At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1
At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1 cover
Live album by Art Blakey
Released 1955
Recorded November 23, 1955
Genre Jazz
Length 61:44
Label Blue Note Records (1955)
Producer(s) Michael Cuscuna
Alfred Lion
Professional reviews
Art Blakey chronology
A Night at Birdland Vol. 2
(1954)
At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1
(1955)
At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 2
(1955)


At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1 is a 1955 live album release by jazz drummer Art Blakey. It was first released by Blue Note Records. This record featured the first incarnation of The Jazz Messengers, Blakey's most endearing band, and was the first of two volumes recorded at Cafe Bohemia, a famous night club in Greenwich Village in New York, New York on November 23, 1955.

With the July 31, 2001 release, three additional tracks from this night were added, Lady Bird, What's New? and Deciphering the Message.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

Track Song Title Originally By Time
1. Announcement by Art Blakey Art Blakey 1:32
2. "Soft Winds" Fletcher Henderson 12:34
3. "The Theme" Kenny Dorham 6:11
4. "Minor's Holiday" Kenny Dorham 9:11
5. "Alone Together" Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz 4:15
6. "Prince Albert" Kenny Dorham 8:51
7. "Lady Bird" Tadd Dameron 7:30
8. "What's New?" Johnny Burke and Bob Haggart 4:31
9. "Deciphering the Message" Hank Mobley 10:13

[edit] Personnel

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers:

Production:

  • Bob Bluementhal, Leonard Feather - liner notes
  • Michael Cuscuna - reissue producer
  • John Hermansader - cover design
  • Alfred Lion - producer
  • Rudy Van Gelder - digital remastering
  • Francis Wolff - photography

[edit] Reception

This album, which sees the first version of The Jazz Messengers on record, was noted as not "match[ing] the intensity which the quintet secured at Birdland."[1] Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, in particular, is noted as "a somewhat unfocused stylist."[1] However, trumpeter Kenny Dorham is seen as an "elusive brillance [that] was seldom so extensively captured" and the playing in general "is just as absorbing" as the Birdland albums and is "still timeless music."[1][2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Cook, Richard; & Brian Morton (2004). The Penguin Guide to Jazz (7th Edition). Penguin Books, 153. ISBN 0-14-101416-4. 
  2. ^ Scott Yanow. At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1. Retrieved on November 26, 2006.