Art Blakey
Drums Solo on
Ball Bearing

About

Art Blakey's drums solo is the closing of 6 solos on this recording, following Wynton Kelly's piano. Spanning half a chorus of the 32-bar AABA form at an up-tempo 219 BPM with a swing feel in B♭, the solo runs approximately 18 seconds. Art Blakey rounds out the solo sequence with a brief half-chorus drum statement, his explosive energy providing an exclamation point. Art Blakey was 37 to 38 years old at the time of this 1957 recording. "Ball Bearing" is a thirty-two-bar AABA hard bop original composed by tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin for his 1957 Blue Note album A Blowing Session.

Art Blakey was 37 to 38 years old at the time.