Blue Note 85
Explore 85 years of music history with Blue Note Records, the legendary jazz label
behind icons like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Norah Jones.
Celebrate this milestone with a curated selection of vinyl, including the
Tone Poet Reissues, Classic Vinyl Reissue Series, and Indie Exclusive Blue Vinyl Series from today’s Blue Note stars.
Timeless sounds reimagined for your collection.
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
Night In Tunisia (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series)
Gene Harris And The Three Sounds
Live At The 'it Club' (Blue Note Classics Series)
Vinyl: $29.98 Buy
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.
Stanley Turrentine / Three Sounds
Blue Hour (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series)
Recorded in 1956 for producer Tom Wilson’s short-lived Boston-based label Transition Records, Watkins At Large was the first of only two albums that the great bassist Doug Watkins would make as a leader. The Detroit native had moved to New York and begun to garner recognition for his contributions to the Art Blakey-Horace Silver co-led iteration of the Jazz Messengers as well as Bud Powell’s trio when Wilson decided to give him the opportunity to front his own recording date. Along with a first-rate ensemble featuring trumpeter Donald Byrd, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, guitarist Kenny Burrell, pianist Duke Jordan, and drummer Art Taylor, Watkins swings through a stellar set of blues, ballads, and more including originals written by Jordan, Burrell, and Thad Jones.