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The two-cd set Meet You at the Jazz Corner of the World was recorded live in 1960 at Birdland and is from one of the peak period of Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers: the quintet with trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Bobby Timmons and bassist Jymie Merritt. Blakey's groups were the essence of hard bop, with assured and upbeat playing and fiery soloists driven and pushed from Blakey's drum chair. Of interest on this program are the tension and balance between the outgoing trumpet of Lee Morgan and the more introspective, but still biting tenor sax of Wayne Shorter.

The compositions are a potent mixture of original compositions by Morgan and Shorter (one each) and former Messenger Hank Mobley (three tunes), plus jazz standards. [Shorter's writing would increase as he gained experience in the group. This album was recorded after he'd been a Messenger for a bit over a year.] There's good sound in this new remastering by Rudy Van Gelder.

— Alan Lankin, February 2002

Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers Meet You at the Jazz Corner of the World
Release Date: 8 January 2002