1959 · Album
On View at the Five Spot Cafe
Recorded August 25, 1959, at the Five Spot Café, New York City · Blue Note · Produced by Alfred Lion
Burrell and Blakey, Live at the Five Spot
Burrell's cool-toned guitar and Blakey's relentless drums make for an unlikely but compelling pairing.
The Five Spot Café was one of those New York rooms that just drew the right people at the right moment, and on August 25, 1959, Kenny Burrell and Art Blakey happened to be the right people. The result, On View at the Five Spot Cafe (1959), is a live Blue Note date that captures something straightforward: two musicians who don't necessarily run in the same circles finding a way to make it work in front of a crowd. Burrell was known for a smooth, single-note style that owed as much to blues as to bebop. Blakey was a hard-bop drummer with a reputation for pushing everyone around him harder than they expected. That tension is kind of the point of this record.
What keeps this album interesting is exactly that mismatch. Blakey plays with the same intensity he brought to his Jazz Messengers work, which means he's occasionally threatening to overwhelm the front line. Burrell holds his ground without trying to out-muscle anyone. He's not a loud guitarist, and he doesn't become one here. Instead, he leans into his tone — warm, unhurried — and lets the contrast do the work. The rhythm section fills out the session, and the live setting gives everything a little extra edge that studio dates rarely produce.
This isn't the first album you'd hand someone who wanted to get into Kenny Burrell. That would probably be his 1963 Blue Note date. But if you already like Burrell, this one is worth your time precisely because it puts him somewhere slightly uncomfortable and shows he can handle it. It's a solid night of jazz, honestly recorded, honestly played. Not every record needs to be more than that.
Who's playing
Ben Tuckerdouble bass
Bobby Timmonspiano
“Sir” Roland Hannapiano
Kenny Burrellguitar
Tina Brookstenor saxophone
Art Blakeydrums
Where next?
More by Kenny Burrell
Introducing Kenny Burrell 1956
Midnight Blue 1963
Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane 1963
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Jazzmen: Detroit 1956
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
