how is Blakey's "Drum Suite"?

[CJ Shearn]

I saw this at CD Universe, looking to fill odds and ends. how is it?

[Michael Fitzgerald]

If you are looking to fill odds and ends it will do just fine - do you already have all the other 1957 AB records? This one is interesting as a precursor to the Blue Note percussion albums. Art Blakey never made a bad album in the 1950s. But it's not in my top 25 AB albums, if that makes a difference.

Mike

[Big Wheel]

Mike, just out of curiosity--how do the Holiday for Skins sessions stack up against this and Blakey's other albums of the period?

[Michael Fitzgerald]

That's kind of apples and oranges - it was done in 1958, just over a week after Moanin'. It's NOTHING like Moanin', which is an all-time classic. So, I wouldn't consider it alongside the Messengers records.

I have always liked Holiday For Skins the best of the primarily-percussion sets (Drum Suite, Orgy In Rhythm, The African Beat).

Then again, Drum Suite is sort of an exception to the above rule because it's half percussion and half Messengers.

Mike

[CJ Shearn]

yes Mike, I ordered it along with the Columbia Messengers disc with $5.00 via credit from CDUniverse. I have most of what's available from the 50's on BN, and a few others from other labels (I have 15 or 20 Blakey's on CD as a leader, I don't remember) and I did have Orgy in Rhythm although I traded it after having it several years and never really listening to it a lot. I have "Drums Around the Corner" and dig it, even though Orgy is a very different kind of session. Was "Drum Suite" recorded at the Columbia 30th Street studio, and how is the sound on the French reissue?

[Big Wheel]

I have always liked Holiday For Skins the best of the primarily-percussion sets (Drum Suite, Orgy In Rhythm, The African Beat).

Sweet. I really dig The African Beat so I bet I'll like that one.

[mikeweil]

Was "Drum Suite" recorded at the Columbia 30th Street studio, and how is the sound on the French reissue?

I have the French LP predecessor of the Drum Suite reissue, and it sounds great. Can't tell if it was Columbia's studio, although there are photos on the back. It sounds considerably better than the Orgy in Rhythm, was prepared much better by the engineers - Van Gelder opened and closed mikes often during the Orgy sessions, probably had to as the solo routine was spontaneous, or he had a bad day ....

The Blakey Columbia material after the initial Jazz Messengers sessions with Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, Doug Watkins and Blakey to me looks like Blakey tried tu fulfill contractual obligations after the Messengers had split in the middle of a Columbia contract. Silver was better off, as all the others went with him, he just needed a drummer and had his lone EPIC LP recorded in no time.

Mike, what do you say?

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Personally, it would seem to me that, as an artist, one would want to STAY with Columbia as long as possible. They were the pinnacle in terms of production and promotion. I'm not privy to the ins and outs of the contract, but drugs definitely played a part in the split-up and the successor bands (until Benny Golson) could be quite variable. I think the Atlantic album with Monk has some of their best playing for whatever reason.

The quintet half of Drum Suite comes from the same sessions that produced the entire Hard Bop album - could be these were "leftovers" and the percussion ensemble session was set up to fill out the album. Maybe the label wanted to unload Blakey because the quality dropped. Pure speculation on my part.

Shortly before the percussion ensemble session, the quintet recorded Ritual (aka Once Upon A Groove) for Pacific Jazz - part of a trade so that Columbia could record a Chet Baker album. Orgy In Rhythm was done less than a month later for Blue Note, then then following day, Blakey recorded for Elektra (Midnight Session, aka Mirage aka Reflections Of Buhaina) and then a few days later was recording for RCA. That didn't last long as he moved on to Jubilee, then to Atlantic, then to Bethlehem. Somewhere in there he recorded for Cadet (in Minneapolis!?). All this done in less than 12 months.

The French CD of Drum Suite sounds fine to me - there are some points where Pettiford's cello distorts, but it's no big deal. The two halves of this album were recorded at different times (A in 1957, produced by Cal Lampley; B in 1956, produced by George Avakian) so different studios might have been used. Drag that the CD doesn't have the photos!

BTW - the CD issue reverses the dates and producer credits, as far as I'm concerned. 99% sure that Avakian produced the Hard Bop album and it seems that he ought to be the producer for the quintet session. Unfortunately my Japanese CD of Hard Bop doesn't list ANY producer but Avakian personally told me he produced the Hard Bop album, so I'm trusting his word at this point. The quintet stuff was definitely done in 1956 not 1957.

Mike

Edited July 23, 2003 by Michael Fitzgerald

[CJ Shearn]

thanks for the info Mike. I wonder if those french reissues are dupes of the Japanese remasterings. Re: Hard Bop, is the album released in it's entirety with the Paris Concert on Collectables twofer? I know Collectables has a spotty record w/ releasing twofers in regards to an album's entirety. One final question: since I also ordered the "Jazz Messengers" reissue, is the sound on it as bad as I read on an old rec.music.bluenote post? I do have an original 10" LP copy my biology teacher gave me in 10th grade, tho I I wouldn't be able to do an A/B test.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

I don't have a problem with the sound, but I'm a musician not an audiophile. I can get past a lot of problems in sound that upset others. I have the Columbia/Odyssey Lp somewhere. Maybe I'll drag it out. I haven't ever heard any other complaints other than that one by Henry Schmidt.

The Collectables 2-fer of the Blakey Hard Bop/Paris albums missed one track, I'm almost positive. I forget off which. I already had the Japanese CD at that point.

Mike

[mikeweil]

Thanks Mike for your comments, as usual an indispensable source of information ...

I compared the photos to some of Columbia's studio on other LPs, it could well have been the same room.

The distortion in the cello sound may well come from the amplification Pettiford used at the time, a similar problem to that with some guitar amps. It is heard on my issue as well, and on other recordings Pettiford made around that time.

[CJ Shearn]

I think this is an interesting disc. I personally prefer the Jazz Messenger cuts, b/c I don't think the drum session is as well arranged or executed as "Orgy in Rhythm". Still, a nice historical curiosity to have.

[Teasing the Korean]

I have all of these Blakey drum albums with the exception of "Skins."

I especially love "The Drum Suite" for the exotica content.

What do you guys think of "Drums Around the Corner?"

[BruceH]

I have all of these Blakey drum albums with the exception of "Skins."

I especially love "The Drum Suite" for the exotica content.

What do you guys think of "Drums Around the Corner?"

Not a big fan of it, myself.

[Teasing the Korean]

On Drums Around the Corner, I like "Lee's Tune" the best so far. It seems like the session never quite jells, though. The extra percussion almost seems superfluous on some tracks.