Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Roots & Herbs (1961) (1999)

Artist Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
Title Of Album Roots & Herbs
Year Of Release: 1961/1999
Label (Catalog#) Blue Note [7243 5 21956 2]
Country: USA
Genre Jazz / Hard Bop, Modal
Quality: FLAC (image + cue,log)
Bitrate: Lossless
Time: 01:01:52
Full Size: 451mb(+3%)(covers)

AllMusic Review by Stephen Cook
Originally recorded in 1961, Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers' Roots & Herbs was first released in 1970. Like many titles in the Blue Note catalog, this fine Blakey outing was initially shelved by Alfred Lion for unknown reasons; thankfully, considering Blakey's large array of available Blue Note albums, this wasn't necessarily a crisis. Having already been a magnet for such talented hard bop players and writers as Hank Mobley, Benny Golson, Clifford Brown, Horace Silver (who helped form the original group), and Kenny Dorham, the Messengers' lineup of 1961 featured one of Blakey's best rosters: In addition to trumpeter Lee Morgan, who would alternate in the early '60s with Freddie Hubbard, the band featured tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianists Walter Davis, Jr. and Bobby Timmons, and bassist Jymie Merritt. Feeding off six early compositions by Shorter, all the players reel off top-notch solos atop Blakey's fluidly galvanizing swing beat. Highlights include "Ping Pong," "Look at Birdie," and "Master Mind," compositions that, in their fetchingly askew ways, nicely foreshadow the wealth of ideas to come from Shorter's pen throughout the '60s.

Tracks:
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01. "Ping Pong" – 7:06
02. "Roots and Herbs" – 6:05
03. "The Back Sliders" – 7:51
04. "United" – 7:29
05. "Look at the Birdie" – 6:45
06. "Master Mind" – 6:55
Bonus tracks on CD:
07. "The Back Sliders" (Alternate Take) - 6:57
08. "Ping Pong" (Alternate Version) - 5:58
09. "United" (Alternate Version) - 6:48

Personnel:
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Bass – Jymie Merritt
Drums – Art Blakey
Piano – Bobby Timmons, Walter Davis Jr. (tracks: 2, 4)
Saxophone [Tenor] – Wayne Shorter
Trumpet – Lee Morgan

Notes:
Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio on February 12 (8, 9), February 18 (1, 2, 4-6) and May 27 (3, 7) 1961
1-6 originally issued as BST 84347, 7-9 bonus tracks not on original album
24bit remaster

All thanks to original releaser