Edward Lee Morgan was an American jazz trumpeter and composer.
Jymie Merritt was an American jazz double-bassist, electric-bass pioneer, band leader and composer. Merritt was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers group from 1957 until 1962. The same year he left Blakey's band, Merritt formed his own group, The Forerunners, which he led sporadically until his death in 2020. Merritt also worked as a sideman for blues and jazz musicians such as Bull Moose Jackson, B.B. King, Chet Baker, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, and Lee Morgan.
A Night in Tunisia is a jazz album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers which was recorded in August 1960.
Moanin' is a jazz album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded in 1958 for the Blue Note label and released in 1959.
The Freedom Rider is an album by jazz drummer Art Blakey and his group the Jazz Messengers. Continuing Blakey's distinct brand of hard bop, this album features contributions from Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Blakey himself, and Kenny Dorham, a former Jazz Messenger. This was the final album by this particular edition of the Jazz Messengers, who had been together for 18 months, as Lee Morgan left after this album and was replaced by Freddie Hubbard. The compositions themselves are varied, with Blakey contributing an energetic drum solo on "The Freedom Rider"; at least three of the compositions on the album are blues pieces. "El Toro" features a solo by Shorter incorporating the sheets of sound technique pioneered by John Coltrane. The CD version contains three bonus tracks originally released on the album Pisces.
At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1 is a live album by the Jazz Messengers for Blue Note Records. It featured the original incarnation of the Jazz Messengers, Art Blakey's career-spanning band, and is the first of two volumes recorded on November 23, 1955, at Café Bohemia, a famous night club in Greenwich Village in New York.
Roots & Herbs is a jazz album by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, recorded in 1961 at the same sessions which produced The Freedom Rider, but not released on the Blue Note label until 1970. The CD reissue features three alternate takes, two of which originally released in 1979 on Pisces.
Mosaic is a 1961 jazz album released by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers on Blue Note Records. The album's performers included: Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Cedar Walton (piano), Jymie Merritt (bass) and Art Blakey (drums). They recorded and performed together from 1961 into 1964. Hubbard and Walton became permanent members of the group following the 1961 departures of trumpeter Lee Morgan and pianist Bobby Timmons. The Mosaic recording session featured no alternate takes and, therefore, has yielded no bonus material in reissue.
Pisces is a jazz album by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers. It was recorded between 1961 and 1964, but not issued on Blue Note Records until 1979. More a compilation than an album, all the tracks, except for "It's A Long Way Down", may be found on the Mosaic compilation The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Art Blakey's 1960 Jazz Messengers. Moreover, "Uptight", and "Pisces" are included on the CD reissue of The Freedom Rider, whilst "It's a Long Way Down" is featured on the CD reissue of Indestructible. Ultimately, "United" and "Ping Pong" may be found on Roots & Herbs.
Jazz Messengers!!!!! is a 1961 jazz album released by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers for Impulse! Records. Expanding to a sextet for the first time, it was the group's final recording with Bobby Timmons, who would be replaced by Cedar Walton.
A Jazz Hour with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers: Blues March is a 1995 CD release by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers for Movieplay records.
The Witch Doctor is an album by American jazz drummer and bandleader Art Blakey and his group The Jazz Messengers recorded on March 14, 1961 and released on the Blue Note label. It features performances by Blakey with Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons, and Jymie Merritt.
Like Someone in Love is an album by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. It was recorded in August 1960, at the same sessions which produced A Night in Tunisia, but was released on Blue Note only in August 1967. It features performances by Blakey with Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons, and Jymie Merritt.
The Big Beat is an album by Art Blakey and his group The Jazz Messengers recorded on March 6, 1960 and released on the Blue Note label. It features performances by Blakey with Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons, and Jymie Merritt.
Drums Around the Corner is a jazz album by Art Blakey which was mainly recorded in 1958, but not released until 1999.
Africaine is a collection of 1959 recordings by jazz artist Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. The collection was not released until over 20 years after it was recorded. The album features tenor-saxophonist Wayne Shorter in his first recording with The Jazz Messengers, trumpeter Lee Morgan, pianist Walter Davis, Jr. and bassist Jymie Merritt.
At the Jazz Corner of the World is a two-volume live album by American jazz drummer Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, featuring performances recorded in 1959 at Birdland and released on the Blue Note label. The album was originally issued as 12-inch LPs in two volumes and later re-released as a two-CD set.
1958 – Paris Olympia is a live album by drummer Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers recorded at L'Olympia in 1958 and originally released on the French Fontana label.
The Jazz Messengers were a jazz combo that existed for over thirty-five years beginning in the early 1950s as a collective, and ending when long-time leader and founding drummer Art Blakey died in 1990. Blakey led or co-led the group from the outset. "Art Blakey" and "Jazz Messengers" became synonymous over the years, though Blakey did lead non-Messenger recording sessions and played as a sideman for other groups throughout his career.
"Yes sir, I'm gonna to stay with the youngsters. When these get too old, I'm gonna get some younger ones. Keeps the mind active."
Art Blakey et les Jazz-Messengers au club St. Germain are a set of live albums recorded on December 21, 1958, at the Club St. Germain in Paris, France by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, released in three volumes by French RCA. All three albums have been collected on CD in the 2015 Sony box set, The Complete Columbia and RCA Albums Collection.
