The Big Beat is a choice session by the legendary group fronted by drummer Art Blakey. The featured lineup for this session from March of 1960 consists of Lee Morgan on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Bobby Timmons on piano, and Jymie Merritt on bass. This group sounds fantastic together, a truly telepathic unit, and the material presented is more than worthy of their talents.

Wayne Shorter's three standout compositions form the backbone of this session. "The Chess Players" is a great opening, with its starts and stops and lots of groove. Shorter and Morgan both sound fantastic here and on "Sakeena's Vision", another Shorter piece, named for Art Blakey's daughter. Art Blakey takes an incredible solo here, confirming his rep as one of jazz's best drummers. The group tackles Bill Hardman's catchy bop "Politely" before launching into Timmons's "Dat Dere", a fabulously soulful number that'll stay with you for days. (Also check out the excellent version on Jimmy Heath's Really Big!). "Lester Left Town" is another excellent Shorter piece, written for Lester Young. The set closes with the standard "It's Only a Paper Moon", given the Jazz Messenger treatment to maximum effect. The Van Gelder edition adds an alternate take of "It's Only a Paper Moon".

This is a great sounding, well played album that's sure to hit heavy rotation in your CD player upon purchase. Check it out.

Drummer Art Blakey has recorded some great bebop albums in his day and this one is one them.

Joining Blakey on his trip down Splash Mountain are Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, Lee Morgan on trumpet, Bobby Timmons on piano, Jymie Merritt on bass, and of course Blakey on drums.

This album was recorded almost around the same time as "Moanin'" which features one of the hottest lineups of the Messengers' long history. Every song on this album is swinging like crazy and has strong melodies and great improvisations. This album features two of my favorite Messengers' tunes "Dat Dere" and "Sakeena's Vision."

If you're just getting into Art Blakey, then start with this album. If you enjoy good 60s bebop then buy this album.

The remastering of this album is very well done. It sounds great for 1960. It sounds like it's been cleaned up and that's always good thing.

Other great Messengers' albums "A Night in Tunisia," "Moanin," "Caravan," "Ugetsu," "Mosaic" and "Free For All," which features one of the most aggressive Blakey performances ever.

although the messengers had live sets of these songs played which were more looser,this album is great like the previous poster said about bobby timmons is true what a jazz phenomenon,blues bases pianist who will have your fingers snapping.what a wonderful group they were

Hard to go wrong on this lineup of the Jazz Messengers. Lee Morgan- along with Miles Davis and Fats Navarro- is my favorite trumpeter. Bobby Timmons has a style that always makes me snap my fingers right along- a brilliant and criminally underrated jazz pianist. Wayne Shorter, even at this early stage, has already come into his own as a saxophonist and composer. Blakey's volcanic drumming is the perfect vehicle that propels them all forward.

An essential jazz album.

People talk about "Moanin'" as being the first album to get when getting into Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Although Moanin' was my first Messengers album (aside from the Ken Burns Art Blakey CD, but that doesn't really count as an album), and I proceeded to buy "A Night in Tunisia" and "Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers," I could never really warm up to them until I had heard this one. I immediately loved this album for its great compositions, great solos, and deep, powerful swing, and it really served as a launching point for me to go out and get everything this group cut, everything other Messengers lineups cut, and many albums by the various sidemen. So I have to confess that this album holds a special place in my heart.

"The Big Beat" was recorded in 1960 and features Lee Morgan on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Bobby Timmons on piano, and Jymie Merritt on bass, with the leader on drums. Though all of these musicians had recorded together with Blakey prior to this, this is the first time this specific lineup recorded, and they would go on to record seven more albums over the next year and a half. Though all of the albums are very good (and some are spectacular), this may be the best, perhaps along with "A Night in Tunisia" and "Roots & Herbs." Wayne Shorter supplies three originals, all of which are interesting, swing hard, and provide a good basis for the soloists. Of special note is "The Chess Players," a very bluesy, medium tempo tune that may seem atypical of Wayne's work, especially his later stuff, but it's just quirky enough in form to indicate where the young composer was going. Also, the rendition of "It's Only a Paper Moon" is far from being a cheesy gimmick, as one might suspect; instead, there's an aura of playful mystery that is helped (or perhaps created) by Lee Morgan's genious trumpet playing. It's one of my favorite cuts on the album.

All in all, this is a very accessible, hard-swinging album and a fantastic introduction to the Jazz Messengers and what this edition was all about. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes jazz regardless of their listening experience. There's something on every level here.