Hard Bop, Blues and Soul – all here, in this Lee Morgan Edition of the Messengers that consistently set top-tier records to tape for Blue Note.
The title tune is enchanting. One imagines one sitting with a skilled medicine man in Kahondo ka Byamarembo, in the hills of Kigyezi, watching steamy roots and herbs in a clay pot, perched over a three-stone fireplace, changing into a syrup that is guaranteed to cure one of something.
All six tunes are present with that rhythmic, melody-rich groove that The Messengers dispensed without holding back. This music cures me of the residues of a hard day’s labour, and my futile worries about a world whose peculiar offerings are beyond my control. Excellent. Essential.
Musicians:
Art Blakey – drums
Lee Morgan – Trumpet
Wayne Shorter – Tenor Saxophone
Bobby Timmons – Piano
Walter Davis Jr – Piano (“Roots & Herbs”, and “United”)
Jymie Merritt
Label: Blue Note ST- 84347
Recorded: February 18, 1961 & May 27, 1961
Released: 1970
Recommended re-issue: Blue Note Tone Poet, released in 2020
Listen to:
Roots & Herbs
Mastermind
Look at the Birdie