The story behind puzzle No. 3
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers · Moanin' · Blue Note · 1958
The piano calls and the horns answer. Moanin' sounds like a church service that wandered into a nightclub, and it defined a whole era of jazz.
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded Moanin' for Blue Note on October 30, 1958, at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, New Jersey. The band was a new lineup, and several of its members came from Philadelphia, including tenor saxophonist Benny Golson and a 20-year-old Lee Morgan on trumpet.
The title tune came from pianist Bobby Timmons. According to Golson, Timmons had the opening eight bars and often played them between tunes, but he only finished the piece after Golson encouraged him to add a bridge. The result became the Messengers' calling card. Golson wrote four of the album's six tracks, including Blues March and Along Came Betty.
The call and response echoes Black church music: a simple phrase on piano, then the horns answering. It is a big part of the sound people call hard bop and soul jazz. Listen too for Blakey himself. He drives the band from the drums and pushes each soloist harder as the tune goes on.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Blues March, from the same album, is the one to play next. It turns a New Orleans parade beat into hard bop.
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