Two giants of modern jazz work together during this session with pieces by Monk only. Blakey's ever-impressive Jazz Messengers are joined on these 1958 recordings by 'the Mad Professor' himself on classics like Blue Monk, Rhythm-a-ning and In Walked Bud. Blakey and Monk show strong electrical interplay and the similarities in their approach are obvious. In I Mean You, for example, Blakey carries
… the tempo of the piece while simultaneously playing a line that forms a dialogue with melody and rhythm. Monk improvises harmonic variations in the two choruses of the same piece; the first is a descending motif, the second a contrasting line that is turned inside out.more
