A Cultural Manifesto: 75 years of Blue Note

Posted By Kyle Long @DJKyleLong on Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 1:50 PM

I've written often in this column about the importance of Indianapolis' historic jazz scene. During the 1940s, and '50s Indianapolis produced a generation of jazz musicians who occupied a vanguard position in the music's development, pushing the sound of jazz forward while participating in many genre-defining recordings of the period. Nothing illustrates this point more potently than the Blue Note Records 75th anniversary vinyl initiative, a reissue series featuring remastered editions of 100 classic Blue Note recordings. 

Blue Note Records was founded in New York in 1939 by a jazz-obsessed German immigrant named Alfred Lion. By the 50s, Lion had guided Blue Note to a position as the benchmark label in jazz music. Blue Note didn't rely on star power or hit records to achieve this level of prominence; instead, Lion focused on delivering a product of extremely high artistic value. From the iconic cover designs of Reid Miles to the highly lauded engineering skills of Rudy Van Gelder, every aspect of a Blue Note release was born from the thoughtful consideration of Lion's direction. Lion also established an innovative approach to artist relations, scheduling after-hours recording sessions to accommodate the schedules of musicians working late-night gigs, and providing artists with a full day of paid rehearsals prior to a recording session. Lion created Blue Note out of a passion for jazz music, and each of the label's releases was treated as a unique artistic work, not a commodity. 

During Blue Note's heyday a handful of Indianapolis musicians made significant contributions to the label's catalog. While Freddie Hubbard, and J.J. Johnson released classic solo titles, artists like Larry Ridley, James Spaulding, and Billy Wooten played crucial roles as sidemen on many quintessential Blue Note releases. In all, Indianapolis musicians contributed to around 60 LPs in Blue Note's catalog of nearly 1,000 releases. Those 60 recordings represent some of the finest material released by the label, and the 75th anniversary vinyl series attests to that, with 20 of the 100 classic LPs selected for reissue drawn from sessions featuring Indianapolis players.......

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Art Blakey Free For All 1964 - Freddie Hubbard

Art Blakey Mosaic 1961 - Freddie Hubbard

Tina Brooks True Blue 1960 - Freddie Hubbard

Miles Davis Volume 1 1956 - J.J. Johnson

Miles Davis Volume 2 1956 - J.J. Johnson

Eric Dolphy Out to Lunch! 1964 - Freddie Hubbard

Lou Donaldson Lush Life 1967 - Freddie Hubbard

Kenny Dorham Afro-Cuban 1955 - J.J. Johnson

Kenny Drew Undercurrent 1961 - Freddie Hubbard

Herbie Hancock Maiden Voyage 1965 - Freddie Hubbard

Herbie Hancock Empyrean Isles 1964 - Freddie Hubbard

Freddie Hubbard Blue Spirits 1965 - James Spaulding, Larry Ridley

read more: http://www.nuvo.net/ACulturalManifesto/archives/2014/09/03/a-cultural-manifesto-75-years-of-blue-note