Art Blakey experts please ... ?

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.

If you like Art with Lee Morgan and Wayne Shorter I'd also suggest "Paris Jam Session" and "Like Someone in Love", the latter has Bobby Timmons on piano. Great stuff!

Thank you for all the friendly answers - I will listen to all your recommendations.

Isochronism, yes sometimes I have luck to find cheap originals but it is seldom.
I am collecting records -sometimes more sometimes less- since 1972 when I was ten yrs. old, ... an ever lasting love of my life. Temporarily its a nearly uncontrollable addiction for me.

But because I live in Germany its not easy to find cheap original US or UK pressings - which are often (not always) preferred against german-pressings.
I buy also many records from US-ebay (and also from dealers), but this is not always a cheap source and we also have to pay the oversea shipping and taxes. ebay-records are sometimes not in very good shape, even if you use a RCM. I do not worry about a few ticks on used records but cant listen to very noisy ones.
I visited beautiful U.S. six times in the 90's (five times in NYC and once in Miami) and also bought records (and Infinity betas) there - but I think NYC is not a good place to find cheap records.

But not only being a music and record-lover I am also a HiFi-enthusiast for a long while. And so sometimes I have great fun with good reissues if the music is really touching me.
Some of my audiophile friends slightly disagree but on my system most of the 45's are sounding fantastic. (But I would always prefer a 33rpm record if it would have the same sonic quality as the 45's.)

Awesome thread.. I am not a Blakey fan even though I grew up playing the drums and have a couple of his recordings. At some point I will re-visit Blakey and try some other works. My system is likely holding me back performance-wise from enjoying his recordings I have more than I do. Still trying to raise the level of its performance.

As great as the Shorter/Morgan edition of the Jazz Messengers was there were many wonderful Blakey led bands before and after that period.In fact,the "Jazz Messenger" bands were constantly the springboard for musicians cutting their teeth under Blakey's leadership and moving on to create their own bands.This may be unique in Jazz,as no other leader has fostered so much talent and sent it forth onto the music world as Art Blakey did.
The list of Jazz Messengers reads like a who's who...Kenny Dorham,Hank Mobley,Lou Donaldson,Horace Silver,Clifford Brown,Donald Byrd comprising the earlier editions with Bill Hardman,Byrd,and Jackie McLean in the later 50's.This was also an incredibly active period for Blakey as a sideplayer...Rollins,Monk,Miles,Bud Powell...on and on.
Enter the "golden" Blakey period...Benny Golson,Lee Morgan,Wayne Shorter,Curtis Fuller,Freddie Hubbard,Cedar Walton,Bobby Timmons through the early mid 60's.
He picked up again,in earnest from the early seventies into the late 80's with bands comprising of[in chronological order] Woody Shaw,John Hicks,Dave Schnitter,Valery Ponomarev,Bobby Watson,Wynton Marsalis,Branford Marsalis,Terrence Blanchard,Donald Harrison,Wallace Roney,Kenny Garrett,Benny Green,Javon Jackson,Robin Eubanks,Brian Lynch,Steve Davis and lots of others in and out of the band.
Not only was Art Blakey a master percussionist he was a keen talent scout for the best young players.That is what kept him young,he ran with the youngbloods,over and over again,decade after decade.It is a truly impressive legacy of bands,great players and a testimonial to the desire to create absorbing Jazz spontaneously night after night.