mikechadwick
pfm Member
Picked up Katanga! and Witch Doctor today - will give them a spin tomorrow,
How are people finding Witch Doctor? I don't get on with Art Blakey's music as a leader: I've got a few records ( Moanin', Indestructible, Free for All ) , but I tend to find they are more about drive and not subtlety or invention and they are rarely things I return to.
I don't get on with Art Blakey's music as a leader: I've got a few records ( Moanin', Indestructible, Free for All ) , but I tend to find they are more about drive and not subtlety or invention and they are rarely things I return to. Its sort of jazz turned up to 11 for me or the jazz equivalent of heavy rock.
You are not alone.
Does anyone else hear shades of Rendell/Carr in Katanga!? ( Excuse the pun).
The Jazz Messengers were one of the original proponents of hard bop after all with it's move to a simpler, more driving sound (I realise this is a very broad brush...). And Blakey never lets you forget that it's a band with a drummer as leader. But I rather like that!
Does anyone else hear shades of Rendell/Carr in Katanga!? ( Excuse the pun).
That’s how I look at it. Whatever hard-bop was they were pretty much the Stooges/Ramones of it. That is not a problem.
I know this may be seen as heresy, but The Stooges and Ramones were always "OK in small doses" bands for me, so that's quite consistent at least.
The Jazz Messengers launched so many amazing careers and in many ways that is the lasting legacy. Art Blakey gave so many future jazz legends their first big ticket recording gig, so I guess it is perfectly understandable they may not have found their own identity or peak creativity at that time. It was a fascinating band that seemed to operate under a different logic in many ways. I do tend to agree with the consensus here and don’t think anyone, including Art Blakey himself, did their finest work in the Jazz Messengers, but the impact they had as a career launch pad is simply astonishing.
Van Gelder when recording Blakey once asked him to cut back a little on the dynamics as he was overloading everyone's mikes. The result apparently was that he played even harder and louder on the repeat.
I thought I would see (hear) what the Rendell Carr Quintet sounded like when under a real African influence so played Afro-Jazz that basically is the usual quintet, but adds Guy Warren of Ghana. They are playing Warren's compositions (Amanico D'Silva is also added on some tracks) and here in this later 1969 album they pretty much all manage to completely change their playing style. This and Warren's compositions gives a much more direct African feel to the album. They play 'freer' and simpler at the same time. Their ability to adapt like this is impressive.
And a little on Blakey overloading Van Gelder's mikes.