When jazz drummer Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers got on the plane home at the end of their first Japanese tour, tears stood in their eyes. Never before had they been received with such warmth and respect as during this trip in 1961. In America they still played in noisy jazz clubs, but in Japan the company was received with flowers and played in concert halls for grateful audiences that knew
… their records by heart. These lost recordings from one of the last concerts of this tour were recovered in 2017. The compilers of First Flight To Tokyo chose not to select incomplete songs and to compile the tracklist of a live album themselves from the best material. A good choice, because in this way it became so much more than a historical work for mere collectors. The overwhelmed Blakey and his band of young musicians, who would all grow into jazz greats themselves, play at their best in spun out and powerful versions of bop classics like Moanin' and Night In Tunisia. A fine addition to their best work. (MR)more
