The Jazz Messengers

The Jazz Messengers were an influential jazz combo that existed for over thirty-five years beginning in the early 1950s as a collective, and ending when long-time leader and founding drummer Art Blakey died in 1990. Blakey led or co-led the group from the outset. "Art Blakey" and "Jazz Messengers" became synonymous over the years, though Blakey did lead non-Messenger recording sessions and played as a sideman for other groups throughout his career.

The group evolved into a proving ground for young jazz talent. While veterans occasionally re-appeared in the group, by and large, each iteration of the Messengers included a lineup of new young players. Having the Messengers on one's resume was a rite of passage in the jazz world, and conveyed immediate bona fides.

Many Messenger alumni went on to become jazz stars in their own right, such as: Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Timmons, Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton, Chuck Mangione, Keith Jarrett, Joanne Brackeen, Woody Shaw, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison and Mulgrew Miller. A more complete list of alumni can be found on the right column. Some members such as bassist Clarence Seay and then 16-year-old trombonist Gregory Charles Royal are documented to have played in the Jazz Messengers but did not record with the group.

The Jazz Messengers (1956 album)

The Jazz Messengers is a 1956 album by the Jazz Messengers, released by Columbia Records. It was the last recording by the Jazz Messengers lineup featuring pianist Horace Silver.

In 1968 Columbia reissued the LP in their Jazz Odyssey Series with a new cover under the title Art Blakey with the Original Jazz Messengers. In 1997 the album was digitally remastered and released on CD, again with its original title and cover, featuring all the tracks from the original LP along with five additional tracks drawn from the same recording sessions but previously released only on foreign imports.

Track listing

This is the track listing for the current Columbia CD release. Tracks 1−7 are from the original LP and in the same order. The adjacent tracks 8−10 and 12 were first released on Originally (Columbia CL 897, 1956). Track 11 was previously unreleased.

Jazz Messengers '70

Jazz Messengers '70 is a live album by drummer Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers recorded in Tokyo in 1970 and originally released on the Catalyst label.

Reception

Scott Yanow of Allmusic stated, "the quintet casts new light on these tunes, making them sound fresh and flexible. This unusual set is recommended to longtime followers of Art Blakey".

Track listing

Personnel

References

Tequila

Tequila (Spanish  [teˈkila] ) is a regional specific name for a distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, 65 km (40 mi) northwest of Guadalajara, and in the highlands (Los Altos) of the north western Mexican state of Jalisco. Although tequila is a kind of mezcal, modern tequila differs somewhat in the method of its production, in the use of only blue agave plants, as well as in its regional specificity.

The red volcanic soil in the surrounding region is particularly well suited to the growing of the blue agave, and more than 300 million of the plants are harvested there each year. Agave tequila grows differently depending on the region. Blue agaves grown in the highlands Los Altos region are larger in size and sweeter in aroma and taste. Agaves harvested in the lowlands, on the other hand, have a more herbaceous fragrance and flavor.

Mexican laws state that tequila can only be produced in the state of Jalisco and limited municipalities in the states of Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas. Tequila is recognized as a Mexican designation of origin product in more than 40 countries. It is protected through NAFTA in Canada and the United States, through bilateral agreements with individual countries such as Japan and Israel, and has been a protected designation of origin product in the constituent countries of the European Union since 1997.

Tequila (Wes Montgomery album)

Tequila is the seventeenth jazz album recorded by guitarist Wes Montgomery and released in 1966.

History

Tequila is a mixture of tracks using just a jazz quartet with Ron Carter, Grady Tate and Ray Barretto and the rest with a string section arranged by Claus Ogerman. It is mainly a Latin-flavored album, the first Montgomery recorded without a keyboardist.

It was reissued on CD in 1999 and 2008 with alternate takes that are listed below.

Reception

In his Allmusic review, music critic Scott Yanow singled out individual tracks as those giving Montgomery the opportunity to jam and those backed with string arrangements. The few tracks he praises he claims "uplift this album quite a bit beyond the guitarist's later A&M recordings."

Jazz writer Josef Woodard called the album "an airy, melodious record, with the standout track being the gently brooding Montgomery original "Bumpin' on Sunset," which features him playing double octaves-the same note played in three octaves."

Tequila (disambiguation)

Tequila is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented agave juice.

Tequila may also refer to:

Places