Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Moanin' (Blue Note Essentials Series)

Hard bop never sounded more soulful than on Moanin', the Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers classic, reissued here as part of Blue Note's Essentials Series.

Recorded in 1958 and released the following year, the album introduced a refreshed Jazz Messengers line-up that would make history. Lee Morgan on trumpet, Benny Golson on tenor saxophone, Bobby Timmons at the piano and Jymie Merritt on bass joined Blakey's thunderous drumming, and together they struck a balance of church-rooted feeling and fiery virtuosity. It became one of the best-loved records in the Blue Note catalogue and a gateway for generations of new jazz listeners.

The title track "Moanin'" is the one everybody knows, a call-and-response piano theme by Timmons that sounds like a gospel shout set to a strut. Golson contributed much of the rest, including the elegant, lightly swinging "Along Came Betty" and the sly, marching swagger of "Blues March." Then comes "The Drum Thunder Suite," a showcase for Blakey's explosive power and his gift for shaping a band from behind the kit.

Morgan was barely twenty here, already blazing with confidence and wit. On vinyl, these Rudy Van Gelder recordings feel present and alive, a perfect starting point for any jazz shelf.