Art Blakey and The Giants of Jazz – Live at the 1972 Monterey Jazz Festival – Monterey Jazz Festival Records

by | Aug 21, 2008 | Jazz CD Reviews | 0 comments

Art Blakey and The Giants of Jazz – Live at the 1972 Monterey Jazz Festival – Monterey Jazz Festival Records MJFR 30882, 59:30 ***1/2 [Distr. by Concord Records]:

(Art Blakey, drums; Roy Eldridge, trumpet; Al McKibbon, bass; Thelonious Monk, piano; Sonny Stitt, alto and tenor sax; Clark Terry, trumpet and Flugelhorn; Kai Winding, trombone)

I’m not ashamed to say that of all the Monterey Jazz Festival retrospective CD issues, the one I was most excited about was this Giants of Jazz concert in 1972. I’ve always considered Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers as the quintessential hard bop group. Art led different aggregations of his Jazz Messengers from the 1950s until the early 90s. As a leader and mentor/life teacher to an elite jazz community of Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Benny Golson, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Dorham – and those were only a sampling of the horn men – and not including a who’s-who of pianists.

What put this issue over the top was a dream team of sidemen – imagine Blakey fronting a front line of Eldridge, Stitt, Terry, and Winding, plus Monk and McKibbon… WOW! After all with all but one fronting their own bands, this “band of bands” was only together for approximately a year. (For most of that time, Dizzy Gillespie was the trumpeter, but here, Eldridge and Terry were added to fill out the Monterey line-up.)

Could these true Giants of Jazz blow away the jaded “have seen it all” crowd at Monterey?  Well, as it turns out there are moments of magic on the Sept. 16, 1972 concert – Monk’s accompaniment, Blakey’s drive, the Eldridge/Terry blowing, and the indomitable strut of Sonny Stitt. However, there is also the blowing session aspect that rivals the Jazz at the Philharmonic groups. Surely it’s a dream team but as we know from US Olympic basketball rosters, teamwork is what truly jells a session. Too many cooks…

Those looking for the hard bop of Blakey’s classic Messengers line-up will be disappointed but this is more of a swing aggregation with straight bop thrown in for good measure. Song selection – Perdido, Blue ‘N’ Boogie, and Night in Tunisia – are the stretch out numbers with ballads Stardust, Lover Man, I Can’t Get Started With You, and The Man I Love, fitting short ballad territory. Including a true Monk feature, Round Midnight, with Monk up front and center and the trumpets strictly in a comping position is a nice touch.

Perdido is a bit disjointed, with most of the band getting a chance to shine and then drop back. Stardust is classic Clark Terry, warm and heart melting. Lover Man was made for Winding. Stitt is soul personified on I Can’t Get Started With You, and the then sixty-one-year-old Eldridge shows he was still on his game with The Man I Love showing his command of the high register. As you can see it’s the ballads that make this session worth its salt.

There are no more groups of this caliber anymore-  likely there never will be-so to experience these jazz legends, it is an easy recommendation to make for the purchase of this CD. That it was no mean task for this group to perform at this level should not be held against them. They do more than simply go through the motions. Giving them more of a challenge in repertoire could have made this a five-star rating, though.

TrackList: Introduction by Jimmy Lyons, Blue ‘N’ Boogie, Round Midnight, Perdido, Stardust, Lover man, I Can’t Get Started With You, The Man I Love, A Night in Tunisia

-Jeff Krow

Related Reviews
Logo Pure Pleasure
Logo Crystal Records Sidebar 300 ms
Logo Jazz Detective Deep Digs Animated 01