Jazz Messages

Jazz Messages is a 1957 LP re-issue and compilation of tracks by (i) the Clifford Brown Ensemble and (ii) The Jazz Messengers with Art Blakey. It was released on Jazztone Records (catalog #J-1281).

Jazz Messages
Studio album by Art Blakey, Clifford Brown
Released	1957
Genre	Jazz
Label	Jazztone

Comments

"Ritual" – For the purpose of improving his art, Blakey, in 1947, worked his way over to Nigeria on a ship, and, while there, visited, Ghana. He stayed for a little over a year. Later, in the New York Jazz scene, Blakey became influential in raising awareness of African-based percussion. Among other things, he composed "Ritual" out of inspiration from his experiences in Africa.^[1] Jazz critic Norman Weinstein opined that "Ritual" was one of several projects where Blakey showed an interest in African diasporic musical connections, expressed in "quasi-Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean terms."^[2]

"Daahoud," sometimes spelled "Dawud," means "David" in Arabic. Brown named the composition after Talib Dawud, a trumpet-playing acquaintance – with Dizzy and Lee Morgan – in Philadelphia from the early 1950s.

Brown, on June 26, 1954, married LaRue Anderson (maiden; 1933–2005).^[i] He called her "Joy Spring," and, in her honor, composed a piece in her name in 1954. They had been introduced by Max Roach.

Track listing

Jazztone re-issue

Jazz Messages (album art: Roy Doty; liner notes: George T. Simon)

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Side 1: Clifford Brown's All Stars

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Gone with the Wind" (recorded September 8, 1954)	Allie Wrubel	3:37
2.	"Tiny Capers" (recorded September 8, 1954)	Clifford Brown	4:13
3.	"Joy Spring" (recorded August 12, 1954)	Clifford Brown	3:13
4.	"Blueberry Hill" (recorded September 8, 1954)	Vincent Rose	3:13
5.	"Daahoud" (recorded August 12, 1954)	Clifford Brown	4:11

Side 2: The Jazz Messengers with Art Blakey

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Once Upon a Groove" (recorded January 14, 1957, New York)	Owen Eugene Marshall	8:36
2.	"Touche" (recorded January 14, 1957, New York)	Mal Waldron	6:16
3.	"Blakey's comments on 'Ritual'" (Blakey; February 11, 1957, New York)	Blakey	1:55
4.	"Ritual" (recorded February 11, 1957, New York)	Art Blakey	9:59

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Matrix – Side 1 (printed on label): HO-8P-0788

Matrix – Side 2 (printed on label): HO-8P-0789

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Original releases

1) Pacific Jazz Presents the Clifford Brown Ensemble

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(originally released in 1955 by Pacific Jazz; OCLC 12149539; the August 12 and September 8 sessions were at Capitol Records "A," Los Angeles; all compositions arranged by Jack Montrose)^[3][4]

Side A:

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Gone with the Wind" (recorded September 8, 1954)	Allie Wrubel	3:37
2.	"Joy Spring" (recorded August 12, 1954)	Clifford Brown	3:13
3.	"Finders Keepers" (recorded August 12, 1954)	Jack Montrose	3:49
4.	"Blueberry Hill" (recorded September 8, 1954)	Vincent Rose	3:13

Side B:

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Tiny Capers" (recorded September 8, 1954)	Clifford Brown	4:13
2.	"Bones for Jones" (tecorded September 8, 1954)	Clifford Brown	4:13
3.	"Daahoud" (recorded August 12, 1954)	Clifford Brown	4:11

Personnel

• Clifford Brown – trumpet
• Stu Williamson – valve trombone
• Zoot Sims – tenor sax
• Bob Gordon – bari sax
• Russ Freeman – piano
• Joe Mondragon – bass (August 12 session)
• Carson Smith – bass (September 8 session)
• Shelly Manne – drums

2) Ritual: The Modern Jazz Messengers

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(recorded January 14, 1957, New York;^[4] selections used for the release of Jazz Messages)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Once Upon a Groove" (recorded January 14, 1957, New York)	Owen Eugene Marshall	8:36
2.	"Touche" (recorded January 14, 1957, New York)	Mal Waldron	6:16
3.	"Ritual" (recorded February 11, 1957, New York)	Art Blakey	9:59

Personnel

• Jackie McLean – alto sax
• Bill Hardman – trumpet
• Sam Dockery – piano
• Spanky DeBrest – bass
• Art Blakey – drums