Art Blakey experts please ... ?

I claim to be an Art Blakey expert. Since I have many LP's and CD's, I won't list them all; I would rather give others the pleasure.

Not only is Blakey "King of the drums", he is also the king of "Hard bop". There are more famous musicians who played with his "Jazz Messengers" than any other group, including the Miles Davis groups.

"Moanin" is a classic among classics. "Along Came Betty", ranks with the title tune for me. There could be more than one reason for that. I was a teenager who worshipped from afar, a very beautiful old lady of 23 named "Betty". Every time I put a quarter in the jukebox and punched that tune, a vision of "Betty" floated before me.

I have never gone wrong selecting any Blakey album, and I can think of no other artist I can say that about. I'm sure people new to Blakey will enjoy him as much as I have.

45's are the ultimate. Nothing can capture "nuance" like a 45; for those who can afford them, that's the way to go. LP's are close, but this ain't horseshoes.

Jazzcourier, your user name is most appropriate.

"A Night At Birdland" is Art Blakey's most famous album with "old school" fans. It includes Pee Wee Marquette's famous introduction which is remembered by all "old school" fans. Pee Wee was a little guy with a big voice, he was Birdland's emcee.

This album was made while Clifford Brown was still around. He could play Be Bop, Hard Bop, and ballads; his tone was unforgettable. Horace Silver was also in that group. This was when jazz was "definitive", there was no confusing "jazz" with any other music.

"Inna, this one may not be for you". Inna likes jazz, but not "Old school" jazz. Him and many others prefer the music after it became "amorphous"; but jazz, like everything else, has evolved. "Old school, new school, future school; when you add the word "jazz", it all sounds good to me.