Art Blakey is one of the greatest jazz drummers and first made name for himself in the 1940s when working with bebop musicians Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Fletcher Henderson. In the mid-1950s, he formed The Jazz Messengers together with Horace Silver, which quickly became known as an incubator for young talent. 35 years after forming The Jazz Messengers,

Blakey entered his final year still at it, and with the many promising young players around the time, he expanded the collective from it's usual quintet or sextet into a septet for this fine recording session, which includes 'Brain Stormin' and 'Kenji's Walk'. Due to Blakey constantly persuading his musicians to write music, The Jazz Messengers stayed young in spirit, just like it's leader.