Free for All | ||||
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Studio album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers | ||||
Released | July 1965 [1] | |||
Recorded | February 10, 1964 | |||
Studio | Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Length | 36:47 | |||
Label | Blue Note BST 84170 | |||
Producer | Alfred Lion | |||
Art Blakey chronology | ||||
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The Jazz Messengers chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [3] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [4] |
Free for All is a jazz album by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers released on Blue Note. Recorded in February 1964, it was released the following year. It was originally titled Free Fall. [5]
The Allmusic review by Al Campbell awards the album 4 stars and states, "This edition of the Jazz Messengers had been together since 1961 with a lineup that would be hard to beat: Freddie Hubbard on trumpet... Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Cedar Walton on piano, and Reggie Workman on bass. Shorter's title track is one of the finest moments in the Jazz Messengers' history." [2]
Freddie Hubbard's composition "The Core" is dedicated to the CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and expresses "Hubbard's admiration of that organization's persistence and resourcefulness in its work for total, meaningful equality." "They're getting", he explains, "at the core, at the center of the kinds of change that have to take place before this society is really open to everyone. And more than any other group, CORE is getting to youth, and that's where the center of change is." The piece was called that way also because Hubbard thought that the musicians "got at some of the core of jazz – the basic feelings and rhythms that are at the foundation of music." [6]
"Pensativa" was composed by Fischer, but was arranged by Hubbard for the occasion: "I was playing a gig in Long Island", he recalls, "and the pianist started playing it. The mood got me, this feeling of a pensive woman. And the melody was so beautiful that, after I'd gotten home, I couldn't get it out of my mind." [6]
The album was intended to have featured three more tunes, Shorter's "Eva" and two vocals by Wellington Blakey, Blakey's cousin. These were attempted, but no valid takes were recorded. Additionally, the musicians tried a second take of "Free for All", an attempt that producer Lion had to stop because Blakey's drums broke, according to his log. Indeed, said alternate take, first released on the limited 2014 Japanese SHM-CD, is three minutes shorter. [5]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Free for All" | Wayne Shorter | 11:04 |
2. | "Hammer Head" | Wayne Shorter | 7:47 |
3. | "The Core" | Freddie Hubbard | 9:24 |
4. | "Pensativa" | Clare Fischer | 8:19 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Free for All" | Wayne Shorter | 11:04 |
2. | "Hammer Head" | Wayne Shorter | 7:47 |
3. | "The Core" | Freddie Hubbard | 9:24 |
4. | "Pensativa" | Clare Fischer | 8:19 |
5. | "Free for All" (Alternate Take) | Wayne Shorter | 8:26 |
The Freedom Rider is an album by jazz drummer Art Blakey and his group the Jazz Messengers, recorded in 1961 and released in 1964 by Blue Note Records. Continuing Blakey's distinct brand of hard bop, this album features compositions from Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Blakey himself, and Kenny Dorham, a former Jazz Messenger. This was the final album by this particular edition of the Jazz Messengers, who had been together for 18 months, as Lee Morgan left after this album and was replaced by Freddie Hubbard.
Indestructible is a jazz album by drummer Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers. It was recorded in 1964 but not released until 1966, and was Blakey's last recording for Blue Note. The bonus track featured on the CD reissue was originally issued on Pisces.
Caravan is a jazz album released by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in February 1963. It was Blakey's first album for Riverside Records after he signed with them in October 1962. The songs were recorded at the Plaza Sound Studio in New York City, on October 23–24, 1962 The producer was Orrin Keepnews who also supervised the album's remastered re-release on CD.
Mosaic is a studio album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, released in January 1962 through Blue Note Records. The album's performers included Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Cedar Walton (piano), Jymie Merritt (bass) and Art Blakey (drums). They recorded and performed together from 1961 into 1964. Hubbard and Walton became permanent members of the group following the 1961 departures of trumpeter Lee Morgan and pianist Bobby Timmons. The Mosaic recording session featured no alternate takes and, therefore, has yielded no bonus material in reissue.
Buhaina's Delight is a jazz album released by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in 1963. Produced by Alfred Lion, the album was recorded in two sessions on November 28, 1961 and December 18, 1961 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The album was released by Blue Note Records in July 1963 after Blakey had moved to Riverside Records in late 1962.
Three Blind Mice is a 1962 jazz album released by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers on the United Artists Jazz label, featuring live material recorded in 1962 Club Renaissance, Hollywood. It was reissued later in 1962 in two volumes by Blue Note Records, adding two tracks recorded in 1961 at The Village Gate and also unreleased material from the primary session. It was bassist Jymie Merritt's final recording with the group before having to leave to recover from an illness; he would be replaced by Reggie Workman.
Pisces is a jazz album by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers. It was recorded between 1961 and 1964, but not issued on Blue Note Records until 1979. More a compilation than an album, all the tracks, except for "It's A Long Way Down", may be found on the Mosaic compilation The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Art Blakey's 1960 Jazz Messengers. Moreover, "Uptight", and "Pisces" are included on the CD reissue of The Freedom Rider, whilst "It's a Long Way Down" is featured on the CD reissue of Indestructible. Ultimately, "United" and "Ping Pong" may be found on Roots & Herbs.
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers is a studio album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, released on September 1, 1961, through Impulse! Records. Expanding to a sextet for the first time, it was the group's final recording with Bobby Timmons, who would be replaced by Cedar Walton.
The Witch Doctor is an album by American jazz drummer and bandleader Art Blakey and his group The Jazz Messengers recorded on March 14, 1961 and released on the Blue Note label. It features performances by Blakey with Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons, and Jymie Merritt.
Hub Cap is an album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and was released on the Blue Note label in 1961 as BLP 4073 and BST 84073. It features performances by Hubbard, Julian Priester, Jimmy Heath, Cedar Walton, Larry Ridley and Philly Joe Jones.
Here to Stay is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard recorded on December 27, 1962 but not released on the Blue Note label until 1976 as BN-LA 496-2. It features performances by Hubbard, Cedar Walton, Reggie Workman, Philly Joe Jones, and Wayne Shorter.
The Body & the Soul is an album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard recorded in 1963 as his second and last release on the Impulse! label. It features performances by Hubbard with an orchestra and string section, and with a septet featuring Curtis Fuller, Eric Dolphy, Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton, Reggie Workman and Louis Hayes.
Ugetsu: Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers at Birdland is a live jazz album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers released on Riverside Records in October 1963. The album was recorded at Birdland in New York City.
Take a Number from 1 to 10 is an album by saxophonist Benny Golson, featuring performances recorded in late 1960 and early 1961 and originally released on the Argo label.
Kyoto is an album by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, recorded in 1964 and released on the Riverside label.
'S Make It is a recording by the hard bop Art Blakey jazz ensemble. It was recorded in Los Angeles in 1964 and issued on the Limelight label. Following the departure of stars from his 1961 to 1964 band, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter and Cedar Walton, it includes previous Blakey alumni and newer players. This was trombonist Curtis Fuller's last recording as a regular member of the group, though he would return to record sporadically with Blakey in the 1970s and 80s. The album was re-released on Verve in 2004.
Golden Boy is a 1963 album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, performing compositions by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse written for the Broadway musical Golden Boy. The LP was originally released on the Colpix label.
David Schnitter
The Art of Jazz: Live in Leverkusen is a live album by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers at the Leverkusen Jazz Festival in Germany on October 9, 1989. To commemorate Blakey's 70th birthday, the concert featured many special guests—most of whom were former Messengers. Singer Michelle Hendricks sang a song -- "Mr. Blakey"—composed for the occasion by founding Messenger Horace Silver.
Live in '65 is a DVD of an Art Blakey concert in Paris in 1965.