Track Listing

1. Night in Tunisia
2. Sincerely Diana
3. So Tired
4. Yama
5. Kozo's Waltz
6. When Your Lover Has Gone [*]
7. Sincerely Diana [Alternate Take][*]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36107 in Music
• Released on: 2005-02-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Album Description
Even in 1959, when this album was recorded, Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night In Tunisia" was the subject of endless recorded versions, most of them dull. With one of the greatest editions of the Jazz Messengers, Blakey found new inspiration in the tune and recorded this explosive, masterful version.

Members Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter and Bobby Timmons contribute originals to the album and Timmons's "So Tired" might have been a soul jazz hit were it not for the overwhelming power of the title tracks. Two bonus tracks have been added to the original album.

ART BLAKEY, drums
LEE MORGAN, trumpet; WAYNE SHORTER, tenor sax: BOBBY TIMMONS, piano; JYMIE MERRITT, bass

* Bonus tracks, not part of the original LP

Recorded on August 7 (#2, 4, 6 & 7) & August 14 (#1,3,5), 1960 at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Amazon.com essential recording
Throughout his long career, Art Blakey built a tremendous reputation for aggressive bands that featured the most gifted young musicians. Few of his later bands, however, could stand comparison with this 1960 edition of the hard-bop juggernaut. Its members combined strong writing skills with distinctive solo voices, including the creative seeking of tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter; the edgy, sometimes blistering, trumpet of Lee Morgan; and the soul-drenched piano of Bobby Timmons. Blakey's drumming contributes an explosive drive to this CD's version of Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia," a coiling snake of bop exoticism, while "So Tired" is a Timmons essay in deep funk, like his better-known "Moanin'" and "Dat Dere" an elemental tune with subtle underpinnings. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Another "Night in Tunisia"
The recent batch of Blue Note RVG releases will make many a jazz fan salivate. There are some long neglected titles in this round of reissues, with this one being one of the best, if not the rarest. Of the half-dozen albums this edition of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers recorded in 1960 and early 1961, this is the finest. "A Night in Tunisia" was recorded over two sessions yielding enough material for this album and "Like Someone in Love" (another candidate for RVG reissue). The latter album is great as well, but there is just something about the sequence of the Tunisia tracks that makes it a masterpiece. "A Night in Tunisia" opens with the fever-pitched rhythmic orgasm that is the title track. And the album doesn't catch its breath until the reflective "Yama." Then things pick back up again with Blakey's gallop-like drumming on the opening of "Kozo's Waltz." Finally, it's hard to believe "When Your Lover Has Gone" was not the last song on the original album because as the concluding piece, it fits like a glove. "A Night in Tunisia" is a classic from start to finish.

Mr. There
I came to this album very early in my jazz listening career (taking baby steps out of the Ken Burns cradle). I bought it right after "Moanin'" because that seemed like the logical thing to do. Let me tell you, this album is a HUGE shock after "Moanin'" if you're not prepared for it. While "Moanin'" was an excursion in groove, swing, and in-the-pocket hard bop, "A Night In Tunisia" is a forward-looking powerhouse that isn't as accessible but just as amazing. The reason for this change can be traced primarily to the passage of two years and the presence of Wayne Shorter who was, is, and always will be ahead of his time. Though he contributed only one tune to this session, "Sincerely Diana," that tune and his others like it moved the Jazz Messengers much closer to the cutting edge of the new harmonic language that would become post-bop. His szxophone playing is also much drier and more angular than his predecessor, Benny Golson. Initially, this was a turn-off to me, as it will be for the casual jazz listener. Wayne Shorter takes time to appreciate but he truly is one of the greatest geniuses jazz has ever known.

As the other reviewers have said, the title track is a long, intense affair that highlights Art Blakey's drive and power on the drums. But it features great playing from all of the group, and Lee Morgan's cadenza near the end with Art cheering him on is one of the great moments of Jazz Messengers history. The other tunes, "So Tired," "Yama," and "Kozo's Waltz," are definitely in the hard-bop vein but they do predict the innovations to come in the following years. Since this album is not as immediately accessible as "Moanin'" and some others, get "Moanin'" first, then get "The Big Beat," also with Shorter present. Then check out "Like Someone in Love," from the same session as this one. If you like all of those albums, then get this one. The level of musicianship is superb and Art Blakey's drumming is superhuman in its drive.

Wow, title track lights a fire up your ass
Whoever said that the Night of Tunisia is not a good version has a bad ear...
The fact that it is almost out of control and frentic makes it my favorite version by far. You can't guess what is gonna happen next and it sounds like every band member is on the edge of their seats...that is what jazz is all about. As a musician myself, you crave for the edge of your seat frentic feeling when the tempo is up and you can barely keep up. In fact, it's much more dynamic than some of Blakey's more well known, but more straightforward albums...