When Pee Wee Marquette, the MC of Birdland, announces Art Blakey and his quintet, the audience in attendance bursts into thunderous applause. A Night At Birdland Vol. One contains a February 1954 recording of Blakey's pre-Messengers quintet with legendary trumpeter Clifford Brown and alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson in the front line. Regular partners Blakey and pianist Horace Silver, and the talented
… bassist Curley Russell man the relentless rhythm section. The flaming mambo Split Kick opens the set with Blakey's assertive drumming and the beautiful blasts of Brown and Donaldson. Silver's bebop style Quicksilver demonstrates the band's lightning-fast agility. The slow, sultry Blues is a completely improvised jam with some nasty solos from the brass and piano. The highlight of the set is Dizzy Gillespie's A Night In Tunesia that would become a Messengers hit. Finally, Silver's uptempo Mayreh closes the set with raw solos.more
