Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing in gatefold jacket. Blue Note Tone Poet Series. Recorded in 1967, Oblique is one of two quartet sessions the great vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson recorded for Blue Note. Released in 1979, features Herbie Hancock (piano), Joe Chambers (drums) and Albert Stinson (bass). An incredible journey from bops to exploratory sonic poems, with standouts like breezy opener "'Til Then," Hancock's tremendous "Theme From Blow Up" and Chambers' adventurous "Oblique".
Double vinyl LP pressing. This newly discovered live-recording of a performance of the Love Supreme suite is a revelation. Recorded at The Penthouse in Seattle on October 2, 1965, this recording transports the listener to a prime seat for piece of musical history. While not studio-quality audio, the power of the performance shines through. This version is also of the full suite and features an expanded band that includes the same Classic Quartet and Pharoah Sanders in his first official gig as part of Coltrane's group.
Vinyl LP pressing. 2020 release. Norah Jones' seventh solo studio album Pick Me Up Off The Floor features collaborators from Brian Blade to Jeff Tweedy, and grew out of her acclaimed singles series of the past two years as the songs she hadn't yet released unexpectedly congealed into an album of tremendous depth and beauty connected by the sly groove of her piano trios, lyrics that confront loss and portend hope, and a mood that leans into darkness before ultimately finding the light.
Donald Byrd's 1975 album, Places and Spaces, featuring the hits "Wind Parade" and "Dominoes," was the culmination of his fusion period. It was his 5th consecutive album produced by the visionary Larry Mizell, and the second to last session Byrd would cut for Blue Note, the label he had been with since 1958. Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal.
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - "First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings" - A previously unreleased live recording of drum legend Art Blakey with a classic line-up of the Jazz Messengers, trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Bobby Timmons, and bassist Jymie Merritt. It was captured on January 14, 1961, at Hibiya Public Hall in Tokyo during the band's first-ever tour of Japan. Co-produced by Zev Feldman and David Weiss, the audio was newly transferred from the original 1/4" tape reels. First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings [2 LP]
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Recorded in 1961, Ready for Freddie was trumpeter Freddie Hubbard's fourth album for Blue Note Records. Featuring a unique sextet line-up with Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Bernard McKinney on euphonium, McCoy Tyner on piano, Art Davis on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums, the album stands as one of the finest of Hubbard's career. This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes.
Vinyl LP pressing. 1965's Maiden Voyage remains one of the pinnacle artistic achievements of the great pianist's career. Hancock is joined by Miles Davis Quintet bandmates Ron Carter on bass & Tony Williams on drums, along with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet & George Coleman on tenor saxophone. The quintet embarks on an oceanic exploration of 5 original Hancock compositions, several of which have since become enduring standards of the jazz lexicon including the title track, "Eye of the Hurricane," and "Dolphin Dance."
Released in 1995, Sarala marked it's time by generating a genuine enthusiasm for Mandingo music, encouraging many Western musicians to go to Mali and explore this music at it's very source. Fruit of the reunion of Hank Jones (an African-American musician and one of the most gifted pianists of his generation) and Cheick-Tidiane Seck (a reputed arranger, band-leader, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Mali) the album is a symbiosis - one of the spirit and the heart - of two genres.
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. After his return to Blue Note where he first made a name for himself with a run of classic soul jazz albums between 1968-70, Hammond B-3 organ legend Dr. Lonnie Smith recorded All In My Mind during his 75th birthday celebration at the Jazz Standard in New York City with guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Jonathan Blake. For the first time on vinyl, this 5-song Tone Poet Edition features spirited interpretations of songs by Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Paul Simon and more.
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone, Ron Carter on bass, and Al Foster on drums captured live in 1985 playing at the peak of their respective powers at NYC's historic jazz shrine, The Village Vanguard. Alfred Lion, founder of Blue Note Records and it's sole producer until 1967, said upon hearing these sessions: "I think this is truly a classic album. What Joe plays is unbelievable. This is one of the most important albums that I have ever heard. It is definitely one of the best ever made on Blue Note. And I don't mean the new Blue Note. It's one of the best ever, including all of the records we did in the 50s and 60s."
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Guitarist Kenny Burrell debuted on Blue Note Records in 1956 and over the following 7 years made a series of excellent albums for the label that culminated with his masterwork Midnight Blue. Recorded in 1963, the album waded deep into the blues, conjuring an alluring late-night vibe with a profoundly soulful cast including tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, bassist Major Holley, Jr., drummer Bill English, and Ray Barretto on congas. Burrell originals including "Chitlins con Carne," "Midnight Blue," "Saturday Night Blues," and the stunning solo guitar piece "Soul Lament" set the tone for this timeless classic adorned by one of the all-time great Reid Miles cover designs.
Vinyl LP pressing. Jackie McLean pushed boundaries in this 1961 recording of A Fickle Sonance. McLean shows his artistry by being one of the few Jazz artists to incorporate freer jazz melodies into his hard-bop style. He raised the bar with his style's evolution was backed by an incredibly talented group of musicians which included Tommy Turrentine on Trumpet, pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Butch Warren, and Billy Higgins on drums.
Careless Love, first released in 2004, is a rich collection of covers, with tunes from Bob Dylan to James P. Johnson and including a milestone rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love." Featuring the original, "Don't Wait Too Long" co-written by Jesse Harris & Larry Klein. With over half a million albums sold, it shifted Peyroux from the jazz realm into the mainstream arena and remains her most popular release. Deluxe Edition includes the previously unreleased 2005 live set, recorded by Basque Public Radio for the Festival de Jazz de Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain. - Madeleine performs the repertoire from Careless Love, plus additional bonus songs.
Vinyl LP pressing. After trumpeter Lee Morgan set the music world on fire with the runaway success of his hit soul-jazz single "The Sidewinder", many artists tried to duplicate his triumphant feat. Morgan himself cooked up funky follow-up "The Rumproller," which was recorded the next year. The quintet featured Joe Henderson, Ronnie Mathews, Victor Sproles & Billy Higgins. The album covers diverse territory from the post-bop of "Desert Moonlight" to mournful closing ballad "The Lady" dedicated to Billie Holiday.
Vinyl LP pressing. Travelogue through a cybernetical soundscape! The future rendered here by Ra seems more dystopian than utopian, and these 1975 guided improvisations are imbued with an underlying violence, alternate twists, bank turns, headchoppers, loops, rolls, sidewinders and drops. It's a dark & glorious journey. Featuring the debut of the complete version of 'Extension Out,' Pathways has been exquisitely mastered from the four-track session reel and includes an insert offering an enlightening glimpse at Ra & co.'s plans for their major label lucre.
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. While Joe Henderson seemed to arrive fully formed on his auspicious 1963 debut Page One, the album was really a showcase for the transcendent collaboration between the tenor saxophonist and trumpeter Kenny Dorham who would form a potent frontline team on numerous classics. Opens with a pair of indelible Dorham compositions (Blue Bossa/La Mesha), the 6-song set penned by Henderson includes "Recorda-Me."
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. 1958's Moanin' - featuring the great drummer w/ trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, pianist Bobby Timmons, & bassist Jymie Merritt - was the perfect crystallization of the band's bluesy, soulful sound, & it still stands today as perhaps the most quintessential hard bop recording of all-time. The album also introduced several indelible Golson compositions that would become standards of the jazz songbook including "Along Came Betty" & "Blues March."
Vinyl LP pressing. Released in 1969, Herbie Hancock's album, The Prisoner, is a powerful but overlooked masterpiece. A moving tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, this nonet session features some of the most exceptional instrumentalists in jazz including Joe Henderson, Johnny Coles and more. Hancock said of The Prisoner: "I've been able to get closer to the real me with this album than on any other previous one." Blue Note Tone Poet Series features all-analog, remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.
Vinyl LP pressing. Two days after recording his best-selling album, Go!, Dexter Gordon followed with another classic, A Swingin' Affair. The tracks are full of Gordon's unique and innovative improvisations supported by his returning line-up, with Sonny Clark on piano, Butch Warren on bass, and drummer Billy Higgins. A Swingin' Affair brings a relaxed and upbeat feeling to a hard-bop influenced band.
Vinyl LP pressing. Fodder on My Wings is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It is part of her later works, and can be regarded alongside Baltimore (1978) as one of her better achievements of that period. Recorded soon after Nina moved to Paris, this 1982 LP was one of her personal favorites. She wrote the music and lyrics to all but one of these 13 songs and also arranged and conducted all the tracks. A small French label originally put this out and it's only been sporadically available ever since.
