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Saturday, February 2, 2013

'Moanin' - The Signature Hard Bop Tune




If anyone is to be associated with the hard bop sub-genre in Jazz, it's ambassador would be none other than Art Blakey and his band The Jazz Messengers.

Many jazz musicians evolved their sound from bebop to hard bop, and eventually moving on to either eccentric free jazz or to electric fusion / funk. Art Blakey however remained mostly in hard bop through his career.

This song, 'Moanin', the title track on the 1959 album of the same name, features heavy hitters trumpeter Lee Morgan, sax player Benny Goldon, bassist Bobby Timmons, and pianist Jymie Merritt, with Art on drums, deliver a high powered blues inspired riff that sets the mood and the genre on it.

Here's a live version from Belgium in 1958; prepare for some head boppin'!


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