Kenny Burrell with Art Blakey – On View At The Five Spot Café: The Complete Masters 3LP (Tone Poet Vinyl Series)

Kenny Burrell with Art Blakey – On View At The Five Spot Café: The Complete Masters

Guitarist Kenny Burrell had already achieved rising star status with several stellar Blue Note albums to his name when he entered the storied NYC jazz club The Five Spot Café on August 25, 1959 to record On View At The Five Spot Café. The band Burrell assembled for the gig was stacked with top talent: Art Blakey on drums, Tina Brooks on tenor saxophone, Roland Hanna and Bobby Timmons on piano, and Ben Tucker on bass. The mood was relaxed and soulful, but the music was red hot and the grooves were deep on that steamy summer evening of hard bop bliss.

The newly expanded 3-LP Tone Poet Vinyl Edition of On View At The Five Spot Café: The Complete Masters gives the listener the best seat in the house and marks the first time Burrell’s complete recorded performances from that magical evening have been made available in any format including 6 previously unissued tracks. Produced for release by Joe Harley, the vinyl is all-analog and cut directly from Rudy Van Gelder’s original master tapes by Kevin Gray. Pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, the three LPs come packaged in a deluxe tip-on trifold jacket which includes a booklet with never-before-seen photos by Francis Wolff; an insightful essay by Syd Schwartz; and a new interview with Burrell himself reflecting on the album and the times with Blue Note President Don Was.

TINA BROOKS, tenor sax

KENNY BURRELL, guitar

BOBBY TIMMONS, ROLAND HANNA*, piano

BEN TUCKER, bass

ART BLAKEY, drums

Recorded August 25, 1959 live at the Five Spot Café, NYC

Tracklist:
SIDE A Introduction by Kenny Burrell
1. BIRKS WORKS (Dizzy Gillespie)
2. HALLELUJAH* (Youmans)

SIDE B
1. LADY BE GOOD (Gershwin)
2. LOVER MAN (Ramirez)
3. 36-23-36* (Burrell)

SIDE C
1. SWINGIN’ (Clifford Brown)
2. IF YOU COULD SEE ME NOW (Tad Dameron, Carl Sigman)
3. BEEF STEW BLUES (Randy Weston) 

SIDE D
1. THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME, THINGS WON’T BE THE SAME (Earl Forest, Bill Harvey)
2. THE TAKE OFF (Burrell)

SIDE E
1. BIRKS WORKS – Alternate Take (Dizzy Gillespie)
2. LADY BE GOOD – Alternate Take (Gershwin)

SIDE F
1. LOVE WALKED IN (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)
2. 36-23-36 / THE THEME (Burrell)

Label: Blue Note Records
Released: 1959/2025