadence 3/93 p.7]

  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (December 20, 1988-January 2, 1989) [Hot House 12/88 p.16] [lineup unknown]

1989

– January 1989: Blakey suffers heart attack and is in University Hospital, London [Republicca 2/1/89]

– January 30, 1989: Blakey did not appear for a scheduled performance in Bologna, Italy with Mongo Santamaria and Max Roach’s percussion ensemble M’Boom [Republicca 1/28/89, 2/1/89]

February 12, 1989: Brian Lynch-t; Craig Handy, Javon Jackson-ts; Frank Lacy-tb; Benny Green-p; Essiet Essiet?-b

  • – Bacchanal, San Diego, CA (February 12, 1989) [Jazzlink 2/89 p.17, Jazzlink 3/89 p.8] [bassist not named]
  • – Catalina’s, Los Angeles, CA (February 14-19, 1989) [Jazzlink 2/89 p.14]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (April 11-15, 1989) [Hot House 4/89 p.20] [lineup unknown]

late April-early May, 1989: Brian Lynch-t; Terence Tony-as; Javon Jackson-ts; Frank Lacy-tb; Benny Green-p; Essiet Essiet-b

  • New Orleans, LA (late April-early May, 1989) [-JW]
  • Snug Harbor, New Orleans, LA, (April 30, 1989) Ellis Marsalis gig (Evidence) Blakey sits in for one tune
  • – Regattabar, Cambridge, MA (May 7, 1989) (private recording) [-F] [lineup unknown]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (May 30-June 4, 1989) [Hot House 5/89 p.16] [lineup unknown]
  • – Playboy Jazz Festival, CA (June 18, 1989) [-SB flyer lists above personnel, but due to plane problems Blakey performed with a pickup band including Slam Stewart on bass]

June 23, 1989: Brian Lynch-t; Donald Harrison, Terence Tony-as; Javon Jackson-ts; Frank Lacy-tb; Benny Green-p; Essiet Essiet-b

  • – JVC Jazz Festival, Palace Theater, Stamford, CT (June 23, 1989) [Coda 10/89 p.23] [schedule says Stamford Center for the Arts]
  • – JVC Jazz Festival, Avery Fisher Hall, NYC (June 27, 1989) [program, db 10/89 p.50]
  • – Umbria Jazz Festival, Perugia, Italy (July 12, 1989) [Coda 12/89 p.36] [Republicca 6/7/89, 7/7/89, 7/14/89]
  • – Berlin, Germany (July 1989) [-RS]

July 15, 1989: Bryan Lynch-t; Terence Tony, Vincent Herring-as; Javon Jackson, Craig Handy-ts; Frank Lacy-tb; Benny Green-p; Essiet Essiet-b; Sam Fargus

  • – North Sea Jazz Festival, Den Haag, The Netherlands (July 15, 1989) (private recording) [-TN]

August 1989: Bryan Lynch-t; Donald Harrison-as; Javon Jackson-ts; Frank Lacy-tb; Benny Green-p; Essiet Essiet-b

  • Blue Note Anniversary concert, John Anson Ford Theater, Hollywood, CA (August 1989) [photo in Jazzlink 2/90 p.3]
  • Concord Jazz Festival, Concord, CA (August 18 or 19, 1989) [Jazzlink 6/89 p.22, Jazzlink 10/89 p.12] [pianist and bassist not named]

“I was not going to quit the band. Peter Washington had just left the band to take other sideman gigs, and he started to tell me that I should think about getting out, too. He told me ‘Benny, if you don’t get Art, he’ll get you.’ And I heard his point, but my attitude at that time was that it had been so beneficial to play with Art, and I felt that I hadn’t by any stretch of the imagination mastered the piano chair, and I was intent on staying with the band as long as I could. He used to say things like, ‘This ain’t the post office’; you were supposed to get in, make your statement and get out. It was only a matter of time before Art heard someone younger who would fit in with the band; that was Geoff Keezer. And I always knew that Art would fire me, before I’d quit the band. I always hoped that I’d have a chance to sit down with him and thank him for the experience. It didn’t go down like that, though. I guess he had so many players in the band, and he had such a big heart, it hurt him to let people go. Like so many of my predecessors, Bobby Watson told me he found out the same way – the road manager called me and told me that on the next tour someone else was coming in. I was crushed. I was really devastated. The guy I looked up to hadn’t come to me. I was rather embittered about it at the time. I later found out that it was positive. I left the band intent on going out to prove myself.”

– Benny Green, quoted by Martin Johnson in Down Beat, November 1993, p.23.

* August 26, 1989: Freddie Hubbard, Terence Blanchard-t; Bobby Watson-as; Billy Pierce-ts; Robin Eubanks-tb; Mulgrew Miller-p; Cameron Brown-b

  • – Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival, Japan (August 26, 1989) (private recording) [-TN]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (September 19-24, 1989) [Hot House 9/89 p.16] [lineup unknown]

* October 9, 1989: Brian Lynch, Freddie Hubbard, Terence Blanchard-t; Donald Harrison, Jackie McLean-as; Javon Jackson, Wayne Shorter, Benny Golson-ts; Frank Lacy, Curtis Fuller-tb; Geoff Keezer, Walter Davis, Jr.-p; Essiet Essiet, Buster Williams-b; Roy Haynes-d; Michele Hendricks-voc

  • – Leverkusen Jazz Festival, Germany (October 9, 1989) The Art Of Jazz (In + Out 77028) [VIDEO also] [Coda 2/90 pp.36, 38]

December 29, 1989: Brian Lynch-t; Donald Harrison-as; Dale Barlow, Javon Jackson-ts, Steve Davis, Frank Lacy-tb; Geoff Keezer-p; Essiet Essiet-b

  • – Musikkflekken Club, Sandvika, Norway (October 29, 1989) [-CBK] [lineup unknown]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (December 19-24, 1989) [personnel may fluctuate]
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (December 26-31, 1989) [private recording from 12/29/89]

“I mean one of the greatest experiences I’ve had is being with Art Blakey and being around his wisdom. The man lived on the road. The first year I was with the band we did like 38, 39 weeks out of the year, which was great, I could concentrate and see Art in action.”

– Brian Lynch, quoted by Alwyn and Laurie Lewis in Cadence, March 1993, p.7.

1990

February 1990: Brian Lynch-t; Javon Jackson, Dale Barlow-ts; Frank Lacy, Steve Davis-tb; Geoff Keezer-p; Essiet Essiet-b

  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (February 1-2, 1990) The Last Drum Solo (Al Alfa Jazz 76)
  • – Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (February 1990) Chippin’ In (Al Alfa Jazz 36) [probably same sessions as above]
  • – NYC (March 1990) Bluesiana Triangle session (Windham Hill)
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (March 6-11, 1990) [Hot House 2/90 p.16] [lineup unknown]

“But he [Frank Lacy] felt freer playing with Art Blakey, with whom he spent 18 months, including some time as music director. ‘The music of that era had a certain flow. There are chord changes and a certain way to play. If you’ve studied the history of your horn, then it just flows and you’ll feel free within that vibe.’”

– Frank Lacy, quoted by Martin Johnson in Down Beat, November 1993, p.14.

April 10, 1990: Brian Lynch-t; Javon Jackson, Dale Barlow-ts; Steve Davis-tb; Geoff Keezer-p; Essiet Essiet-b

  • – BMG Studios, NYC (April 10-11, 1990) One For All (A & M 75021 5329)
  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (May 22-27, 1990) [Hot House 5/90 p.16]
  • – Jazz Alley, Seattle, WA (Spring 1990) [Jazzlink 6/90 p.15]
  • – Montreal Jazz Festival, Montreal, Canada (between June 29-July 8, 1990) [Coda 10/90 p.5] [Lodi Carr-voc guest]
  • – Liederhall, Stuttgart, Germany (July 12, 1990) (private recording) [-AB, RS]
  • – North Sea Jazz Festival, Den Haag, The Netherlands (July 13, 1990) (private recording) [Jazzlink 6/90 p.13]
  • – Molde Jazz Festival, Alexandra Hotel Restaurant, Molde, Norway (July 16, 17, 18, 1990) (recorded by NRK radio and TV) [-CBK, -JB]

“It was more than just a musical influence with Blakey, I really had a chance to experience him as a friend and as a mentor, a beautiful thing. I have pictures of him in my house of the last set he ever played in Osaka, Japan. He just couldn’t get it together to play you know, he kind of said, ‘Right, see you all, it’s up to you now.’ That’s a helluva responsibility.”

– Brian Lynch, quoted by Alwyn and Laurie Lewis in Cadence, March 1993, p.8.

– October 2, 1990: Kenny Washington subs for Art Blakey

  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (October 2-7, 1990) [Hot House 9/90 p.16]

– October 9, 1990: Ben Riley subs for Art Blakey

  • – Sweet Basil, NYC (October 9-14, 1990) [Hot House 9/90 p.16]

“I’ll play drums until Mother Nature tells me different. I’ll retire when I’m six foot under.”

– Art Blakey, quoted by Brian Case in Wire, December 1984, p.10.

  • – Art Blakey died October 16, 1990 at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center in NYC.


(based on Discogs and other sources)