A Night in Tunisia
Throughout his long career, Art Blakey built a tremendous reputation for aggressive bands that featured the most gifted young musicians. Few of his later bands, however, could stand comparison with this 1960 edition of the hard-bop juggernaut. Its members combined strong writing skills with distinctive solo voices, including the creative seeking of tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter; the edgy, sometimes blistering, trumpet of Lee Morgan; and the soul-drenched piano of Bobby Timmons. Blakey's drumming contributes an explosive drive to this CD's version of Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia," a coiling snake of bop exoticism, while "So Tired" is a Timmons essay in deep funk, like his better-known "Moanin'" and "Dat Dere" an elemental tune with subtle underpinnings.--Stuart Broomer