Art Blakey was a hard bop drummer who was most famous for his work in the Jazz Messengers. Blakey played with several big names in the jazz scene, most notably Horace Silver who was a co-leader in the Jazz Messengers for the first year of the group.
I was looking around the SJSU Library when I came across some Horace Silver albums in the jazz section of CD’s. I picked up Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers because of the awesome cover and gave it a listen.
This is where I first discovered Art Blakey. Right off the bat I enjoyed how interactive Blakey was with the rest of the band and I really liked his solos.
Here is a solo from the song Room 608. It is a 32 bar solo which has a bunch of standard jazz drumming licks which can be a good addition to anyone’s vocabulary. It may not be a complicated solo, but the tempo that it is played at makes it pretty challenging to sound good. Blakey definitley takes something which is simple on paper and makes it complex with his phrasing and tempo.
Here is a link to a recording on the song
Keep in mind that the stickings are just suggestions there is no right or wrong way to play this transcription.
Click here for a PDF of the solo
Feel free to leave any comments or questions you have in the comment box or send me an e-mail at apfranceschi@gmail.net.