In May of 1957, Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers went into the studio with Thelonious Monk to record a one-off album for Atlantic. The Jazz Messengers were a loose collective of young Jazz musicians, with a constantly rotating lineup to keep the music fresh and help launch new careers. In this iteration we find Art Blakey on drums, Thelonious Monk on piano, Johnny Griffin on tenor saxophone, Bill Hardman on trumpet and Spanky DeBrest on bass. -Blakey had recorded with Monk on various occasions, but this was the first time Monk sat in with the Jazz Messengers. This also marks Thelonious Monk’s only appearance on Atlantic Records. The result is a true meeting of the minds, a beautiful union of Monk’s melodies with Blakey’s unshakable sense of swing. This 65thAnniversary deluxe edition includes an extra disc ofunreleased outtakes, celebrating the most sensational jazz collaboration of the 1950s.
Tracklist:
A1 Evidence 6:42
A2 In Walked Bud 6:38
A3 Blue Monk 7:49
B1 I Mean You 7:58
B2 Rhythm-A-Ning 7:16
B3 Purple Shades 7:39
The Outtakes
C1 Evidence (Take 2) 6:25
C2 In Walked Bud (Take 2) 6:20
C3 Blue Monk (Take 9) 7:27
D1 I Mean You (Take 3) 7:40
D2 Rhythm-A-Ning (Take 2) 7:35
D3 Purple Shades (Take 4) 7:12
Credits
Artwork [New Artwork Design By], Design [New Artwork Design By] – Bruno Tilley
Bass – Spanky DeBrest
Cover [Original Cover Design], Design [Original Cover Design] – Marvin Israel
Drums – Art Blakey
Editor [Editorial] – Allison Boron, Sheryl Farber
Engineer [Recording Engineer] – Earl Brown
Liner Notes – Martin Williams (6)
Liner Notes [New Liner Notes] – Ashley Khan
Mastered By – John Webber
Photography By [Cover Photos] – Lee Friedlander
Photography By [Photos: Booklet Back Cover, Bottom Left] – Agip
Photography By [Photos: Booklet Back Cover, Bottom Right, And Page 11] – Chuck Stewart
Photography By [Photos: Booklet Back Cover, Top Left And Right, And Pages 3 And 4] – Herman Leonard
Piano – Thelonious Monk
Producer [Produced For Release By] – Florence Joelle Halfon
Research [Photo Research] – Amelia Halverson
Supervised By [Supervision] – Nesuhi Ertegun
Tenor Saxophone [Tenor Sax] – Johnny Griffin
Trumpet – Bill Hardman