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#34 Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers

Blue note, 1959
Genre: Jazz


I remember where I was the first time I heard "Moanin'" - the first track on this legendary album. I was in Mr. Bennett's band room, in grade 10. Those first, sonorous, punctuated notes were magical to me.  I had heard lots of jazz, but this was like hearing a story that is brand new, but also somehow familiar. 

My dad gave me this copy from his collection a year or so ago, and I was more than tickled to get it. It's a '59 original, not a repress, so it crackles and pops a bit, but still has a sweet sweet sound. It's a fantastic record all around - especially "Moanin'" and "The Drum Thunder". It's a story I'll go back to again and again.

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