Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers — Caravan (2024 OJC remaster)
Qobuz reissue review (March 2024)
The hothouse environment of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers group allowed an astounding array of talents to bloom. From the mid-’50s lineups that included Horace Silver, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd, and Jackie McLean to the late ‘50s/early ’60s group documented here (Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton, Reggie Workman, and Curtis Fuller) it seemed for a time that Blakey would be as legendary for his talent-scouting skills as he would be for his hard-bop drumming. Recording for most of the iconic jazz labels of the era — Columbia, Impulse!, and, of course Blue Note — it was inevitable that Blakey would also cut a few records for Orrin Keepnews’ Riverside Records, and 1962’s Caravan was the first of three that this group recorded for the label (Ugetsu and Kyoto soon followed). The clip at which these albums appeared was so brisk that one wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that their quality was somehow middling; and while many other loosely structured “blowing sessions” were dominating the hard bop world of this era, Blakey’s material at the time was top-shelf. This was due both to the high level of playing that he and his band were operating at, but also to the superior compositional skills those members wielded. On Caravan, Shorter (who would soon be hailed as one of the jazz’s best composers) would get some of his first writing credits: “Sweet & Sour” and “This is for Albert,” both remarkable for their sharp, fluid merger of hard bop energy and “new thing” innovation. Likewise, Hubbard’s “Thermo” closes out the album with a jaunty, aggressive showcase for all the players. Still, it’s the classics that take up most of the playing time, giving everyone in the group time to shine. And, of course, the album opens with the Ellington warhorse that gives the set its title (1936’s “Caravan”). Blakey makes sure to claim it as his own, rolling through a few measures of solo drumming before the band kicks in. It’s a great example of how this album showcases Blakey and his young guns bridging the gap between the rollicking bop of the ’50s and the forward-looking freedom that the members of this lineup would embrace throughout the rest of the ’60s. Caravan is an underappreciated classic, and this stunning “Original Jazz Classics” remaster gives it a justifiably excellent presentation.
