Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers Big Band - Live At Montreux & North Sea

In the summer of 1980, the jazz world bore witness to an electrifying fusion of talent, rhythm, and soul as Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers Big Band took the stages of two iconic European festivals: Montreux and North Sea.

The Big Band performers, next to Art Blakey on drums, consisted of a stellar line-up with Bill Pierce, Bobby Watson, Valery Ponomarev, James Williams, Charles Fambrough, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Robin Eubanks, Kevin Eubanks and John Ramsey. For the Marsalis brothers, Wynton and Branford, and also Eubanks brothers Robin and Kevin these were their first ever recordings of them together. Tracks include "Minor Thesis", "A Wheel Within A Wheel", "Bit A Bittadose" and two more compositions serve as a testament to the power of improvisation.

PERSONNEL:

Bobby Watson - (alto sax)
Branford Marsalis - (baritone & alto sax)
Bill Pierce - (tenor sax)
Valerie Ponomarev, Wynton Marsalis - (trumpet)
Robin Eubanks - (trombone)
James Williams - (piano)
Kevin Eubanks - (guitar)
Charles Fambrough - (bass)
Art Blakey, John Ramsey - (drums)
   
Recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival July 17, 1980
and the Northsea Festival on July 13, 1980 (A1)