Art Blakey - A Night In Tunisia LP - Toshiba

Of the half-dozen albums this edition of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers recorded in 1960 and early 1961, this is the finest. ''A Night in Tunisia'' was recorded over two sessions yielding enough material for this album and ''Like Someone in Love.'' The latter album is great as well, but there is just something about the sequence of the Tunisia tracks that makes it a masterpiece. ''A Night in Tunisia'' opens with the fever-pitched rhythmic orgasm that is the title track. And the album doesn't catch its breath until the reflective ''Yama.'' Then things pick back up again with Blakey's gallop-like drumming on the opening of ''Kozo's Waltz.'' Finally, it's hard to believe ''When Your Lover Has Gone'' was not the last song on the original album because as the concluding piece, it fits like a glove. ''A Night in Tunisia'' is a classic from start to finish.