Moanin' (originally titled Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers) is a jazz album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded in 1958 for the Blue Note label and released in 1959.

Moanin'
Studio album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
Released	January 1959[1]
Recorded	October 30, 1958
Studio	Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack
Genre	Hard bop
Length	40:16 50:20 CD reissue
Label	Blue Note BST 84003
Producer	Alfred Lion
Art Blakey chronology
Art Blakey Big Band (1957) Moanin' (1959) Drums Around the Corner (1959)
The Jazz Messengers chronology
Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk (1958) Moanin' (1959) The Big Beat (1960)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[5]

Background

This was Blakey's first album for Blue Note in several years, after a period of recording for a number of different labels, and marked both a homecoming and a fresh start. Originally the LP was self-titled, but the instant popularity of the bluesy opening track "Moanin'" (by pianist Bobby Timmons) led to its becoming known by that title.

Music

The rest of the originals are by saxophonist Benny Golson (who was not with the Jazz Messengers for long, this being the only American album on which he is featured). "Are You Real?" is a propulsive 32-bar piece with a four-bar tag, featuring two-part writing for Golson and trumpeter Lee Morgan. "Along Came Betty" is a more lyrical, long-lined piece, almost serving as the album's ballad. "The Drum Thunder Suite" is a feature for Blakey, in three movements: "Drum Thunder"; "Cry a Blue Tear"; and "Harlem's Disciples". "Blues March" calls on the feeling of the New Orleans marching bands, and the album finishes on its only standard, an unusually brisk reading of "Come Rain or Come Shine". Of the originals on the album, all but the "Drum Thunder Suite" became staples of the Messengers book, even after Timmons and Golson were gone. Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in his meticulous Hackensack studios, this recording reflects the hallmark precision associated with that engineer – on the 1999 CD reissue there is a brief conversation between Lee Morgan and Rudy Van Gelder going over Morgan's solo.

Reception

The album stands as one of the archetypal hard bop albums of the era, for the intensity of Blakey's drumming and the work of Morgan, Golson and Timmons, and for its combination of old-fashioned gospel and blues influences with a sophisticated modern jazz sensibility. The album was identified by jazz critic Scott Yanow as one of "17 Essential Hard Bop Recordings".[6] AllMusic gives it a five-star review, stating: "Moanin' includes some of the greatest music Blakey produced in the studio with arguably his very best band. ... ranks with the very best of Blakey and what modern jazz offered in the late '50s and beyond."[2]

Influence

A vocalese version of "Moanin'" was later written by Jon Hendricks, and recorded by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross,[7] as well as jazz vocalists Bill Henderson[8] and Karrin Allyson.

Track listing

Original LP

CD reissue

Personnel

• Art Blakey – drums
• Lee Morgan – trumpet
• Benny Golson – tenor saxophone
• Bobby Timmons – piano
• Jymie Merritt – bass

Charts

References