The Big Beat LP

Recorded in March 1960 for Blue Note, The Big Beat catches Wayne Shorter's pen just starting to spark, with "The Chess Players" and "Lester Left Town" leading a set mostly built from his writing. Art Blakey's quintet plays it tight and quick behind him, Lee Morgan on trumpet, Bobby Timmons on piano, and Jymie Merritt on bass, with Timmons also adding the soul-jazz standard "Dat Dere." Nat Hentoff wrote the liner notes and Francis Wolff shot the cover, the usual Blue Note craftsmanship around a band finding its next great composer.