"Moanin'" is one of the most recognizable compositions in jazz, the title track from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers' 1958 Blue Note album. Bobby Timmons's 32-bar AABA composition in F minor at approximately 129 bpm is built on a call-and-response motif drawn from the Black church tradition, its gospel-inflected melody instantly accessible yet harmonically sophisticated enough to sustain serious improvisation. Trumpeter Lee Morgan opens the solo section with two fiery choruses that showcase his precocious brilliance at just 20 years old. Tenor saxophonist Benny Golson follows with two commanding choruses, and Timmons himself delivers two choruses of piano that are steeped in the same gospel feeling as his composition. Bassist Jymie Merritt closes with a single melodic chorus. The track became a jazz standard almost overnight and helped define the soul jazz movement that would flourish in the early 1960s. Blakey's thunderous drumming drives the entire performance with an intensity that epitomizes the Jazz Messengers' aesthetic. The album Moanin' represents one of the group's finest lineups, and this title track remains the definitive statement of the band's ability to combine artistic ambition with populist appeal.
