"Crisis" by Art Blakey et al.

[Lionel Mandrake]

This is great music by a great band.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Just started listening.......sounds good so far!

It sounds a little like big band.....but not quite.

How would you classify it?

[Lionel Mandrake]

2. The tune is by Freddie Hubbard.

I'd say it was funky before there was such a thing as funky.

It was recorded in 1961.

The musicians are:
Art Blakey - drums
Wayne Shorter - tenor saxophone
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet
Curtis Fuller - trombone
Cedar Walton - piano
Jymie Merritt - bass

The tune really defies classification.

[Lionel Mandrake]

3. If it sounds a little like a big band,

that's because it's a sextet, which is a slightly larger band than we are used to.

BTW, did you notice the quotation at 3:19? It's (a brief excerpt from) a Stephen Foster tune.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. No wonder it sounded like a big band, sort of.

And yes, I did hear the quotation. I don't normally hear them, but this one was unmistakable!

[Joe Shlabotnik]

5. Thanks.

[Lionel Mandrake]

6. You're welcome.

I'm glad you enjoyed the music.

[nolabear]

7. I saw Blakey and the Msgrs back in the 80s in Pittsburgh.

Teeny little club called The Zebra Lounge. They were absolutely fantastic.

[Lionel Mandrake]

8. That must have been a treat.

I've never seen them live, but I've heard a lot of their recorded music.

Of course it was a different band in the 80s. Quite a few musicians have been members of The Messengers over the years. Here's an incomplete list of "Jazz Messengers alumni" from Wikipedia:

Piano
Wynton Kelly, Joanne Brackeen, Donald Brown, Walter Davis, Jr., Sam Dockery, Kenny Drew, Benny Green, John Hicks, Keith Jarrett, Geoffrey Keezer, Mulgrew Miller, Johnny O'Neal, Horace Silver, Bobby Timmons, Cedar Walton, James Williams

Reeds
Dale Barlow, Gary Bartz, Kenny Garrett, Lou Donaldson, John Gilmore, Benny Golson, Johnny Griffin, Billy Harper, Donald Harrison, Javon Jackson, Branford Marsalis, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Bill Pierce, David Schnitter, Wayne Shorter, Ira Sullivan, Jean Toussaint, Bobby Watson

Trumpet
Terence Blanchard, Clifford Brown, Donald Byrd, Kenny Dorham, Bill Hardman, Philip Harper, Freddie Hubbard, Brian Lynch, Chuck Mangione, Wynton Marsalis, Lee Morgan, Wallace Roney, Woody Shaw, Valery Ponomarev, Charles Tolliver

Trombone
Steve Davis, Robin Eubanks, Curtis Fuller, Frank Lacy, Tim Williams

Bass
Mickey Bass, Spanky DeBrest, Charles Fambrough, Dennis Irwin, Jymie Merritt, Curly Russell, Clarence Seay, Victor Sproles, Doug Watkins, Wilbur Ware, Reggie Workman, Riccardo Del Fra, Stanley Clarke

Guitar
Bobby Broom, Kevin Eubanks

Drums
Ralph Peterson, Jr.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Blakey_and_the_Jazz_Messengers#The_Jazz_Messengers