A Night at Birdland Volume 2 (album)

A Night at Birdland Vol. 2 is a 1954 release by jazz drummer Art Blakey. It was first released by Blue Note Records as BLP 5038 (10") and two years later as BLP 1521 (12") incorporating material from the third 10" release. The band is notable for the brief inclusion of Clifford Brown as a Messenger.

It has been reissued several times on CD since 1987 by Blue Note with two previously issued additional tracks recorded this night.

The recording was produced by Alfred Lion and recorded by Rudy Van Gelder.

Track listing

 * 1) "Wee Dot" (Johnson, Parker) – 7:19
 * 2) "If I Had You" (Campbell, Connelly, Shapiro) – 3:31
 * 3) "Quicksilver [alternate master]" (Silver) – 8:46
 * 4) "Now's the Time" (Parker) – 9:02
 * 5) "Confirmation" (Parker) – 9:12
 * 6) "The Way You Look Tonight" (Fields, Jerome Kern) – 9:59
 * 7) "Lou's Blues" (Donaldson) – 3:58

Tracks 6 & 7 are bonus tracks included on the 2001 CD reissue but were originally on A Night at Birdland Vol. 3:

Personnel
Art Blakey Quintet:
 * Art Blakey — drums
 * Clifford Brown — trumpet
 * Lou Donaldson — saxophone (alto)
 * Curly Russell — bass
 * Horace Silver — piano

Production:
 * Bob Bluementhal, Leonard Feather — liner notes
 * Michael Cuscuna — reissue producer
 * John Hermansader, Reid Miles — cover design
 * Alfred Lion — producer
 * Ron McMaster — digital transfers
 * Rudy Van Gelder — engineer, mastering
 * Francis Wolff — photography

Reception
The two albums that were released from the Birdland are considered by The Penguin Guide to Jazz to be part of their "core collection". Allaboutjazz.com reviewer said it simply with "Blakey and company had clicked that night at Birdland." Allmusic mentions that, on this second album, "all of the musicians are inspired, none more than Blakey."