condition (record/cover): NM / NM

Promotional copy. Insert and obi included.

The Messengers live in Japan, 1983, with the Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison front line - the New Orleans generation taking its turn in the great finishing school. Art Blakey in his mid-sixties, still detonating press rolls that make young drummers question their career choices, in front of a festival crowd that had loved him unconditionally since 1961. Japan-only release on Eastworld, which makes it a nice catch for completists of the university of hard bop - and the Japan-only Blakey discography is a genuinely rewarding rabbit hole, be warned. Strong late-period document, festival energy included.