Dr. Lonnie Smith -"Evolution" - Blue Note Jazz - Dr. Lonnie Smith, legendary Hammond B-3 organ master, is set to release his first Blue Note album in 45 years w/ the 1/29/2016 release of Evolution. Special guests incl. Robert Glasper & Joe Lovano. Smith first made a name for himself in the late 1960s as a sideman w/ saxophonist Lou Donaldson on albums incl. Alligator Bogaloo & soon after as a leader w/ his own soul-jazz classics incl. Think! & Turning Point. Smith & his Evolution band will perform at NYC Winter Jazzfest in January 2016.

Robert Glasper settled into NYC's Blue Note Club for an October 2018 residency, featuring new dream team collective R+R=NOW: Glasper/Terrace Martin/Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah/Derrick Hodge/Taylor McFerrin/Justin Tyson.

The music from their recent debut album, Collagically Speaking, took on expansive new dimensions in concert. R+R=NOW Live is a thrilling live recording with standout tracks such as "Respond," "Change of Tone," "Resting Warrior" and a cover of Kendrick Lamar's "How Much a Dollar Cost."

Vinyl LP pressing. 2018 release. On his thrilling new LP, People of the Sun, saxophonist Marcus Strickland blazes a trail fully at the helm of his music-performing, writing, and producing with his Twi-Life band on deck and special guests including Bilal and Pharoahe Monch along for the ride-as he sonically and socially traces the African diaspora from present to past in an effort to unpack his identity. It's an album that's busy and beautiful, inventive and contemplative, an amalgam of influences from West Africa and America.

In honor of the 70th anniversary of its original singles in 1949, The Complete Birth of the Cool by Miles Davis is being released on 2LP. The record features Miles Davis’ classic Birth of the Cool as well as a second LP of live material from 1948, previously unreleased on vinyl. The package features a wrapped gatefold jacket with laminated coating, as well as a brand new retrospective essay by Ashley Kahn, the author of Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece. Legendary Jazz saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and Jazz historian Phil Schaap provide liner notes on the project, which were originally published in 1998. The first LP is mastered from analog tape of the original singles for the first time since the original Birth of the Cool release in 1957.

Live archive release from the Jazz legend. Thelonious Monk Paris 1969 is a fascinating and important late-career document of the legendary Jazz pianist and composer in performance with his Quartet at the Salle Pleyel concert hall in Paris, France on December 15, 1969. The concert also featured a surprise guest appearance from renowned drummer Philly Joe Jones.

2019 debut album from an incredible young artist who has been omnipresent on acclaimed recent albums by Makaya McCraven (Universal Beings), Walter Smith III (In Common), Marquis Hill (Modern Flows, Vol. 2), and James Francies (Flight). Milt Jackson was a formative influence, Bobby Hutcherson passed him some sage advice, and Stefon Harris was his mentor and teacher. Now Joel carries the Blue Note vibraphone legacy into the future on an album that finds him exploring the formative stuff.

2020 release. Legendary labels Decca Records and Blue Note have joined forces for Blue Note Re: imagined; a brand-new collection of 16 classic Blue Note tracks, reworked and newly recorded by a selection of the UK scene's most exciting young talents. Representing a bridge between the ground-breaking label's past and future, the project features contributions from a rollcall of internationally acclaimed jazz, soul and R&B acts including Shabaka Hutchings, Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia, Mr Jukes, Steam Down, Skinny Pelembe, Emma-Jean Thackray, Poppy Ajudha, Jordan Rakei and Brit Award-winning Jorja Smith.

Vinyl LP pressing. Flutist Bobbi Humphrey found wide success with Blacks and Blues (1973), her breakout third album for Blue Note, working with the Mizell Brothers (who had recently hooked up with Donald Byrd to produce the trumpeter's landmark album Black Byrd) to create a jazz-funk classic for the ages featuring the standout track "Harlem River Drive." Humphrey's alluring flute and breezy vocals paired with Larry Mizell's compelling R&B jazz fusion compositions and production proved a winning combination.

2016 release. Nine time Grammy award winner Norah Jones returns to the piano and her roots on her sixth solo album Day Breaks, a kindred spirit to her multi-platinum breakthrough Come Away With Me. Features legendary jazz musicians saxophonist Wayne Shorter, organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, and drummer Brian Blade. "This new album feels full circle because I'm going back to my early influences," says Jones. "After the first record, I drifted away from the piano a little bit. I still played it, but was more inspired to write on guitar. I really loved playing piano on this record." With the help of co-producer Eli Wolf, Jones enlisted renown jazz musicians such as drummer Blade, organist Smith and saxophonist Shorter for recording the album. Blade previously worked with Jones on her debut, Come Away with Me. Having just had a baby and a piano in her kitchen, Jones wrote much of the album during late-night sessions at the piano while drawing influence from a wide range of jazz music. There are three cover songs on Day Breaks: "Peace", originally performed by Horace Silver, "Fleurette Africaine (African Flower)", originally performed by Duke Ellington and "Don't Be Denied", originally performed by Neil Young.

Double 180gm vinyl LP pressing. On his acclaimed 2005 Blue Note debut Canvas, pianist and composer Robert Glasper proved he had jazz chops in abundance with his acoustic trio featuring bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Damion Reid, while a hip hop sub-context lay just beneath the surface in the album's skittering beats, hinting at future directions that Glasper would take on albums like the Grammy-winning Black Radio years later. The album featured special guests Mark Turner on tenor saxophone plus vocalist Bilal, and presented Glasper's signature sound on 9 original tunes as well as a nod to one of his biggest influences Herbie Hancock with a version of "Riot."

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Drummer Tony Williams had a long, fruitful relationship with Blue Note Records starting in the 1960s when he appeared on numerous post bop classics (Herbie Hancock Maiden Voyage, Eric Dolphy Out to Lunch, Andrew Hill Point of Departure) and made his first 2 albums as a leader: Life Time (1964) and Spring (1965). After Blue Note relaunched in 1984, Williams returned to the label eager to form a new acoustic band as a vehicle to perform his compositions.

Double 180gm vinyl LP pressing. "Glamoured is a Gaelic word meaning to be whisked away," says vocalist and songwriter Cassandra Wilson, explaining the title of her 2003 album. "It's like being in a daydream, those split seconds when you're transfixed and your eyes don't move and you have to shake yourself out of it. This album captures the feeling of that reverie." Indeed, Wilson sets such a mood with her trademark mix of first-rate originals and adventurous covers of other songwriters' works, this time picking material by Sting, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Muddy Waters and Abbey Lincoln. Such eclectic tastes come naturally to Wilson, who began her musical career performing in and around her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. "Down South, musicians have to be able to play in many different circumstances and in many contexts," she says. "They have to play jazz, they have to integrate the blues, and they have to know country. And the lines are kinda blurry sometimes, 'cause that's what everybody wants to hear." For the recording of Glamoured, Cassandra once again returned to her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi with a list of good songs and an open mind. "For some albums, I'll have a very clear idea of where I want it to go," she says, "but this time I had questions about what kinds of sounds to explore."

Vinyl LP pressing. Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard burst upon the Blue Note scene in June 1960 with his auspicious debut album Open Sesame. Within six months, Hubbard had already recorded a follow-up (Goin' Up) and appeared as a sideman on sessions with Tina Brooks (True Blue), Hank Mobley (Roll Call), Kenny Drew (Undercurrent), and Jackie McLean (Bluesnik). Hubbard's bravado style was already fully formed on Open Sesame with his brilliant tone and jaw-dropping technical prowess at the helm of sterling quintet.

2019 release by the nine-time Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Norah Jones. Begin Again is a collection of singles that gathers seven eclectic songs that Jones has recorded over the past year with collaborators including Jeff Tweedy and Thomas Bartlett. Features the new song "Just a Little Bit," which was produced by Jones and features her on vocals, piano, and organ along with Brian Blade on drums.

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin blew out of Chicago and made his debut album for Blue Note Records in 1956 steering a nimble quartet with pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Curly Russell, and drummer Max Roach through a fantastic set of originals and standards. From the blistering opener "Mil Dew" to the loping "Chicago Calling" and bluesy "Nice and Easy" Griffin's staggering technical ability and buoyant swing is readily apparent at every twist and turn. Griffin would follow with two more standout Blue Note albums-A Blowing Session featuring John Coltrane and The Congregation-the next year.