VA - Blue Spirits: 85 Years of Blue Note Records (2024)

85 years ago on January 6, 1939, a German-Jewish immigrant and passionate Jazz fan named Alfred Lion produced his first recording session in New York City founding what would go on to become the most iconic and longest-running Jazz label in the world. For 85 years Blue Note Records has represented The Finest In Jazz, tracing the entire history of the music from Hot Jazz, Boogie Woogie, and Swing, through Bebop, Hard Bop, Post-Bop, Soul Jazz, Avant-Garde, and Fusion, and — after being relaunched by Bruce Lundvall in 1984 — has remained the leading label dedicated to documenting today’s vibrant and creatively thriving Jazz scene under the leadership of current President Don Was, who took the helm in 2012. This collection, curated & selected by Don Was, uniquely represents its legendary catalog spanning the entire history of the music, with the pillars of Jazz history such as Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Ornette Coleman, Robert Glasper, Gregory Porter, Norah Jones and many others. 6 tracks out of 10 on CD1 are the latest remasters by Kevin Gray, made for Blue Note’s signature Tone Poet & Classic Vinyl series — available here for the first time in CD format. Presented in a 2-CD jewel with obi-strip, with an introduction by Don Was and a (translated) note about the history of the label by Mitsutaka Nagira, CD1 celebrates some of the most iconic Blue Note legends, while CD2 is representative of the current roster of Blue Note artists shaping the future of jazz.

Tracklist
1: Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Monk, 'Round Midnight
2: Miles Davis - Richard Rodgers, It Never Entered My Mind
3: John Coltrane - John Coltrane, Blue Train
4: Kenny Burrell - Kenny Burrell, Midnight Blue
5: Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Wayne Shorter, Free For All
6: Wayne Shorter - Wayne Shorter, Speak No Evil
7: Lee Morgan - Lee Morgan, Ceora
8: Larry Young - Woody Shaw, The Moontrane
9: McCoy Tyner - McCoy Tyner, Contemplation
10: Ornette Coleman - Ornette Coleman, Broad Way Blues
11: Robert Glasper Experiment - Robert Glasper, The Consequences Of Jealousy
12: Immanuel Wilkins - Immanuel Wilkins, Fugitive Ritual, Selah
13: Gregory Porter - Gregory Porter, Hey Laura
14: Bill Frisell - Boubacar Traore, Baba Drame
15: Joel Ross - Joel Ross, Yana
16: José James - José James, Trouble
17: Joshua Redman - Bruce Springsteen, Streets Of Philadelphia
18: Charles Lloyd - Charles Lloyd, Defiant, Tender Warrior
19: Cassandra Wilson - Cyndi Lauper, Time After Time
20: Nduduzo Makhathini - Nduduzo Makhathini, Amathongo
21: Stefon Harris - Stefon Harris, Black Action Figure
22: Ambrose Akinmusire - Ambrose Akinmusire, Roy
23: Norah Jones - John D. Loudermilk, Turn Me On
24: Wayne Shorter - Wayne Shorter, Adventures Aboard the Golden Mean