Drum Suite

This article is about the album by Art Blakey. For the album by Slide Hampton, see Drum Suite (Slide Hampton album). For the album by the Manny Albam-Ernie Wilkins Orchestra, see The Drum Suite.

Drum Suite is an album by drummer Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and the Art Blakey Percussion Ensemble, recorded in late 1956 and early 1957 and originally released on Columbia in April 1957.^[2][3] It was the first of several albums recorded by Blakey in the 1950s and 1960s that explored percussion-oriented jazz. It was followed by Orgy in Rhythm, Holiday for Skins, and The African Beat.

Drum Suite
Studio album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
Released	April 1957[1]
Recorded	June 25, 1956 December 13, 1956 February 22, 1957
Studio	Columbia 30th Street Studio New York City
Genre	Jazz
Length	40:57
Label	Columbia CL 1002
Producer	George Avakian
Art Blakey chronology
Ritual (1957) Drum Suite (1957) Orgy in Rhythm (1957)
The Jazz Messengers chronology
Hard Bop (1956) Drum Suite (1956–57) Ritual (1957)

The 2005 CD reissue added three tracks from a June 1956 session, two of them previously released on Originally in 1982.^[4]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
Disc	[6]

Allmusic awarded the album 4 stars, calling it "Groundbreaking for its time, and still sounding vital, powerful, and visionary, the Drum Suite album is somewhat of a lost masterpiece that deserves a fresh audience".^[5]

Track listing

Original release

Side one: Drum Suite

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Sacrifice"	Art Blakey	5:16
2.	"Cubano Chant"	Ray Bryant	4:01
3.	"Oscalypso"	Oscar Pettiford	8:48

Side two: The Jazz Messengers

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Nica's Tempo"	Gigi Gryce	8:24
2.	"D's Dilemma"	Mal Waldron	8:32
3.	"Just for Marty"	Bill Hardman	5:56

2005 Columbia/Legacy CD reissue

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Sacrifice"	Art Blakey	5:16
2.	"Cubano Chant"	Ray Bryant	4:01
3.	"Oscalypso"	Oscar Pettiford	8:48
4.	"Nica's Tempo"	Gigi Gryce	8:24
5.	"D's Dilemma"	Mal Waldron	8:32
6.	"Just for Marty"	Bill Hardman	5:56
7.	"Lil' T (a.k.a. The Third)"		8:12
8.	"The New Message (a.k.a. Little T)" (Take 1)		8:39
9.	"The New Message (a.k.a. Little T)" (Take 3)		5:32

Personnel

References

1. Billboard, April 29, 1957.
2. "Art Blakey Catalog - album index", JazzDisco.org; accessed June 5, 2013.
3. Schwartz, Steve, and Michael Fitzgerald, "Chronology of Art Blakey (and the Jazz Messengers)", May 1996-July 6, 2008; accessed June 5, 2013.
4. "Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers* – Drum Suite" at Discogs.
5. Leggett, Steve, Allmusic Review; accessed June 5, 2013.
6. Hall, Tony (February 22, 1958). "Swingiest drummer in Jazz". Disc. No. 3. p. 19.