I Get A Kick Out Of Bu

Even after heading the Jazz Messengers for over three decades, drummer Art Blakey kept true to his original vision, using the band as a forum for talented young players to swing hard and grow rapidly. Certainly his crop of players in 1988 (which included trumpeter Philip Harper, trombonist Robin Eubanks, tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson and pianist Benny Green) could compete favorably with many of his earlier bands. This Soul Note release, which includes a nine-minute drum solo by the leader, mostly sticks to inventive reworkings of standards along with a song apiece from Eubanks and Harper. Excellent music.  (Scott Yanow, All Music)

"Blakey's own playing remains thunderously powerful, and he makes a lot of things happen which might otherwise have slipped away..."  (source: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD - Eighth Edition)

Recorded on November 11, 1988 at Barigozzi Studio (Milano)

Liner notes by Mike Hennessey