"Wow! First time I enjoyed a recording session!" With these significant words...Art Blakey offers an eloquent tribute to the motive that produced this unique series of recordings. Because Art had organized this constellation of jazz names a while before taking it into Birdland, and had worked up a library of both old and new material, he was able to produce results that transcended the capabilities of a disorganized jam session. 

"Because this material was by now familiar enough to the musicians, they were able to express themselves fully and freely. While they could avail themselves of the lack of any time limitation on the performances, they still took no undue advantage, never distorted liberty into license; as a result, there are no 20-minute voyages into tautophony...Thus Birdland combines the three elements essential to an enjoyable evening of modern jazz: preparation, improvisation and inspiration. And the greatest of these three is inspiration. 

"...Art's teammates on A Night At Birdland are all members of what might be called the Blue Note family. Lou Donaldson's place in the scene was firmly etched with his great work on three BN LPs; Horace Silver's two sets of solos won wide acclaim; Clifford Borwn, after co-starring with Lou and Jay Jay Johnson, made his first LP as a Leader for Blue Note; and Curly Russell has been such a frequent visitor that we won't even attempt to list all of his performances." - Leonard Feather, liner notes

Art Blakey (drums)

Horace Silver (piano)

Clifford Brown (trumpet)

Lou Donaldson (alto saxophone)

Curley Russel (bass)

• Remastered and reissued as part of the Blue Note 75th anniversary vinyl reissue campaign 

• Vinyl initiative spearheaded by current Blue Note Records President, Don Was, to include 100 essential Blue Note albums 

• Includes special Blue Note 75 vinyl sleeve that features album cover art for 75 Blue Note titles 

• First run of vinyl to include Blue Note 75th logo on back of package 

• Key to the Blue Note 75th anniversary vinyl reissue campaign is the creation of high quality audio at an affordable price 

• Blue Note will celebrate their iconic artists and the history of the label with various events, digital initiatives, vinyl campaigns and more

1. Split Kick

2. Once In A While

3. Quicksilver

4. A Night In Tunisia

5. Mayreh