Art Blakey & Jazz Messengers – Art Blakey and His Jazz Messengers (LP, Universal)

From the first bars of the immediately recognizable Alamode, this album is an explosion of beauty. This first sextet iteration of Art Blakeys Jazz Messengers includes a young Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Lee Morgan (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Bobby Timmons (piano) and Jymie Merritt (bass). The band ferociously pushes the pace with each track, leaving no prisoners in their wake. This Verve By Request title is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Third Man in Detroit. Side A 1 Alamode 2 Invitation 3 Circus Side B 1 You Dont Know What Love Is 2 I Hear A Rhapsody 3 Gee Baby, Aint I Good To You