Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Just Coolin' (2020) [Hi-Res]

Never-before-released studio album by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers that was recorded on March 8, 1959 in Rudy Van Gelder's living room studio in Hackensack, New Jersey. The session featured a short-lived line-up of The Jazz Messengers with drummer Art Blakey, trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, pianist Bobby Timmons, and bassist Jymie Merritt. The album features two previously unissued compositions including Timmons' tune 'Quick Trick'.

The session for Just Coolin' was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's Hackensack, N.J. studio on March 8, 1959. The six-song set includes two previously unissued compositions: "Quick Trick" and "Jimerick." Blue Note presents the essential collection on all-analog 180g vinyl LP mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio.

For 35 years, Blakey's vehicle was the Jazz Messengers; their message remains as vibrant as ever in the year of the leader's centennial. Tribute bands led by acolytes Ralph Peterson, Carl Allen and Lewis Nash continue to channel Blakey's mojo on Messenger repertoire by notable alumni such as Benny Golson, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Curtis Fuller and Bobby Watson.

Blakey's five-star drumming was the core of his immense footprint. "Art could reach inside your emotions," Golson said on WKCR in 1996. "There was no wasted effort when he played. It was meaningful, logical and sounded fantastic — the epitome of swinging. His style was such that you didn't want to hear or play with any other style."

Bobby Timmons, piano
Hank Mobley, tenor saxophone
Lee Morgan, trumpet
Jymie Merritt, double bass
Art Blakey, drums

Produced by Alfred Lion

Digitally remastered