Art Blakey
Drums Solo on
Mayreh

About

Art Blakey closes out the solos on drums with one chorus, following Horace Silver at approximately 302 BPM. Set within a swinging rhythmic framework, the 32-bar AA' form and the key of F, the solo tests the player's command at high velocity. As a contrafact on "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm," the underlying harmony is well-trodden territory, giving the soloist a sturdy platform for creative exploration. Coming last in the solo order, Blakey has the task of building on everything that came before while steering the performance back toward the closing head. "Mayreh" is a hard-charging original by Horace Silver from A Night at Birdland Vol. 1, the legendary 1954 live recording by the Art Blakey Quintet.

Art Blakey was 34 to 35 years old at the time.