Cashbox : 10/07/1961

The pile-driving Blakey rhythms propel the Messengers to fiery heights in the group’s Impulse date here. Though familiar enough to jazz audiences, Blakey still generates more than the usual excitement in each LP session and finds new devotees each time out. Group makeup still includes Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons and Jymie Merritt but with the addition of Curtis Fuller, a full (don’t laugh) sound is achieved in the close ensemble work. Tunes are I Hear A Rhapsody, Alamode, Circus and three more.

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Montreal Gazette
Charles J. Schreiber : 10/21/1961

The key attribute of the Messengers has always been their tight and coherent sound of jazz. With free ranging soloists ably assisted by smart backing, the group plays a half-dozen jazz offerings without overworking their style. The sound is introverted and demands attention of the listener. Art‘s drumology sets the tempo.

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Van Nuys Valley News
Mike Davenport : 11/09/1961

The Messengers usual lineup is augmented here by the very able trombone of Curtis Fuller. This particular version of the Messengers no longer exists, and Blakey will probably never have another group like it.

I found Blakey less overpowering, and the entire group more relaxed than on previous sessions. This is especially evident on You Don’t Know What Love Is.

Lee Morgan‘s inspired, often humorous, and constantly swinging playing alone makes the album worth having. Combined with the superb playing of Shorter and Fuller and a cooking rhythm section, the result is a fairly great album.

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Down Beat : 01/04/1962
Ira Gitler : 4.5 stars

This is a picture of the Messengers in transition. Freddie Hubbard and Cedar Walton had not yet come aboard but Fuller had already made the group a sextet.

This is a change of pace from most recent Messenger releases. There is only one original; the rest are standards that have not been overdone. All the performances are far from average. Whatever caused it, there is spirt, conviction, and sheer joy of playing communicated through these tracks.

Morgan is brilliant from beginning to end, as his thrilling work on Rhapsody and Circus and his sensitivity on Invitation and You Don’t Know attest. Shorter keeps improving. He seems to have the necessary confidence now. He, too, does not let down throughout the album and is especially effective on Baby, in his dramatic entrance on Invitation, and on You Don’t Know. His hard-driving tenor work on Rhapsody and Alamode is not to be overlooked either.

Fuller’s original, Alamode, is well described by its title and is a very successful outing in the modal mold that Miles Davis has helped to introduce to jazzmen in the last year or two. Fuller himself blows strongly and surely. On You Don’t Know, it sounds like he is using a felt beanie for a mute. Anyway, it’s a delightful tonal effect, somewhat like a French horn.

Timmons, like the rest, is straight-ahead and swinging whenever he solos, with no time out for any stylizations.

One reason for the excellence of these tracks may be their length. There is no excessive blowing time; everyone gets his piece said within his limit. There is no doubt about another reason – Blakey, as usual, is a tremendous unifying and driving force at the core of the whole unit. Merritt is no slouch, either.

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Liner Notes by Dick Katz
September, 1961

“The group that plays together, stays together.”

This pun on the well-known religious slogan is particularly relevant to Art Blakey and his wonderful group, and the following remarks should help clarify the point.

It has been said, correctly I believe, that a jazz performance, to be authentic, should create an illusion of spontaneity. Indeed, this could apply to all kinds of music, but especially jazz, where the role of improvisation is so important. Or, to put it another way – whether or not the music performed is written or improvised, it should get across that sound and feeling of freshness that is really “of the moment.” Many people assume that just because a player is improvising it must be magic, and is truly spontaneous creation. This is not always the case. Uninspired, mechanical playing playing is just that, whether or not a musician is interpreting someone else’s ideas, or his own. Since jazz music is generally agreed to be a player’s art, it would seem that this so-called illusion of spontaneity would be fairly easy to come by. But most jazz musicians will tell you that it is an extremely illusive quality. Every player or group has its good nights contrasted with those that seem as if “nothing is happening.”

Now, most of the greatest jazz produced in public has been created by those groups, large and small, who were fortunate enough to retain essentially the same personnel over a long period of time. From the great big bands of Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie, down to today’s fine small ensembles such as The Modern Jazz Quartet, The Oscar Peterson Trio, The Miles Davis Sextet, Horace Silver‘s group, to name a few – all these aggregations had and have that unity of expression that is so vital to good music. And of course, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers would have to figure prominently in any list compiled for posterity. Also, in addition to the talents of the people in these bands, and the obvious advantages of playing together regularly, there is the security of entering the recording studio as a team. Many listeners are not aware of the fact that many records are made out of necessity by pick-up groups, comprised of great players, to be sure, but too often this results in expert performances, rather than artistic ones.

So, in a time when economic considerations make it virtually impossible to keep a band intact, Art Blakey has not only managed to do that, but like many great band leaders, he has launched and encouraged the careers of an impressive list of jazzmen. Horace Silver, Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, and Doug Watkins are but a few talents that have since won a place in the jazz sun. And naturally, the performers on this record augment the list handsomely. Trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist-composer Bobby Timmons, and bassist Jymie Merritt have by now built worldwide reputations. Trombonist Curtis Fuller, engaged especially for this album, is a recording star in his own right, and in his relatively short career has already achieved an enviable following.

These talented young musicians, inspired and led by Mr. Blakey have arrived at that point where the unity of expression referred to above is a common occurrence; and because of this artistic cohesiveness, have a high average of “good nights.” Also, they invariably provide the listeners with that aforementioned illusion, because they imbue almost everything they play with that intensity of feeling and sense of “now” that is essential to good jazz. Besides, an artist of the stature of Art Blakey will not settle for less.

The vital statistics of Mr. Blakey are by now very well known to the jazz public, so I’m foregoing the biography usually found in album liner notes. However, what is not so widely known in this country is how respected he is overseas. His recent Japanese tour was distinguished among other things, by an almost fanatical devotion and acclaim on the part of his fans. Blakey is a great salesman for jazz, which is the art form most esteemed outside of the United States. However, he feels as does this writer, that something is really amiss when thousands of people behind the iron curtain, for example, will take personal risk to listen to a Voice of America jazz program, while ironically right here at home, there are no regular network radio or television programs that feature jazz.

Another facet of Art Blakey’s musical personality is, although he encourages searching and experimental playing, as illustrated by Lee Morgan and Wayne Shorter, he has a great respect and understanding of the jazz tradition. He insists that his men reflect this in their work, no matter how adventuresome they choose to play. That is why Blakey’s music almost always reaches his audience. He believes in performing as opposed to practicing in public, as so many of today’s players do. His associations with just about every important jazz figure of the last twenty-five years really give his work a seasoning and professionalism that is all too rare nowadays.

Concerning the music in this album, this writer believes it a virtual impossibility to verbalize the feelings convey in a music as personal as jazz. The listener is advised to supply his or her own message from these performances. The only things that I will indicate in advance are that the fire, drama, taste, imagination, originality and variety so uniquely expressed by Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers are all here.