JazzCodex

Blue Note

The African Beat

no cover yet
Recorded1962
LabelBlue Note
CatalogBST 84097
Released1962
Personnel13 credited players
Discogsmaster 176743

The record

Percussion is the architecture here rather than the accompaniment. Chief Bey, Montego Joe, Robert Crowder, James Ola Folami and Garvin Masseaux ring Art Blakey with bata, log drum, chekere and double gong, while Solomon G. Ilori sings and works a talking drum. Yusef Lateef carries most of the melody, moving between oboe, flute, tenor and kalimba, with Ahmed Abdul-Malik on bass. Blue Note BST 84097.

Tracks

  1. Prayer By Solomon G. Ilori
  2. Ife L'Ayo (There Is Happiness In Love)
  3. Obirin African (Woman Of Africa)
  4. Love, The Mystery Of
  5. Ero Ti Nr'ojeje
  6. Ayiko Ayiko (Welcome, Welcome, My Darling)
  7. Tobi Ilu

Session personnel

  • Reid Miles — Artwork By [Design]
  • Ahmed Abdul-Malik — Bass
  • Robert Crowder — Bata, Congas
  • James Ola Folami — Congas
  • Chief Bey — Congas, Drums [Telegraph Drum], Percussion [Double Gong]
  • Montego Joe — Drums [Bambara Drum, Log Drum, Corboro Drum], Percussion [Double Gong]
  • Art Blakey — Drums, Timpani, Gong, Drums [Telegraph Drum]
  • Yusef Lateef — Oboe, Flute, Saxophone [Tenor], Horns [Cow Horn], Kalimba
  • Garvin Masseaux — Percussion [Chekere], Maracas [African Maracas], Congas
  • Francis Wolff — Photography By
  • Alfred Lion — Producer
  • Solomon G. Ilori — Vocals, Whistle [Penny Whistle], Talking Drum
  • Art Blakey & The Afro-Drum Ensemble

Contemporary reception

No period review located yet. The vintage-press pipeline searches DownBeat, Cash Box, and Billboard for this session.

Pressings

The earliest pressing on file here is the 1962 US mono BLP 4097 on Blue Note with deep groove both sides, RVG stamp, Plastylite ear and a laminated sleeve. Same-year variants include a deep-groove-side-one mono and a stereo 84097 with the ear but no groove, so the groove count is what separates them. Stereo BST 84097 represses start in 1966; nothing later than the 1991 Japanese BN 4097 is listed.

Showing the first pressing, audiophile reissues and copies carrying a collector marker, out of 32 pressings on file.

1962Blue Note · BLP 4097 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono, Deep groove both sides earliest on file · deep groove; RVG stamp; Plastylite ear; laminated sleeve
1962Blue Note · BLP 4097 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono · RVG stamp; laminated sleeve
1962Blue Note · 84097 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Non-Deep Groove · RVG stamp; Plastylite ear
1962Blue Note · BLP 4097 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono, Deep groove side 1 · deep groove; RVG stamp; laminated sleeve
1962Blue Note · BLP 4097 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono, Deep groove side 1, "VAN GELDER" both sides. · deep groove; RVG stamp; Plastylite ear; laminated sleeve
1966Blue Note · BST 84097 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo · RVG stamp
1966Blue Note · BLP 4097 — Vinyl, LP, Repress, Mono · RVG stamp
1966Blue Note · BST 84097 — Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo · RVG stamp; laminated sleeve
1994Blue Note · TOCJ-4097 — CD, Album, Reissue, Stereo · RVG stamp
1999Blue Note · 7243 5 22666 2 3 — CD, Album, Reissue · RVG stamp
1999Blue Note · 7243 5 22666 2 3 — CD, Album, Reissue · RVG stamp
2005Blue Note · TOCJ-6507 — CD, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered · RVG stamp
2019Blue Note · UCCQ-9535 — CD, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered · RVG stamp
Blue Note · BST-84097 — Vinyl, LP, Reissue, Stereo · RVG stamp

Follow the players

Reid Miles also plays on

Ahmed Abdul-Malik also plays on

Robert Crowder also plays on