Blakey Tribute: Art for Art’s Sake : Reunion: Some of the young musicians whose talent the great drummer nurtured are re-enacting some of the classic jazz he recorded during the ‘50s and ‘60s.

When jazz drummer 0Art Blakey died in October, 1990, saxophonist Jackie McLean said it was as if Harvard had closed down. McLean was referring to Blakey’s longtime mentoring role, the way he recruited countless young players for his group, the Jazz Messengers, and nurtured their budding talent.

Now, four Blakey alums are having a class reunion, re-enacting some classic jazz recorded by Blakey and his Jazz Messengers, mostly during the 1950s and 1960s. Organized by 27-year-old saxman Javon Jackson, the tribute band plays the Horton Grand Hotel in downtown San Diego tonight, Friday and Saturday and Catalina’s in Los Angeles from Oct. 20-25.

Joining Jackson are his young peers Phillip Harper on trumpet and Essiet Essiet on bass, plus seasoned veteran Cedar Walton on piano. Playing Blakey’s role will be drummers Ralph Penland (in San Diego) and Louis Hayes (in Los Angeles).

Jackson, who grew up in Denver, organized the Blakey tribute last summer to play a single concert in his old home town (he now lives in Brooklyn). The music went well enough that the players decided to book more dates.

“It was a very emotional gig, we all felt a certain kind of feeling,” Jackson said. “It was spiritually charged by the fact of being a tribute to Art, being the first one we had done as a thank you to him.”

With little time to rehearse, the group is still developing its repertoire, but Jackson said the sets lean heaviest on music the Messengers are best known for.

“Choosing material is a group effort,” Jackson said. “I asked Cedar about some things, but it was understood when we got the group together that we would have to play (songs like) ‘Moanin,’ ‘Blues March,’ ‘Along Came Betty.’ Those things are very special. That’s what people think of when they think of Blakey. We’re also doing some (Messengers) music by Cedar and Horace Silver, and a couple of Freddie’s (Hubbard) things. I have one or two things, but we’re gearing it to the classic period people can identify with.”

All of the musicians are taking time out from busy careers of their own. Jackson is a regular in the bands of Elvin Jones and Hubbard. Penland is also in Hubbard’s group. Harper is one of the Harper Brothers, a dedicated, first-rate straight-ahead jazz unit. Walton continues a long, viable solo career, mainly with a trio rounded out by drummer Billy Higgins and bassist David Williams. Essiet is a member of saxophonist Bobby Watson’s red-hot group, Horizon.

For Jackson, a young lion of the tenor sax who released his debut solo recording, “Me and Mr. Jones,” last summer, the tribute dates offer a chance to play with some personal heroes while paying homage to his greatest hero of all.

Jackson left Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music in 1987 to join the Messengers and stayed on until 1990. He remembers the experience as an essential education, and not just about music.

“It was a dream from the time I was 13 or 14. I wanted to be a Jazz Messenger,” Jackson said. “The best memories I have of Art Blakey don’t have have to do with the bandstand. He taught me things about integrity. He was a leader by example.

“You never saw Art Blakey be tentative on stage. When they said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers,’ bam, the music would start. He made sure the band had a uniform look. In the 1980s, that meant suits and ties. It was a whole aura of Art, not just the music.

“The music, we didn’t really discuss. He wouldn’t say, ‘I don’t want you to play like this.’ So many types of musicians came through his band: Stanley Clarke, Joanne Brackeen, Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Hank Mobley. The only thing I think Art wanted was that you had respect for the tradition, that you tried to come where he came from--the music of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk.”

As a member of the final version of the Messengers, Jackson caught the curtain coming down on a legacy. But Walton was there during the prime years. He was an early ‘60s Messenger alongside Shorter, Hubbard, trombonist Curtis Fuller and bassist Reggie Workman.

Walton, who names Blakey, Kenny Dorham and J. J. Johnson as his own mentors, sees the Blakey reunion group as one of several encouraging signs that young jazz players like Jackson aren’t turning their backs on the past.

“The fact that he’s conscientious about doing this research, going directly to the guys who excelled in the ‘50s and ‘60s like myself is evidence that there’s hope,” Walton said. “I’ve played with (other young players including) Wynton Marsalis and Winard Harper. I was very encouraged. It certainly benefited me, and it seemed to benefit them a whole lot, getting firsthand answers to some of their questions.”

And, Walton added, Jackson, still in his formative years as a player, compares favorably with Shorter.

“There’s a good likeness,” Walton said. “Shorter was, I think, a more in-depth composer. Javon’s writing, in my opinion, is still developing. But they are equally gifted as horn players, and as members of Art Blakey’s band.”

Jackson’s new release shows a technically gifted musician, comfortable in a range of moods and tempos, searching for a voice of his own. If humility and a work ethic can make a difference, Jackson should soon emerge as an original in the mold of his forebears. He is consciously taking his time in developing, though, and is in no hurry to make his second solo recording.

“Patience is a virtue,” he said. “Whatever comes along, I take it as it comes. I’m not going to turn down an opportunity to play with Elvin Jones to start my own band. If I did, in 15 years, I might kick myself in the behind. I can use these apprenticeships very well for the future. When I do come out with my own band, it’ll be that much more mature.”

For Jackson and these other Blakey alums, taking time off from making new original music carries some risk. Tribute groups have the potential to be monumental bores, what with the initial catalyst--in this case Blakey--absent. But Jackson doesn’t find it strange playing the great music of the Messengers without Blakey.

“When you’re onstage, you can’t gear yourself to who’s gone or here,” he said. “I never equated it that way. Of course, you say ‘damn’ when you lose someone you love and have so much affection for. You’re always going to miss them, but you have to carry on.”

Although the Blakey tribute group would seem tailor-made for a label deal, what with the presence of jazz’s best known young and old lions, both Jackson and Walton insist there’s no business motive here.

“We just want to play Art’s music, have a celebration,” Jackson said. “It’s not that we want to, in any way shape or form, have a band that will continue over a long period of time.”

Added Walton: “Once we start working, get some reviews, maybe someone will want to record us. There’s no way to tell how it will go. It’s a great position to be in because none of us need it to go anywhere. It’s a very comfortable venture, something we just want to do but don’t have to do, which is kind of rare in jazz.”

* The Blakey reunion group play s at 8:30 tonight, Friday and Saturday at the Horton Grand. Admission is $5 tonight, $10 Friday and Saturday.