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Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers’ “Are You Real” is a Benny Golson composition from the landmark album Moanin’ (1959), showcasing the drummer’s unmatched energy, precision, and conversational approach to rhythm. Blakey turns the drum kit into a dynamic voice, especially during the trading fours section, where he engages in a playful, spontaneous dialogue with his fellow musicians.
This post delves into Blakey’s trading fours on “Are You Real,” analyzing how his phrasing and polyrhythmic interplay create tension, excitement, and a sense of musical narrative.
The tune is set in a 36-bar ABAB form in E-flat at approximately 220 bpm. The structure can be interpreted as a classic 32-bar form, plus an additional 4 bars. The trading fours occur after the piano solo, alternating 4 bars with the band, featuring an iconic 8-bar drum break on the last trading to close the form. Analyzing the four drum phrases we have:
- On the first two drum fours, Blakey keeps the ride cymbal pattern, improvising with the left hand on the snare. He plays syncopated lines, relatively simple in phrasing yet effective and musical.
- The third drum phrase features a technique characteristic of his drumming style. It consists of fast 16th notes, performed with the left stick resting on the snare while the right stick is placed underneath it, bouncing up and down.
- Blakey was one of the first jazz drummers to incorporate Afro-Cuban grooves and techniques into his explosive and unique drumming style. The last eight bars feature a melodic phrase orchestrated between the tom and snare in cross-stick position, maintaining a solid drive on the ride cymbal.
