A Night at Birdland, Vol. 2

Just prior to forming the first edition ofthe Jazz Messengers, drummer Art Blakey led a superb quintet at Birdland for a brief gig in 1954. The band featured the great trumpeterClifford Brown, altoistLou Donaldson, pianistHorace Silver, and bassistCurly Russellin addition to the leader/drummer. All of the music has since been reissued as part of aClifford Brownbox set for Mosaic, but this is the original LP. The first volume is highlighted by “A Night in Tunisia,” “Quicksilver,” and “Once in a While” and finds all of the participants in inspired form. Classic bop.