Have you ever purchased an album that didn't grab you right away but then you go hear the group perform live and it totally changes your view of it? That happened to me this past week thanks to viewing some vintage footage of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Thanks to what I saw, I am now in LOVE with the Mosiac album.

The group included what is arguably the greatest Messenger's line up of all time: Curtis Fuller, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard (you can't beat the frontline), Art Blakey, Cedar Walton and Jymie Merritt. As they ran through their line up I realized that many of the tunes they performed were taken from the Mosaic album. Upon revisting the CD I realized that this is one powerful session that belongs in every jazz listener's library. The energy that I heard and saw in the live performance was mirrored on this recorded session. All of the solos are exciting but their performances on Shorter's “Children of the Night” is out of this world. Wayne Shorter can write some amazing tunes.

Bottom line – this is another must have for your jazz library. To me this is one of the albums that define the Jazz Messenger sound.

P.S. – Did I mention that Freddie plays his a$$ off in this one??