At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1

Artist: Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
Label: Blue Note Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Live
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 077774652124
EAN: 0077774652124
ASIN: B000005H52

Release Date: 1990-10-25

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Listmania:

the best jazz albums ever

Tracks:

Soft Winds
The Theme
Minor's Holiday
Alone Together
Prince Albert
Lady Bird
Whats New
Decifering The Message

Similar Items:

At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 2
A Night at Birdland, Vol. 2
A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1
The Big Beat
Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers

Customer Reviews:

One of the great live recordings in jazz.......2006-08-10

I cannot say enough good things about this record. I really like the atmosphere. I like the way Blakery announces the tunes. it kind of makes you feel that you are there. This issue adds two or three songs per volume in what is a two volume series.

All of the musicians play great. The quality of the sound is excellent. My favorite songs are Prince Albert and Soft Winds.

Hank Mobley and Kenny Dorham both play wonderfully. It is one of my favorite Mobley records. The rhythm section is as good as it gets. Horace Silver is fun and funky. Blakey out does himself.

Blakey's Best.......2006-06-06

I started with Vol. 2 of this session and finally relented. A good move, because like Art Blakey's two-set "Live at Birdland," Vol. 1 definitely has an edge over Vol. 2--both in programming and performance. And as indispensable as the earlier Birdland recording is because of the presence of Clifford Brown, "At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1" will get more playing from me, if for no other than two reasons: Hank Mobley and Doug Watkins. But then there's K. D., who in his own way satisfies every bit as much as Clifford.

Introduced as a "new, rising tenor star" by Blakey, Hank is at his inventive, unforced best, that smoky, butterscotch sound coming through without the spiked, overly "hot" miking and mixing it receives on the later "At the Jazz Corner of the World." Watkins is superior to his predecessor, Curly Russell, as well as his successor, Jymmie Merritt. He receives a rare solo feature, "What's New," but his real strength is his tone (smaller but richer and more focused than Paul Chambers' during this period) and time (an absolutely unflappable walker with unflagging concentration).

Kenny Dorham is the thinking man's trumpet player, never wasting breath or technique merely to impress, yet capable of being as lyrical and fluid as his frontline partner, Mobley. He belongs on a short list with Clifford and Diz and maybe no one else. The logic, the harmonic adventurousness, the allusiveness, the "curing" of each individual note, the elimination of anything extraneous to the pure substance of musical form itself--he's simply in a category unto himself. Silver's comping is, as usual, perfectly in synch with Blakey's drums, and his soloing is more connected here than on other live sessions.

Finally, the program is representative of what an effective jazz set should be--an engaging blues, followed by an "I Got Rhythm" set of changes, followed by "All the Things You Are" changes. Blakey, as usual, cuts the ballad feature, "Alone Together," far too short, but Tad Dameron's "Lady Bird" and Mobley's "Deciphering the Message" are huge bonuses--bebop that's accessible and winsome. The sound on this monaural disk from 1956 is Van Gelder at his very best (contrary to some assumptions, "RVG" is no guarantee of perfection).

In sum, of the nearly 50 Messengers albums in my collection, this is my favorite, most-played, on-location recording, rivaled only by Art's "The Jazz Messengers" (not the popular Blue Note "Moanin'" date but the Columbia studio session, an album that, along with magnificent Mobley, features inspired Donald Byrd and quintessential ensemble cohesiveness).

Good "live" early Blakey.......2005-03-20

Here's the first of 2 volumes on Blue Note capturing the Jazz Messengers at the Cafe Bohemia on Nov. 23, 1955. Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, and Doug Watkins join Blakey for the club date. "Prince Albert" is a handsome little tune by trumpeter Dorham, and "Alone together" features tenor saxophonist Mobley in a beautiful ballad performance. "What's new" features Watkins on bass and might be of limited appeal. Volume 1 is slightly better than Volume 2, but you shouldn't have one without the other--and both are very good.

A Classic Jazz Messengers Cooking Session!.......2003-09-04

"Now, ladies and gentleman, I'd like to acquaint you with the Jazz Messengers. On the piano, we have the incomparable Horace Silver. On the bass, all the way from Motor City, ladies and gentleman, one of the youngest and finest bass players in the business today, our bassist, Doug Watkins. And on the tenor saxophone we have a new star on the modern jazz horizon, Hank Mobley. And on the trumpet we have a perennial favorite, he's with the prophet of modern jazz Charlie Parker. He's our arranger, now, and out trumpeter. The uncrowned king, ladies and gentleman, Kenny Dorham."

With those words, Art Blakely and the Jazz Messengers begin a two disc jazz classic.

Recorded live at the Cafe Bohemia on November 23, 1955

Art Blakey - Drums
Kenny Dorham - Trumpet
Hank Mobley - Tenor Saxophone
Horace Silver - Piano
Doug Watkins - Bass

Highly Recommended!

Cant stop stomping and snappin.........2003-06-25

This record jams...ever since I bought it, I cant stop listening to it. It makes you feel like youre right there jamming with them. The Prince Albert and Ladybird tracks are my favoriates. You cant help but snap your fingers and stomp your feet (i irriate everyone at work!)to Hank and Art. Hank Mobley is one of the best jazz musicians ever (along with Clifford Brown)!! Be sure to check out Roll Call and No Room for Squares too.

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