Blue Note

In Shades of Blue Madlib, hip-hop producer extraordinaire, tackles Blue Note's soul-jazz catalogue, enjoying free rein in the fabled label's vaults.

Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes’ What Kinda Music – an astonishing collaboration between two artists of very different disciplines, and one of the most unique and seamlessly original projects of its ilk to date. 

Blue Note Re:imagined is a brand-new collection of classic Blue Note tracks, reworked and newly recorded by a selection of the UK scene’s most exciting young talents.

Donald Byrd’s 1975 album Places and Spaces featuring the hits “Wind Parade” and “Dominoes” was the culmination of the great trumpeter’s fusion period.

On his third date for Blue Note within a year, Wayne Shorter changed the bands that played on both Night Dreamer and Juju and came up with not only another winner, but also managed to give critics and jazz fans a different look at him as a saxophonist.

Two months after recording The Sidewinder, trumpet legend Lee Morgan was back in Van Gelder Studio in February 1964 creating his masterful sextet album Search for the New Land with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Grant Green, Reggie Workman, and Billy Higgins.

Blue Note Re:imagined returns this year with a new 16-track compilation featuring fresh takes on music from the illustrious Blue Note vaults recorded by a heavyweight line-up of the UK jazz, soul and R&B scene’s most hotly-tipped rising stars.

In June 1964, Grant Green recorded his blazing post-bop session for Solid, an album that would go unreleased until 1979 as Blue Note had success with the guitarist’s soul jazz outings of the time.

Recorded on 1st March 1962 at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Recorded in 1962 but not originally released until 1985. A classic post-bop album from a Blue Note legend.

Carried by its almost impossibly infectious eponymous opening track, The Sidewinder helped foreshadow the sounds of boogaloo and soul-jazz with its healthy R&B influence and Latin tinge.

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.

As his only release for Blue Note, this 1957 set is one of the finest bop albums recorded. 

Breathe captures the Hammond B-3 organ legend Dr. Lonnie Smith during his 75th birthday run at the Jazz Standard in NYC in 2017.

Here's another classic from one of the greatest vibraphone players to ever grace the world of jazz.

The guitarist’s acclaimed 1961 debut. Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on 28th January 1961.

This gatefold Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog.

1960’s Look Out!—the debut album by Stanley Turrentine—announced the arrival of a deeply soulful saxophonist who imbued every note he played with feeling.

Hammond B3 organist Freddie Roach began a run of Blue Note leader dates with his excellent 1962 debut Down To Earth. The deeply soulful set was a showcase of his nuanced, bluesy sound and thoroughly enjoyable original tunes like “Althea Soon” that were ideal vehicles for this swinging band with Percy France, Kenny Burrell, and Clarence Johnston. 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.

Invigorating six-song hard bop masterclass.

Recorded and released in 1969, Herbie Hancock’s last Blue Note album The Prisoner is a powerful but overlooked masterpiece.

Blue Note Re:imagined II once again infuses the spirit of the new UK jazz generation into the legendary label’s iconic catalogue.

Gregory Porter’s new release Still Rising, due out November 5, is an exquisite collection of musical delights. The first disc includes four brand-new tracks, two new arrangements, three new covers, and nine of Porter’s most loved Blue Note tracks. The second disc features notable duets including songs with Moby, Jamie Cullum, Jeff Goldblum, Renée Fleming, Dianne Reeves, Lalah Hathaway, Laura Mvula, Lizz Wright, and others. The new song and first single from the album “Dry Bones,” written and produced by Troy Miller (Diana Ross, Rag’n’Bone Man, Emeli Sandé), is available to stream or download today.

By 1970, McCoy Tyner had begun turning more insistently toward African rhythmic and harmonic ideas, that pull already audible in his late 60s Blue Note work, though here it sits at the centre, the band assembled around him with a kind of purposeful density.

Dexter Gordon’s second Blue Note album Dexter Calling… recorded in 1961 solidified the tenor saxophonist’s career rebirth with a joyous return to form. Dexter holds forth at the helm of a quartet with Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones moving nimbly from hard-charging swing to stunning balladry.

Imbued with warmth and swing.

Now, nearly 50 years later, that recording of the great trumpeter’s dynamic set will be officially released for the first time ever on what would have been Byrd’s 90th birthday: December 9, 2022.

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.

Saxophonist Joe Henderson expanded his palette on his vigorous 1966 album Mode for Joe with a dynamic septet.

Lonnie Smith’s 1970 album Drives was a showcase of the organist’s sense of adventure and indomitable groove.

In addition to boasting one of Reid Miles’ greatest album cover designs, Hank Mobley’s 1963 album No Room for Squares is a marvel for the music alone.

Meshell Ndegeocello’s 2nd Blue Note album No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin pays homage to the eminent writer and activist James Baldwin. Ndegeocello’s transformative music and collaborative spirit ignites this genre-bending work that is at once a musical experience, a church service, a celebration, a testimonial, and a call to action.

Often overlooked, perhaps because he wasn't a great innovator in jazz but merely a stellar performer, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was at the peak of his powers on Soul Station.

One of Blue Note's greatest mainstream hard bop dates, Song for My Father is Horace Silver's signature LP and the peak of a discography already studded with classics. Silver was always a master at balancing jumping rhythms with complex harmonies for a unique blend of earthiness and sophistication, and Song for My Father has perhaps the most sophisticated air of all his albums

Johnny Griffin called upon his fellow master practitioners of the tenor saxophone John Coltrane and Hank Mobley for his second Blue Note album A Blowing Session in 1957.

Out Of/Into, the all-star collective that began its life as the Blue Note Quintet in celebration of Blue Note Records’ 85th anniversary.

Elvin Jones’ 1968 Blue Note debut Puttin’ It Together marked the start of a new chapter in the master drummer’s career following his six years with the seminal John Coltrane Quartet, and Coltrane’s death in 1967.

The Tokyo Blues is an album that reflects Horace Silver's deep musicality, cultural curiosity, and love for the blues.

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.

First Flight to Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings is a thrilling previously unreleased live recording of Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers captured at Hibiya Public Hall in Tokyo on January 14, 1961 during the band’s first-ever tour of Japan.

Less overtly adventurous than its predecessor, Empyrean Isles, Maiden Voyage nevertheless finds Herbie Hancock at a creative peak.

40th anniversary remastered edition of the classic soul album from 1981.

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 mid-60s Blue Note classics.