The Jazz Messengers

Nothing about Second Set Lausanne 1960 by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers is subdued: this is kinetic art at its moment of eruption. Recorded on December 8, 1960 at Théâtre de Beaulieu, the performance finds Blakey’s legendary ensemble - Lee Morgan on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor, Bobby Timmons on piano, and Jymie Merritt on bass - pushing the hard bop lexicon to warp speed, pairing unfailing technical clarity with boundary-pushing group interplay. Live, these musicians become conspirators in a heady ritual of call-and-response, where every solo is both a personal manifesto and a communal firebrand.​

The set opens with an almost ritualistic announcement, then dissolves into a sizzling rendition of “It’s Only A Paper Moon,” where Morgan’s trumpet and Shorter’s sax wield sharp wit and danger in every phrase, all underpinned by Merritt’s unflappable bass lines. If “’Round About Midnight” dials back to a more nocturnal, introspective mode, it is only to allow Blakey’s drums and Timmons’ piano to cast shadowy mysteries and new harmonic routes, showing a fearless respect for Monk’s eccentric masterpiece. Blakey’s leadership is palpable, alternately volcanic and meticulously controlled, never letting tension dissipate until every motif has been combusted and reborn in improvisational fire.​

“A Night In Tunisia” stands at the crossroads of chaos and choreography - Shorter’s saxophone ricochets and Morgan’s phrases detonate, but beneath the turbulence Blakey maps the course with his signature propulsion, landing blows that sing and swing. “This Here” closes the set with a final burst of gospel-blues energy, reaffirming the Messengers’ mastery of emotional dynamics: here, the band voices exuberance and sorrow without contradiction, driven always by the urgency of Blakey’s percussive vision. This recording is no mere document, but a living encounter with jazz as restless dialectic - thunderous, unpredictable, and brilliantly alive in every unguarded instant.​

Second Set Lausanne 1960 reminds us that in the hands of Blakey’s Messengers, live jazz becomes not only history but possibility: a fevered negotiation between order and chaos, structure and surprise, memory and transformation. This album remains a passport to an era when risk and revelation defined every night on stage.