ART BLAKEY and the Afro-Drum Ensemble "The African Beat", DG, RVG, P, Blue Note 4097 Mono Vinyl

This is the first edition, 1962, Deep Groove, "Van Gelder" stamped, "P" pressing of ART BLAKEY and the Afro-Drum Ensemble's "The African Beat" von the "New York USA" labels of Blue Note BLP 4097. Musicians include Art Blakey — drums, timpani, telegraph drum, gong, Ahmed Abdul-Malik — bass, Yusef Lateef — cow horn, flute, tenor saxophone, mbira, oboe, Curtis Fuller — timpani, Chief Bey — double gong, conga, telegraph drum, Robert Crowder — Batá drum, conga, James Ola. Folami — conga, Solomon G. Ilori — vocals, talking drum, pennywhistle, Montego Joe — corboro drum, log drum, bambara drum, double gong, Garvin Masseaux — shekere, African maracas, conga.

This VINYL plays with consistent medium to high level surface noise (i.e, static, ?? or 

, relative to the volume of the music/instruments) with ticks or pops, but the instruments are very dynamic, clear and present with clear transients, powerful extension and full tone. This is a percussion record so the noise is only very prevalent in quieter sections. No distortion. No skips. Both sides have very good gloss. Handful of marks, five feelable. See photos. The Deep Groove labels are largely clear and clean, with spindle marks under direct light.  See photos.

LAMINATED COVER is in excellent condition. Corners worn. See photos. Spine, top and lower seams excellent condition. See photos. BLUE NOTE RECORDS INC., 43 West 61st St., New York 23" back jacket shows ringwear, and general wear, "2 Guys B" sticker upper right. See photos. VERY RARE "New York USA" Deep Groove labels are in nice shape. 

This LP was play-tested on a high-end system consisting of Music Hall MMF-7.3 turntable/Ortofon Bronze cartridge, Heed Audio Elixir integrated amplifier, and Quad S2 speakers (with very revealing ribbon tweeters). ALL RECORDS CLEANED ON VPI INDUSTRY STANDARD VPI 16.5 VINYL CLEANING MACHINE.

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