Blue Note US Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Contemporary jazz talent Melissa Aldana is back on the legendary BlueNote label with her second album here. Echoes Of The Inner Prophet is, says the great label, "a musical voyage to explore the depth of the spiritual journey" and has been co-produced by Aldana and Lage Lund. The tenor saxophonist is joined three by the talented Lund on guitar, as well as piano from Fabian Almazan, Kush Abadey on drums and Pablo Menares on bass. The eight-track work is a mix of some all-new original compositions that "seek profound truths through introspection, intuition, and self-reflection" and chief amongst them is an opening track dedicated to the great Wayne Shorter.

Review: Blue Note like to claim that you will not find superior versions of the albums they remaster and reissue as part of their Tone Poet Series and we are inclined to agree. Next up to get the luxury treatment is Chet Baker who followed his hugely successful Sings album with this, Sings And Plays, which finds the great trumpeter showcasing the other side of his skills. He was backed for the recordings - produced by Richard Bock - by a quartet including pianist Russ Freeman, Bud Shank on flute and strings and arrangements from Frank Campo, Johnny Mandel, and Marty Paich. The ten song set includes some of Chet's best loved tunes.

Review: The accomplished and influential US jazz cat Robert Glasper has been involved with several of the genre's most essential projects over the last 15 or so years. His Black Radio albums are legendary and his work with Dinner Party is ever more celebrated. In My Element is one of his early works and now courtesy of Blue Note it gets its first-ever release on vinyl. It was a 2007 follow-up to his 2005 debut and marked him out as a rising star with bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Damion Reid alongside him and helping him to expand jazz's horizons. It also shows off his mad compositional skills and unique knack for harmony. A true modern classic.

Review: Jazz heads might well be familiar with the name of Herbie Nichols Trio these days but during his playing career, he was far less celebrated outside hardcore circles. The American pianist sure had a unique style and deserves to now have more recognition for his work, which he will get as Tone Poet - Blue Note's reissue arm - serves up a repress of his innovative self-titled mid-1950s release on the label. Max Roach is on drums for this one with bassists Al McKibbon and Teddy Kotick and the whole thing has been remastered from the original analog tapes so it has never sounded better.

Review: It was 10 years into his career that Horace Silver made this album - the one that many regard as one of his very best - at the famous Van Gelder Studio with Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, Gene Taylor, and Roy Brooks. It captured his quintet's transition and came a year ahed of another recording session that gave rise to his definitive hit, 'Song For My Father', which is also included as a tribute to his father, who was of Cape Verdean heritage. This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is an all analogue affair that has been remastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, so sounds superb.

Review: "Besides selling 40 million albums and winning 9 Grammys in less than
10 years, over the years Norah Jones has collaborated with dozens and
dozens of artists from across the spectrum of music. This album collects
Norah's favorite collaborations from 2001-2010 into one amazing
collection: legends like Ray Charles, Willie Nelson and Herbie Hancock,
rock artists ranging from Foo Fighters to Ryan Adams to Belle and
Sebastian, hip hop luminaries OutKast, Q-Tip and Talib Kweli. No
matter the genre however, Norah's enchanting voice is the common
denominator and while the partners are varied, she ends up owning
every song and this album is a wonderful collection that holds together
brilliantly. The album is a testament to Norah's status as one of the most
in-demand and tasteful musical connectors in music. This album will
be an amazing gift item for any Norah fan and will be hard to miss this
holiday season and then again for Valentine's Day.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Love Me - The Little Willies
2. Virginia Moon - The Foo Fighters featuring Norah Jones
3. Turn Them - Sean Bones featuring Norah Jones
4. Baby It's Cold Outside - Willie Nelson featuring Norah Jones
5. Bull Rider - Norah Jones and Sasha Dobson
6. Ruler Of My Heart - Dirty Dozen Brass Band featuring Norah Jones
7. The Best Part - El Madmo
8. Take Off Your Cool - OutKast featuring Norah Jones
9. Life Is Better - Q-Tip featuring Norah Jones
10. Soon The New Day - Talib Kweli featuring Norah Jones
11. Little Lou, Prophet Jack, Ugly John - Belle & Sebastian featuring Norah Jones
12. Here We Go Again - Ray Charles featuring Norah Jones
13. Loretta - Norah Jones featuring Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
14. Dear John - Ryan Adams featuring Norah Jones
15. Creepin' In - Norah Jones featuring Dolly Parton
16. Court & Spark - Herbie Hancock featuring Norah Jones
17. More Than This - Charlie Hunter featuring Norah Jones
18. Blue Bayou - Norah Jones featuring M. Ward"

Review: Madlib's back catalogue is one of the most revered in hip-hop and it would be quite interesting to hear a load of jazz cats rework it in their own style. But this essential album from Blue Note is sort of the opposite - the legendary US producer gets access to the vast Blue Note vaults and from that culls his own library and sound and samples and cooks up fresh takes on plenty of classics. As such you will recognise his beats under melodies from the likes of Donald Byrd and Bobbi Humphrey, Ronnie Foster and Bobby Hutcherson. The whole thing has been remastered as part of the Classic Vinyl Edition series so has never sounded better.

Review: 1966 is when Lee Morgan laid down this immensely sleek and beautiful record for Blue Note, but it was shelved until, amazingly, 1984. Next to the trumpeter himself, the quintet here features Hank Mobley on tenor sax, plus Cedar Walton on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. They are all in fine fettle and the record has a number of standout tunes such as the Duke Pearson gem 'Is That So' and the lush title track by Morgan. This is another essential reissue from the on going Blue Note Tone Poet Series which paces high focus on the wealthy of each recording.

Review: Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder LP is actually a comeback record from one of Blue NOte's most regular and esteemed artists. A famously good hard bop trumpeter, he was a real master of his instrument who played with the Jazz Messengers as well as on his own, often as a tie man on various other fine Blue Note albums. This album came after he retuned to New York in late 1963 and was recorded with the up-and-coming Joe Henderson. It was an outlier to the rest of his catalogue and was a leftfield hit that was also used on a high-profile automobile ad campaign, thus helping to save the cash strapped Blue Note label itself.

Review: Picking a standout album on Blue Note would be like trying to pick a favourite grain of sand on the beach: impossible, and pointless. The jazz label stands head and shoulders above the rest with unflinchingly high quality releases carrying on throughout the decades. Even so, many people would pick this classic deepness from pianist Duke Pearson as one of its finest hours. Along side the Duke himself, Bobby Hutcherson plays the vibes, Patato Valdez is on congas, Bob Cranshaw slaps the bass, Mickey Roker is on drums and Sam Brown plays guitar to make for an absolutely killer collection of smooth grooves.

Review: Not many vibraphonists score their own albums, but Joel Ross is an exception. Returning to Blue Note for the third time, 'The Parable Of The Poet' spans several instrumental vibraphone movements, in what might be seen as a muted jazz smorgasbord featuring extra instrumental contributions from saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins and Maria Grand, bassist Rick Rosato, drummer Craig Weinrib et. al. Atmospheric and with a live feel, it's not one to be missed.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***

Creasing to bottom right and top left of outer sleeve, otherwise product unopened and in excellent condition

Not many vibraphonists score their own albums, but Joel Ross is an exception. Returning to Blue Note for the third time, 'The Parable Of The Poet' spans several instrumental vibraphone movements, in what might be seen as a muted jazz smorgasbord featuring extra instrumental contributions from saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins and Maria Grand, bassist Rick Rosato, drummer Craig Weinrib et. al. Atmospheric and with a live feel, it's not one to be missed.