A Night at Birdland
Volume 1
Live album by
Art Blakey
ReleasedJuly 1954 (Volume 1)
October 1954 (Volume 2)
November 1954 (Volume 3)
RecordedFebruary 21, 1954
VenueBirdland
New York City
GenreJazz, hard bop
Length21:58 (Volume 1)
22:58 (Volume 2)
21:45 (Volume 3)
LabelBlue Note
  • BLP 5037
  • BLP 5038
  • BLP 5039
ProducerAlfred Lion
Art Blakey chronology
New Sounds
(1952)		 A Night at Birdland
(1954)		 Blakey
(1954)
A Night at Birdland
A Night at Birdland

A Night at Birdland, Vols. 1–3 are three separate but related 10" LPs by the Art Blakey Quintet recorded live at the Birdland jazz club on February 21, 1954 and released on Blue Note Records in July, October and November of that year respectively. The quintet featured Clifford Brown, Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver and Curly Russell. They are considered some of the earliest hard bop recordings.

After Blue Note discontinued their 10" series, A Night at Birdland was recompiled on two 12" LPs and given new artwork. A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1 (BLP 2037) was put on Side A of Volume 1 (BLP 1521) backed with two tracks of the three tracks from A Night at Birdland, Vol. 2 (BLP 2038) ("Mayreh" and "A Night in Tunisia"), with Volume 2 (BLP 1522) comprising A Night at Birdland, Vol. 3 (BLP 2039), "Wee-Dot" and an alternate take of "Quicksilver."

The complete recordings weren't available commercially until 1984 when the remaining four tracks were released in Japan by Toshiba as A Night at Birdland, Vol. 3 and the whole concert was released as part of the Complete Blue Note and Pacific Jazz Recordings of Clifford Brown box set, before being released on the CD reissues of the twelve-inches three years later.

The recording was produced by Alfred Lion and engineered by Rudy Van Gelder for Blue Note. The reissues were produced by Michael Cuscuna. The spoken announcement by Pee Wee Marquette is sampled in the US3 song "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)."[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link
Penguin Guide to Jazz
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Tom HullA−[4]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link
Penguin Guide to Jazz
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]
Tom HullA−[6]

The two albums that were released from the Birdland sessions are considered by The Penguin Guide to Jazz to be part of their "core collection." A reviewer for allaboutjazz.com said simply that "Blakey and company had clicked that night at Birdland."[7] AllMusic mentions that, on this first album, "all of the participants [are] in inspired form. Classic bop."[8] Bob Blumenthal, renowned hard-bop writer, refers to this as a historical jazz milestone.[9]

Track listing

Volume 1

Side one
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Announcement by Pee Wee Marquette" 0:58
2."Split Kick"Horace Silver8:44
Total length:9:42
Side two
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Once in a While"
5:18
2."Quicksilver"Horace Silver6:58
Total length:12:16 21:58

Volume 2

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Wee-Dot"
7:19
2."Mayreh"Horace Silver6:19
Total length:13:38
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
3."A Night in Tunisia"
9:20
Total length:9:20 22:58

Volume 3

Side 1
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Now's the Time"Charlie Parker9:02
2."If I Had You"
3:31
Total length:12:33
Side 2
No.TitleMusicLength
3."Confirmation"Charlie Parker9:12
Total length:9:12 21:45

Personnel

Art Blakey Quintet

Production

References

  1. ↑ A Night at Birdland Vols. 1–3 at Discogs (list of releases)
  2. 1 2 Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 25. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  3. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  4. ↑ Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Jazz (1940–50s) (Reference)". tomhull.com. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  5. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  6. ↑ Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Jazz (1940–50s) (Reference)". tomhull.com. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  7. ↑ Michael Fortuna. "A Night At Birdland, Vols. 1 and 2". Retrieved 2006-12-31.
  8. ↑ Scott Yanow. "A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1". Retrieved 2006-12-31.
  9. ↑ Records, Mosaic (2021-06-09). "Art Blakey & Jazz Messengers A Night At Birdland -". Mosaic Records - Home for Jazz fans!. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
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