One Art Blakey’s greatest albums with the Jazz Messengers, Roots & Herbs, is little known. In 1961, the group featured Lee Morgan (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Bobby Timmons (piano) and Jymie Merrit (bass). Recorded in Rudy Van Gelder’s New Jersey studio, it’s a brilliant set of six Shorter compositions, such as the playful “Ping Pong” and the clever “United.” It’s among Blakey’s finest. Blue Note Tone Poet Series features all-analog, remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.
| Side A |
| 1. Ping Pong |
| 2. Roots and Herbs |
| 3. The Back Sliders |
| Side B |
| 1. United |
| 2. Look at the Birdie |
| 3. Master Mind |