Art Blakey Like Someone In Love CD

Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers: Art Blakey; Lee Morgan (trumpet); Jymie Merritt (double bass); Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons.
Personnel: Art Blakey (drums); Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone); Lee Morgan Quintet (trumpet); Bobby Timmons (piano).
Audio Remasterer: Rudy Van Gelder.
Liner Note Authors: Bob Blumenthal; Ira Gitler.
Recording information: Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (08/07/1960-08/14/1960).
Photographer: Francis Wolff.
Taken from the same sessions that resulted in A Night in Tunisia, this fine CD features the 1960 version of The Jazz Messengers starring trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter and pianist Bobby Timmons. The title cut is the most impressive performance, but this excellent program of high-quality hard bop also allows listeners to hear three obscure Wayne Shorter compositions and Lee Morgan's forgotten "Johnny's Blue." ~ Scott Yanow
Art Blakey's Like Someone in Love is a product of the fertile group that included saxophonist Wayne Shorter, trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist Bobby Timmons, and bassist Jymie Merritt. While it is not usually considered an essential Blakey album, it is easily one of the best. This is due not only to the impressive Jazz Messenger musicianship, but more significantly to the stellar original compositions by Shorter, who was coming into his own not only as an improviser, but perhaps more significantly as an adept and forward-thinking songwriter. Tracks such as the brisk "Noise in the Attic" and the swinging "Giantis" foreshadow the iconic mid- and late-'60s modal work the tenor saxophonist would accomplish on such albums as Night Dreamer and JuJu. Notably, "Sleeping Dancer Sleep On," while a rather obscure Shorter waltz-ballad, reveals a mellow, searching quality that would soon come to define the more reflective side of '60s hard bop. Similarly, Morgan's one addition, the danceably funky "Johnny's Blue," seems to prefigure his own classic Sidewinder to be released three years later. Interestingly, although they are not packaged together, Like Someone in Love and A Night in Tunisia both come from the same recording session. [The Rudy Van Gelder Edition of Like Someone in Love features remastered sound by original producer Van Gelder, which does significantly improve the overall sound quality over the original release.] ~ Matt Collar

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