Art Blakey
Holiday For Skins Vol. 1

When Art Blakey released "Holiday For Skins Vol.1" in 1958, he already had several years of experience behind him and, for a few years, he had started a solo career with moderate success. However, he is more likely recognized by the general public as a co-founding member, later the band leader, and the only constant presence of the Jazz Messengers, a long-lived group that would release the famous "Moanin'" the following year.

The drummer's discography is already extensive at this point, so much so that he can afford to release an album, which is actually a double album released in two parts, personal and why not, also quite original. The basic idea is rather simple:
Bringing together some capable and trusted drummers and percussionists (besides the frontman himself, there are Art Taylor and Philly Joe Jones on "additional" drums, Ray Barretto and Sabu Martinez on congas and bongos, plus five others divided among maracas, timbales, and other percussion), adding trumpet (Donald Byrd), piano (Ray Bryant), bass (Wendell Marshall), and tribal chants to the mix; in order to put into practice what he has learned from his recent travels in Africa by mixing it with Latin American and jazz musical traditions.
The result is a project where the rhythm is not only evident but the central element, the engine that drives and binds every component from beginning to end.
The non-percussive instruments serve to garnish the real meat, beautify here and there, suggest a melody to open and close each track. Even where these interventions are slightly more developed, like the closing track "Mirage," they are interrupted by long solos by the three drummers who quickly and mercilessly steal the spotlight and reestablish the primacy of the sound.

Let's then take a look at the percussion. Firstly, it must be said that given the year of release, one should not expect the Africa represented here to be similar to the electric and dark one of much subsequent fusion stuff. Here you will find rhythms that evoke black and mixed-race traditions, not particularly reworked but certainly adapted for the American audience. However, this should not be interpreted as an attempt to create venal art just to earn something.
The experience and skill of the members of the ensemble truly provide the listener with successful atmospheres of jungles and dances around the fire, of shouts and invocations, of celebration and hunting, through obstinate rhythms that incorporate several small modulations, changing and blending only to explode and gather again towards the end. Indeed, the tracks all follow roughly the same basic model where a choir of voices introduces the theme with a chant, and then the true outbursts arrive. When the three protagonists take center stage, they strike their kits fairly violently. There are no real acrobatic leaps or exquisitely spectacular moments, but one can distinguish good inventiveness and precision in their gestures.
Even though it is not possible to know which musician played a particular passage, one can recognize each one's style during the pieces, appreciate their personal interpretation, and their ability to interact with the other musicians.

The dynamics and colors of this album are what make me recommend it, especially to those who love drumheads, but more generally to those who would like to delve into a minor but well-realized release by a central figure in the world of drumming like Art Blakey.
Also because the record sounds quite good, the sound is crystal clear and very rounded, thanks to dear Rudy Van Gelder.
If I had to choose two tracks, and to be clear, that's exactly what I'm about to do, I would venture "Lamento Africano" and "Mirage."

But this is only volume 1, remember? After taking a deep breath, one can dive into the other half and complete the journey, dancing a bit and mimicking the congas almost the whole time.