Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in saxophone and piano playing.
Edward Lee Morgan was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s and a cornerstone of the Blue Note label, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording with bandleaders like John Coltrane, Curtis Fuller, Dizzy Gillespie, Hank Mobley and Wayne Shorter, and playing in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.
Frederick Dewayne Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives for modern jazz and bebop.
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.
Stepping Into Tomorrow is a 1974 album by jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd.
Mosaic is a studio album by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers recorded for Blue Note on October 2, 1961 and released the following year. The sextet features horn section Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard and Curtis Fuller and rhythm section Cedar Walton, Jymie Merritt and Art Blakey.
A Night in Tunisia is a 1958 jazz album by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, released by the RCA Victor subsidiary label Vik. It features the only recorded instances of saxophonists Jackie McLean and Johnny Griffin playing together.
Victor Sproles was an American jazz bassist.
Paris Jam Session is a live album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers with guest appearances by Bud Powell and Barney Wilen, recorded at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris on 18 December 1959. It was released by Fontana (France) originally, by EmArcy in 1961, and subsequently by Verve on CD as part of their Jazz in Paris series.
Double Take is an album by trumpeters Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw recorded in November 1985 and released on the Blue Note label. It features performances by Hubbard, Cecil McBee, Carl Allen, Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Garrett. The album was Hubbard's first for Blue Note since recording The Night of the Cookers (1965) twenty years previously.
Feel the Wind is an album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and drummer Art Blakey recorded in November 1988 and released on the Timeless label. It features performances by Hubbard, Blakey, Benny Green, Mulgrew Miller, Leon Lee Dorsey, Lonnie Plaxico and Javon Jackson. The album was also released in Japan as 70 Years Anniversary: Special Edition Vol. 1.
Ritual is a studio album by the Jazz Messengers featuring Art Blakey. Three years after being recorded, it was first released on the Pacific Jazz Records label as PJM-402, and reissued by them in 1962, with an Elmo Hope session, as Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers/The Elmo Hope Quintet* Featuring Harold Land as PJ-33. It has been reissued on CD.
'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.
Hold On, I'm Coming is an album by drummer Art Blakey recorded in 1966 and originally released on the Limelight label.
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.
James Theodore Powell was an American jazz saxophonist who played alto sax.
The Jazz Messengers were a jazz combo that existed for over thirty-five years beginning in the early 1950s as a collective, and ending when long-time leader and founding drummer Art Blakey died in 1990. Blakey led or co-led the group from the outset. "Art Blakey" and "Jazz Messengers" became synonymous over the years, though Blakey did lead non-Messenger recording sessions and played as a sideman for other groups throughout his career.
"Yes sir, I'm gonna to stay with the youngsters. When these get too old, I'm gonna get some younger ones. Keeps the mind active."
Golden Boy is an album by Quincy Jones which was released by Mercury in 1964. The album includes three versions of the theme from the musical Golden Boy with three original compositions and jazz versions of pop hits.
I/We Had a Ball is an album consisting of jazz versions of songs from Jack Lawrence and Stan Freeman's musical I Had a Ball performed by Art Blakey, Milt Jackson, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones and Chet Baker which was released by Limelight in 1965.
