Also available on vinyl!

 

Jazz supergroup Artemis is composed of pianist/musical director Renee Rosnes, clarinetist Anat Cohen, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, drummer Allison Miller, and vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, who collectively conjure a powerful, multi-generational, globe-spanning voice. This 9-track debut project features material composed/arranged by the members that unfurls with a dynamic flow, stunningly eclectic yet entirely cohesive.

2020 release. Pianist Gerald Clayton makes his Blue Note debut with Happening: Live At The Village Vanguard. An example of musical gambles taken on stage, the exceptional quintet (tenor sax-Walter Smith III, bassist-Joe Sanders, drummer-Marcus Gilmore) deliver dynamic performances at NYC's legendary Village Vanguard. With four Clayton originals and Billy Strayhorn's "Take the Coltrane". He then pares down to a trio for the lively version of Bud Powell's "Celia" and a stunning rendition of "Body and Soul".

If you like your jazz with a heaping helping of swirling, wondrous rhythm, Samba de Maracatu by the legendary Joe Chambers will fill you up. Be it on drums, percussion or mallets, Chambers has been one of the great sidemen in jazz history, providing the beat for everyone from Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson and Sam Rivers to Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson and Chet Baker … just to scratch the surface. He’s also had a diverse and incredible career as a leader. - DownBeat Magazine

Click here to read the full review at DownBeat Magazine

Saxophone master James Carter makes his Blue Note debut with James Carter Organ Trio: Live From Newport Jazz-his first new release since 2011. A soulfully robust dispatch from America's most storied jazz festival, it's also a follow-up of sorts to his acclaimed 2000 album Chasin' the Gypsy that The New Yorker called "an alternately reverent and audacious tribute to the Belgian swing-guitar legend Django Reinhardt. It may be the rambunctious saxophone player's recorded masterpiece."

2020 release. Blue Note debut by cornetist and composer Ron Miles, this is the follow-up to his widely acclaimed 2017 album I Am A Man, featuring the same remarkable collaborations. Miles wrote most of the music in Summer 2018 as his father was passing away; it's both a loving dedication and a riveting spiritual document that scores the journey from Earth to eternal peace. "Rainbows deal with renewal. Sometimes, our limitations can inform what we can see."

The classic! Tracks: "Move," "Jeru," "Moon Dreams" "Venus de Milo," "Budo," "Deception," "Godchild," "Boplicity," "Rocker," "Israel," "Rouge" and "Darn That Dream."

The brilliant and beloved cornetist and composer Ron Miles released his Blue Note debut Rainbow Sign in 2020 shortly before his tragic death in 2022 from a rare blood disorder. His legacy is honored with the release of Old Main Chapel, a recording that captures a sublime live performance by Miles' trio with guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Brian Blade in 2011 at Old Main Chapel in Boulder, Colorado. The 7-song set featured 6 of Miles' indelible originals along with a cover of "There Ain't No Sweet Man that's Worth the Salt of My Tears." The CD package includes heartfelt remembrances by Frisell, Blade, pianist and frequent collaborator Jason Moran, Blue Note President Don Was, and Ron's daughter Justice Miles.

Double vinyl LP pressing. In 1999, the same year that Jason Moran released his debut recording Soundtrack To Human Motion, the pianist and composer also joined New Directions, a band made up of young stars from the Blue Note roster. At the core of New Directions was the genesis of a rhythm section-with Moran, bassist Tarus Mateen, and drummer Nasheet Waits-that would go on to become one of the most enduringly creative and acclaimed piano trios in jazz. The Bandwagon made their first recording as a trio with Facing Left in 2000 and has been the foundation of the majority of Moran's artistic statements since. On his 2010 album Ten, Moran celebrated the 10th anniversary of The Bandwagon with an assured album that was a snapshot of a mature band with a decade of shared musical experience from which to draw. In addition to provocative originals the album presented singular interpretations of pieces by Thelonious Monk, Jaki Byard, Leonard Bernstein, and Conlon Nancarrow. This first-time vinyl release includes the bonus track "Thelonious" previously only available in Japan.

Clifford Brown - "Memorial Album" / The incomparable trumpeter Clifford Brown recorded two leader sessions for Blue Note in 1953 (a co-led quintet date with Lou Donaldson and his own sextet date) that were compiled on the Memorial Album shortly after his tragic death in 1956. Brownie's star burns bright from the blistering "Cherokee" to the stunning ballad "Easy Living." Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180gram vinyl at Optimal : [Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series] [LP]

Two months after recording what would become his hit record The Sidewinder, trumpeter Lee Morgan returned to Van Gelder Studio in February 1964 to create his masterful album Search for the New Land. For the session, Morgan assembled a sextet consisting of several young stars of the Blue Note roster including Herbie Hancock on piano, Grant Green on guitar, and Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, along with the dynamic rhythm team of bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Billy Higgins. The album opens with the expansive 16-minute title track, a musical odyssey that alternates a shimmering rubato theme with a loping exploration by each soloist. Four more indelible Morgan originals follow including jaunty numbers such as "The Joker" and "Morgan the Pirate," as well as the plaintive ballad "Melancholee."

Julian Lage - "Speak To Me" / Julian Lage returns with Speak To Me, his remarkable fourth release for Blue Note, which finds the guitar virtuoso broadening his sonic palette in collaboration with esteemed producer Joe Henry who enhances Lage's trademark melodic lyricism on this wide-ranging set of compelling new originals. In addition to Lage's longtime trio with Jorge Roeder on bass and Dave King on drums, the album also features contributions from saxophonist Levon Henry, keyboardist Patrick Warren, and Kris Davis on piano. 2 LP set on 180gram vinyl Capitol Music Group; Blue Note; Jazz Artist Hometown: Santa Rosa, CA

Vinyl LP pressing. Following sideman appearances with pianist Horace Parlan in the early 1960s, Booker Ervin cut two stellar Blue Note records as a leader in 1968 including Tex Book Tenor which had to wait nearly 40 years until 2005 for it's first standalone release. With a sleek post-bop quintet featuring trumpeter Woody Shaw, pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Jan Arnet, and drummer Billy Higgins, the Texas-born saxophonist slices through a set of compelling bandmember originals including Barron's sinuous tune "Gichi" and Shaw's lilting waltz "In a Capricornian Way," as well as Ervin's lovely ballad "Lynn's Tune" and the hard-swinging "Den Tex," named for his hometown of Denison.

2024 release. Melissa Aldana's 2nd Blue Note album Echoes Of The Inner Prophet is a musical voyage to explore the depth of the spiritual journey. Co-produced by Aldana and Lage Lund, the album features the tenor saxophonist with Lund on guitar, Fabian Almazan on piano, Pablo Menares on bass, and Kush Abadey on drums. The 8-track set of original compositions includes 6 new pieces by Aldana that seek profound truths through introspection, intuition, and self-reflection including the opening title track which is dedicated to Wayne Shorter.

Herbie Hancock - "Speak Like A Child (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series)" / Following his 1965 masterpiece, Maiden Voyage, Herbie Hancock wouldn't record his Blue Note follow-up until 1968 with the innovative classic, Speak Like A Child, on which the pianist and composer added the unique coloring of flugelhorn, bass trombone and alto flute to his trio for an alluring set of originals including "Riot" and "The Sorcerer." Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series features stereo, all-analog, mastering by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal in a gatefold jacket.

Charles Lloyd's new studio album features a newly assembled quartet of four distinctive voices with the legendary saxophonist joined by pianist Jason Moran, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Brian Blade. Recorded around Lloyd's 85th birthday concert, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow is a majestic body of work that presents Lloyd originals new and reimagined. The double-album finds one of the most significant musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries still at the peak of his powers. 2 LP: 180G, Gatefold Jacket

Acclaimed vibraphonist Joel Ross returns with the release of his remarkable album nublues, a collection of ballads and blues as seen through the lens of one of the most creative modern jazz groups featuring Immanuel Wilkins, Jeremy Corren, Kanoa Mendenhall, and Jeremy Dutton, as well as special guest Gabrielle Garo. The band moves seamlessly across the blues-imbued musical terrain of this 10-track set which includes 7 new Ross originals and pieces by John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk.

Vinyl LP pressing. The late-1960s and early-1970s were a wildly creative period for Bobby Hutcherson with the vibraphonist freely exploring a wide range of stylistic possibilities from post-bop and the avant-garde to fusion and Latin Jazz. The cutting-edge 1969 session Medina-which wouldn't be first released until 1980 as part of the LT Series-documented one of Hutcherson's most remarkable band line-ups featuring two of his frequent collaborators-Harold Land on tenor saxophone and flute and Joe Chambers on drums-along with Stanley Cowell on piano and Reggie Johnson on bass. The set presented a pair of original compositions each by Hutcherson, Cowell, and Chambers that explored a variety of moods from the churning rhythms of "Avis" and "Medina" to the more atmospheric realms of "Comes Spring" and "Orientale."

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. 1964 was a momentous year in the musical life of Wayne Shorter. At the start of the year the saxophonist was still a member of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, appearing on classic Blue Note albums like Free for All and Indestructible. Shorter made his own auspicious label debut that spring with Night Dreamer and that summer he joined the Miles Davis Quintet cementing a line-up that would become one of the seminal bands in jazz history. When he returned to the studio for Blue Note in August it was in the company of three musicians with strong ties to John Coltrane: pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Elvin Jones. The resulting album JuJu is a marvel in Shorter's formidable discography which presents six of his evocative original compositions including the churning title track, the mesmerizing "House of Jade," and the brightly swinging "Yes Or No."

2024 release. And Then Again is a spirited live recording of the Bill Charlap Trio featuring the pianist's longtime band with Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington on drums at the Village Vanguard. The album captures one of the great working jazz groups of our day on a particularly inspired Saturday evening at the iconic NYC jazz club. It's a delightful hour of high-wire swing and stunning balladry that documents the trio's continuing evolution. The repertoire includes pieces by great jazz composers including Thelonious Monk, Dave Brubeck and Kenny Barron as well as timeless standards like "All The Things You Are," "Darn That Dream," and "The Man I Love."

Vinyl LP pressing. Alfred Lion's inspired idea to pair tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine with The Three Sounds-the trio featuring pianist Gene Harris, bassist Andrew Simpkins, and drummer Bill Dowdy-on 1960's Blue Hour produced one of most deeply soulful hard bop outings in the Blue Note catalog. Both Turrentine and The Three Sounds were in the early days of their lengthy associations with the label at the time, the saxophonist having just recorded his leader debut Look Out a few months prior and the trio having debuted in 1958 with Introducing The 3 Sounds. Blue Hour is a smoldering late-night affair highlighted by seductive ballad performances of four standards: "I Want A Little Girl," "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You," "Since I Fell For You," and "Willow Weep For Me." At the album's center is Harris' spunky "Blue Riff," the sole uptempo number on this otherwise laid-back classic.

Acclaimed vibraphonist Joel Ross returns with the release of his remarkable album nublues, a collection of ballads and blues as seen through the lens of one of the most creative modern jazz groups featuring Immanuel Wilkins, Jeremy Corren, Kanoa Mendenhall, and Jeremy Dutton, as well as special guest Gabrielle Garo. The band moves seamlessly across the blues-imbued musical terrain of this 10-track set which includes 7 new Ross originals and pieces by John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk.

Donald Byrd - "Royal Flush (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series)" / Donald Byrd was off to the races after joining Blue Note in 1958 and had fully hit his hard bop stride by 1961 with his excellent album, Royal Flush. Joining the trumpeter was a state-of-the-art rhythm section, featuring Herbie Hancock on piano, Butch Warren on bass and Billy Higgins on drums, plus Byrd's frequent collaborator Pepper Adams on bari sax. This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal. Special Pkg:180g Heavy Vinyl

Vinyl LP pressing. Jackie McLean's 1962 album Let Freedom Ring reflected the change in the air of the early '60s: both the musical freedoms being explored by the emergent avant-garde movement and the social freedoms sought by the ascendent civil rights movement. This four-song set featuring the alto saxophonist with Walter Davis Jr. On piano, Herbie Lewis on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums melds the bluesy language of hard bop with the bristling energy of The New Thing. McLean's emotive horn wails, shrieks, and soothes as the quartet moves through three striking McLean originals: "Melody For Melonae" (dedicated to his daughter), "Rene" (dedicated to his son), and "Omega" (dedicated to his mother). A plaintive rendition of the Bud Powell ballad "I'll Keep Loving You" rounds out the date.

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Suave saxophone master Dexter Gordon had been living in Europe for several years when he returned to make his final Blue Note album, Gettin' Around, in 1965. This sublime set features a unique instrumentation with Dexter's tenor, the lone horn holding the spotlight, with nuanced accompaniment by Bobby Hutcherson, Barry Harris, Bob Cranshaw and Billy Higgins. This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series stereo edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes.

McCoy Tyner/Joe Henderson -"Forces Of Nature: Live At Slugs'" Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs' is an unreleased live recording of jazz legends McCoy Tyner and Joe Henderson leading a stellar quartet with Henry Grimes (bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums) at the hallowed lost NYC jazz shrine, Slugs' Saloon, in 1966. Recorded by legendary engineer Orville O'Brien (who recorded classic 1960s jazz albums by Freddie Hubbard, Charles Tolliver and Alice Coltrane), the tape has been in DeJohnette's personal archives for nearly 60 years and is now being released for the first time. Forces of Nature was produced for release by Zev Feldman, Jack DeJohnette and Lydia DeJohnette. An elaborate booklet includes rare photos by Francis Wolff, Raymond Ross and Robert Polillo, liner notes by acclaimed author and critic Nate Chinen, plus interviews and statements with DeJohnette, Jason Moran, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Nasheet Waits and Terri Lyne Carrington. Capitol Music Group; Blue Note; Jazz; Catalog 2 CD set