Image Unavailable
Color:
-
-
-
- Sorry, this item is not available in
- Image not available
- To view this video download Flash Player
The Big Beat
Rmst ed.
Extra Tracks, Remastered
Listen Now with Amazon Music |
The Big Beat (The Rudy Van Gelder Edition)
"Please retry" | Amazon Music Unlimited |
Price | New from | Used from |
MP3 Music, January 1, 1960
"Please retry" | $9.49 | — |
Audio CD, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, October 25, 1990
"Please retry" | $25.67 | $8.74 |
Audio CD, Extra tracks, Original recording remastered, July 19, 2005 |
—
| — | — |
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Editorial Reviews
With "The Big Beat" Art Blakey introduced a highly original saxophonist and composer to the jazz world. Wayne Shorter's "The Chess Players" and "Lester Left Town" have since become jazz standards. The album also gave the Jazz Messengers a hit with Bobby Timmons' "Dat Dere" and their version of "It's Only A Paper Moon" is hard bop at its most exciting.
* bonus tracks, not part of the original LP
ART BLAKEY, drums
LEE MORGAN, trumpet
WAYNE SHORTER, tenor sax
BOBBY TIMMONS, piano
JYMIE MERRITT, bass
Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- Language : English
- Product Dimensions : 4.88 x 5.55 x 0.47 inches; 3.32 Ounces
- Manufacturer : Blue Note Records
- Item model number : 2128725
- Date First Available : July 26, 2006
- Label : Blue Note Records
- ASIN : B0009X77DQ
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #206,474 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #3,438 in Bebop (CDs & Vinyl)
- #114,448 in Pop (CDs & Vinyl)
- Customer Reviews:
Important information
To report an issue with this product, click here.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Joining Blakey on his trip down Splash Mountain are Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, Lee Morgan on trumpet, Bobby Timmons on piano, Jymie Merritt on bass, and of course Blakey on drums.
This album was recorded almost around the same time as "Moanin'" which features one of the hottest lineups of the Messengers' long history. Every song on this album is swinging like crazy and has strong melodies and great improvisations. This album features two of my favorite Messengers' tunes "Dat Dere" and "Sakeena's Vision."
If you're just getting into Art Blakey, then start with this album. If you enjoy good 60s bebop then buy this album.
The remastering of this album is very well done. It sounds great for 1960. It sounds like it's been cleaned up and that's always good thing.
Other great Messengers' albums "A Night in Tunisia," "Moanin," "Caravan," "Ugetsu," "Mosaic" and "Free For All," which features one of the most aggressive Blakey performances ever.
The Chess Players and Sakeena's Vision are my favorite tracks, but really... the ablum hangs together with a musical cohesion that I appreciate.
Back in the sixty I grew up with his big band. The Big Beat is stunning
"The Big Beat" was recorded in 1960 and features Lee Morgan on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Bobby Timmons on piano, and Jymie Merritt on bass, with the leader on drums. Though all of these musicians had recorded together with Blakey prior to this, this is the first time this specific lineup recorded, and they would go on to record seven more albums over the next year and a half. Though all of the albums are very good (and some are spectacular), this may be the best, perhaps along with "A Night in Tunisia" and "Roots & Herbs." Wayne Shorter supplies three originals, all of which are interesting, swing hard, and provide a good basis for the soloists. Of special note is "The Chess Players," a very bluesy, medium tempo tune that may seem atypical of Wayne's work, especially his later stuff, but it's just quirky enough in form to indicate where the young composer was going. Also, the rendition of "It's Only a Paper Moon" is far from being a cheesy gimmick, as one might suspect; instead, there's an aura of playful mystery that is helped (or perhaps created) by Lee Morgan's genious trumpet playing. It's one of my favorite cuts on the album.
All in all, this is a very accessible, hard-swinging album and a fantastic introduction to the Jazz Messengers and what this edition was all about. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes jazz regardless of their listening experience. There's something on every level here.
While I can cite the line-up or the fact that all but two tracks are Jazz Messenger alumni compositions, the essence is in the music itself. If you are looking at the CD version's page there are, sadly, no sound samples at the time of this review. There are samples on the MP3 album's page at The Big Beat (The Rudy Van Gelder Edition) . Give those a listen to get an idea of the music.
While the samples are short, if you are familiar with this edition of the Jazz Messengers with Lee Morgan on trumpet and Wayne Shorter on tenor sax you will find the compositions to be familiar sounding. Not repetitive, but familiar because three of the tracks (1, 2 and 5) are Wayne Shorter compositions and one (Dat Dere) was penned by Bobby Timmons who is on piano on this album. Alumni Bill Hardman wrote a song as well (Politely).
The album was recorded at Rudy van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs studio for Blue Note on March 6, 1960. Morgan, Shorter and Timmons are backed by bassist Jymie Merritt and, of course, Blakely on drums. This is hard bop at its best, albeit with a mellower edge that characterized the group with Morgan and Shorter in front. It's still hot and it's still driving, but is more complex and cerebral to my ears.
Top reviews from other countries
I don't think this is a classic / essential recording but it is a very fine effort that reveals Blakey's ability as a band-leader and how his encourage the people writing for the band to help shape it's identity. The care and attention to the writing as well as the craftsmanship to such matters as dynamics raise this several notches above the stereotypical Hard Bop session. Blakey's style of drumming is not quite as intrusive as on some of his records. The whole disc motors along like a well-oiled machine and the compositions have enough about them to retain the interest. Stylistically , I have always felt that a lot of the jazz recorded in the early 1960's had more to do with the way jazz had evolved in the latter half of the 1950's and this is very much true of this session. The record lacks both the memorable tunes on "Moanin'" and the skull-cracking carnage of "Free for all" (the most testosterone driven Hard Bop record on Blue Note?) but , if you have either of these two essential JM records, this is well worth a punt as it demonstrates what a good band this was.
Dans la discographie du batteur, cette session laisse vraiment peu de souvenirs (du moins, ça n’est là que mon avis). Lee Morgan (trompette) est bien entendu à son aise, et la rythmique assure du tonnerre ! Comment pourrait-il en être autrement ? Seulement le collectif d’Art Blakey ne prend pas trop de risques ici. Et surtout, il allait nous bouleverser quelques années plus tard avec l’arrivée de Curtis Fuller (trombone), Reggie Workman (contrebasse) et Cedar Walton (piano). Leur performance au Birdland en 1963 (Ugetsu, Riverside) est dans toutes les mémoires, ainsi que leur album studio, le sublime Free for All (Blue Note, 1965) ! Bref, c’est un disque que l’on peut se procurer (sans difficulté) si l’on est « complétiste » mais qui n’appellera forcément de nouvelles écoutes passionnées ou passionnantes. Si l’on veut découvrir ce collectif « historique », mieux vaut se tourner vers d’autres galettes, telles que Moanin’ (Blue Note, 1958), Indestructible (1964) ou encore le Live In Paris (Fontana, 1959). Une captation « live » existe également de ce quintet : Meet You At The Jazz Corner (enregistré quelques mois après ce set studio). A bon entendeur !