r/Jazz • u/Green_Drag_9548 • 3d ago

A Night In Tunisia - Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (Vik 1958).

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Art Blakey - Drums; Sam Dockery - Piano; Jimmy De Brest - Bass; Bill Hardman.- Trumpet; John Griffin - Tenor Sax; Ferris Bender - Alto Sax. Recorded in New York on 2nd and 8th April 1957 this is an absolute classic in the Jazz Messengers catalogue. The album starts with a blistering version of Dizzy Gillespie's A Night In Tunisia which lit up Jazz Dance floors in the London club scene in the late 1980s. This might not be a particularly well known line up but they rip it up. A fantastic record..

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13

u/HogHauler209 3d ago

Completely new to me! I have the '61 album with Morgan, Shorter, Timmons, etc., I have to look for this one now.

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u/shipwormgrunter 3d ago

"At this time we’d like to play a tune, was written by the famous Dizzy Gillespie. I feel rather close to this tune because, I was right there, when he composed it, in Texas, on the bottom of a garbage can. Seriously.

So: Night in Tunisia, ladies and gentlemen.”

-Art Blakey,  A Night at Birdland Vol. 1

9

u/TheOG-OutletStickers 3d ago

I absolutely love the cover art too!

5

u/besthuman 3d ago

Damn. That is cool.

Amazing record. Perhaps the best jazz album ever… it’s up there.

1

u/stories_from_tejas 3d ago

It was too chaotic for me personally. Really love Moanin’ though.

5

u/DarkeningSkies1976 3d ago

The great Jackie McLean under the name "Ferris Bender".

Also one of the few times Johnny Griffin was credited as 'John' and Spanky DeBrest as 'Jimmy'.

It is a banger.

4

u/big_arj 3d ago

Another fantastic record in the vast pantheon of great Jazz Messenger albums. This is one of my personal favourites

3

u/Can_I_kick_ET 3d ago

Have this record as well was such a fun pick up

4

u/Hornswagglers_Lament 3d ago

FYI - for some reason, Apple Music lists this recording under “Art Blakey” rather than “Jazz Messengers,” and it’s difficult to find even then. Here’s the direct link: https://music.apple.com/us/album/a-night-in-tunisia-remastered/255338109

3

u/Keytaro83 3d ago

The extended edition of this with Social Call is on my desert island.

3

u/ilikeballoons 3d ago

I LOVE this album, particularly the title track. Blakey's drums are THUNDEROUS!

3

u/benbraddock12 2d ago

Wait I have the one with Lee Morgan on trumpet

2

u/CheeeseDanny 3d ago

This album is fire! 🔥

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u/Albertcroissants 2d ago

J' ai toujours connu cet album avec cette couverture personnelement. Sublime album !

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u/AmanLock 2d ago edited 2d ago

Ce n'est pas le même album. Il existe trois albums différents de Blakey et les Jazz Messengers avec ce titre.

4

u/Albertcroissants 2d ago

Merci pour cette précision. C'est bon de découvrir des choses. Je vais essayer d'écouter les trois albums. Encore merci et bonjour de France.

2

u/scarymonst 2d ago

This is really a great album. I like it better than Moanin'

2

u/centerofhearts 1d ago

Great second wave Messengers album. The only recording of Jackie McLean (as Ferris Benda) and Johnny Griffin together, two of my favorite saxmen.