Blue Note: celebrating the legendary record label at 85

In 1963 pianist Horace Parlan recorded Happy Frame Of Mind, an album that has its rightful place in the hard bop canon. By and large the songs crackle with blues and gospel rhythms that are as upbeat as the title suggests, but one composition stands out for its structural finesse as well as political substance. The piece has a Shorter-stamped elegance and mood of profound reverence. It is called ‘Home Is Africa.’

Blue Note, the American label that issued the music now has a home in Africa. “We took on Nduuzo Makhathini’s first album and it was incredible. Then I met him and then we spent a lot time together,” says Blue Note president Don Was of the South African pianist-composer whose work is marked by both deep spirituality and intellectual gravitas. “I went to see him in Johannesburg, then he took me around to Durban and Cape Town, it was great. We thought we should do more of this music and spread the word. Then came the process of setting up Blue Note Africa. We’re honored to help create global awareness of the great music being made there. On a more symbolic level, Blue Note’s presence in Africa is definitely a humble acknowledgement that we are aware and appreciative of the source of our legacy.”

John Coltrane (photo courtesy Francis Wolff / Blue Note)

Blue Note’s ‘motherland’ imprint, that black American Afro-centric jazz legends such as Art Blakey would have surely hailed, was launched with great fanfare in 2022. Makhathini’s fine new album uNomkhubulwane, which underlines his status as one of the most original thinkers as well as players in contemporary jazz, and lladi, the impressive debut of his compatriot, the saxophonist Linda Sikhakhane, more than justifies the excitement of Was. He cuts a striking figure in a wide-brimmed cream hat from under which flow long dark locks that blend into strings of sparkling beads to make him a cross between offshore buccaneer and stagey Bohemian adventurer. He is sat next to his more conservatively dressed vice-president Justin Seltzer (short hair, trimmed beard, open-necked shirt) in the restaurant of a chic central London hotel called ‘boutique’ these days. The menu is as rarefied as it is expensive.

While both men are happy to talk about the international identity of Blue Note – and it’s often forgotten that the French office has made a number of notable signings in the past three decades, from Erik Truffaz to Martial Solal to Avishai Cohen – the order of the day is really the 85th anniversary celebration of the treasured label.

Norah Jones

“We’ve got some exciting things going on,” says Seltzer. “We were conscious that 85 wasn’t gonna mean as much as 75 did, so we thought let’s just focus on the music.”

Was is on the same wavelength: “This year we kind of decided to dispense with some of the gimmickry of previous anniversaries. We’re cognisant that we celebrated the 80th and the 75th, so we thought just stick to what the people like about Blue Note… which is the music, so we doubled down. We’re releasing 70 albums this year.”

The list is varied to say the least. On one hand there are recordings of ‘frontline’ artists, including the aforementioned Makhathini; evergreen saxophonist Charles Lloyd, who shows no sign of writers block in his ninth decade; guitarist Julian Lage, right now in a rich vein of form; vibraphonist Joel Ross, a leading new voice on his instrument (see page 24); and vocalist Norah Jones, the biggest-selling artist in Blue Note’s history. New works by Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana, pianist Ethan Iverson and guitar hero Bill Frisell also point to a sizeable talent pool that is spread over generations.

Herbie Hancock (photo courtesy Francis Wolff / Blue Note)

On the other hand, reissues of modern jazz gems by the likes of Jutta Hipp, Grant Green, Stanley Turrentine, Lee Morgan and Duke Pearson, are an embarrassment of riches. Founded in New York in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Francis Wolf, two German Jews who escaped the impending horrors of Nazism, Blue Note started by recording sessions with boogie woogie giants Albert Ammons and Meade ‘Lux' Lewis and New Orleans icon Sidney Bechet in 1939, followed by Ike Quebec in 1944, and Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell in 1947. Thereafter came artists in every significant school of jazz: Art Blakey, Donald Byrd, Horace Silver and Freddie Hubbard in hard bop; John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter in post-bop and modal; Solomon Ilori and Sabu Martinez in Afro and Latin-jazz; Eric Dolphy, Cecil Taylor, and Ornette Coleman in avant-garde: Ronnie Foster, Bobbi Humphrey, and Byrd (again) in fusion. As the trumpeter sang, ‘change makes you wanna hustle.’

The label’s reissue programme, active since the late 1980s, is second to none because of the abundance of classic recordings in the archives as well as a stash of unreleased nuggets. What has given added cachet to the old-but-new music is the high end mixing and re-mastering, first by Rudy Van Gelder and more recently by Joe Harley under the prestigious banner ‘Tone Poet.’

Julian Lage

“We launched the Tone Poet series because he was producing audiophile reissues,” explains Was, a noted artist and producer who is half of the duo, Was Not Was, and has helmed recordings by singers and players across the modern musical landscape, be they western or non-western, from Iggy Pop and The Rolling Stones to Khaled and Wayne Shorter.

“We know what the tapes sound like, we heard the old vinyl. But these records Joe did just sounded like you’re in the room with the musicians. I finally bumped into him – he’s friends with Charles Lloyd, who dubbed him the ‘Tone Poet’ – and I said ‘why don’t you come do this for us, as opposed to licensing tracks?’ He wanted to be part of Blue Note. Now he’s a staffer. We leave him alone, the same way we treat our artists…. just let him do his thing. So he picks the Classic series, it’s his choices. Whatever we think is gonna be cool to put out, we put out, there’s so many titles.”

Exactly how many albums Blue Note has in its catalogue is hard to determine, but the consensus is well over a thousand. If that figure is impressive then what is as, if not more significant, is the fact that the label has largely upheld the aim of its original manifesto to support ‘uncompromising expression’, which resonates closely with the spontaneity at the heart of improvised music. The 1960s is a hallowed Blue Note period because that spirit ran through its great game changers: chief among them were Eric Dolphy, McCoy Tyner, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter.

Eric Dolphy (photo courtesy Francis Wolff / Blue Note)

As far as Was is concerned the last name on that illustrious list is particularly crucial, above all for Shorter’s 1964 classic Speak No Evil, which features the sophisticated, eye of the needle swing of the title track and the sublime, tender ballad ‘Infant Eyes’.

“It’s not hyperbolic to say that it has gotten me through a few rough patches in my life – beginning with a period in the 1970s when I dropped out of college in the hope of joining a band like MC5 or The Stooges,” Was reveals. “I faced a lot of resistance and always felt that Wayne was talking to me through his horn on that album, giving me guidance, teaching me to duck and dive in the face of adversity. If I was lost I’d play side two, and it would calm me down, help me remember my dreams and goals, and put me back on track. It made me aware of the power of music to help listeners achieve peace of mind. It showed me that creating music was indeed a noble calling.”

Although the likes of Shorter, Hancock and their significant peers such as Freddie Hubbard, would continue their musical revolutions on labels such as Columbia, Blue Note still released important music in the 1970s, which, although dismissed by some critics at the time for being ‘jazz goes disco’, above all Donald Byrd’s work, has since been rehabilitated by the 'samples generation'. Financial difficulties beset the label in the 1980s, but the roster had many notable figures, from two fine pianists, Frenchman Michel Petrucciani and Canadian Renee Rosnes (who is now back in the ranks with Artemis); to several Americans, including guitar sensation Stanley Jordan, legendary composer George Russell, and vocal stars Dianne Reeves and Bobby McFerrin.

Meshell Ndegeocello

In 1993 British jazz-rap group Us3 were to score a global smash with their pioneering take on Herbie Hancock's funky classic, 'Cantaloupe Island', recast as 'Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)' with a mix of rap, live horns and samples. A runaway hit, it clocked up 500,000 sales and was certified Gold. It also reintroduced Blue Note's signature sound to a whole new generation of music fans (memorably in the blazing sun of Glastonbury's Jazz World Stage) some two decades before Robert Glasper did the same.

Between the 1990s and 2000s more talent came in the shape of Joe Lovano, Jacky Terrasson, Stefon Harris, Patricia Barber, Bill Charlap, Don Byron, Greg Osby, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Jason Moran and Charlie Hunter to name but some. Under the aegis of Bruce Lundvall, Blue Note had a catalogue that is not to be taken lightly 30 years on.

“It holds water today,” says Was of that period. “I like a lot of the Lovano stuff, the Village Vanguard records are beautiful. And the Charlap discs, not only do they stand up, but they’re also among our best sellers that were made 20 years ago.”

Hank Mobley (photo courtesy Francis Wolff / Blue Note)

Was has an interesting anecdote with regard to the way one particular Blue Note artist of the 1990s drew on her Southern blues origins and made an enduring creative mark.

“Cassandra Wilson’s stuff is incredible,” says Was, who is well aware that the singer’s albums Blue Light Til Dawn and New Moon Daughter carved wholly original music from the bedrock of foundational African-American artists such as Robert Johnson, and inspired others to come.

“It’s what shaped Norah Jones. She came in to meet Bruce (Lundvall) and played a demo of ‘The Nearness Of You’ and ‘Peace’, these two standards. Bruce was impressed, but another song was something she wrote with Jesse Harris. So Bruce said are ’you a jazz artist or a pop artist?’ She said ‘a jazz artist’. But she was a jazz artist who really dug Cassandra Wilson, and Norah was equal parts listening to jazz and Willie Nelson. She’s from Texas. Well, you listen to Cassandra Wilson doing ‘I’m So lonesome I Could Cry’… that’s the definition of the song. That’s why Norah went on to work with Craig Street (Wilson’s producer).”

Artemis

Inevitably, these artists invite debate on Blue Note’s A&R direction over the years. Jones gave the label its biggest commercial success with very-well written, appealing songs that were enhanced by the beauty of her tone and phrasing. Although her music may have been dismissed by ‘jazzcore’ observers, it is telling that she later recorded with Blue Note heavyweights, Herbie Hancock, and one of his key artistic offspring, Robert Glasper, who also enabled the label to broaden its appeal in a major way. The Texan pianist’s trio, especially the first incarnation with drummer Chris Dave, and electric group Experiment, were instrumental in connecting with younger audiences whose culture was rooted in soul, R&B and rap. Glasper’s collaborations with revered beatmaker J-Dilla and respected rappers Mos Def and Common were as important as his formative years with Roy Hargrove and Terence Blanchard.

These forays into the club-friendly realm of black music were of course nothing new when one considers that Donald Byrd had worked with two of the premier producers of the 1970s, the Mizell brothers, making albums, which like others in a funky electric vein released by Blue Note, would have a decisive impact on hip-hop in due course.

Seltzer takes an ecumenical view of the decades of recurrent genre crossing: “The important thing is the authenticity of the artist, and as long as the artist has something to say and makes authentic music. There is a through line that can tie back to Blue Note and what the ethos is. There can be a little bit more latitude but our core business is jazz. That’s always gonna be the foundation of the music.”

Art Blakey (photo courtesy Francis Wolff / Blue Note)

Was picks up the thread seamlessly, underlining the point that authenticity of any kind starts first and foremost with an artist being true to themselves, regardless of where they might land in the music industry’s frequently restrictive market place. Stylistically diverse as they are, artists signed to Blue Note are bonded by outlook.

“They’ve all studied the music that preceded them, they’ve all mastered the fundamentals,” says Was, who could mention the likes of bassist-vocalist-composer Meshell Ndegeocello as an example of a current Blue Note artist who defies categorisation but whose vibrant originality, not to mention engagement with soloists such as Herbie Hancock and Kenny Garrett, makes her a natural fit for the label.

“Some people just stop at mastering the fundamentals in any genre,” says Was. “But the great artists are the ones who take all that knowledge and then create something new and exciting, and unique to them. That’s one of the things we look for. The other thing we look for is depth, something new that also has soul, and feeling to it. And it’s communicative, provokes an emotional experience that brings listeners comfort, brings them understanding about their own life. That’s the role of the artist. If you meet those criteria we’re not too micro-specific about what you do. If you go back to the manifesto that Wolff and Lion wrote in 1939 they dedicated themselves to the pursuit of authentic music. They had no idea what was coming but they kept that authenticity and provided artistic freedom. Those things are the byelaws… you’re gonna make albums that endure and will be relevant 60 years later.”

When asked about the most significant Blue Note releases of the last decade or so, both Was and Seltzer vote for Glasper’s 2012 Grammy winner Black Radio without hesitation, with Was noting that the album, whose eclectic guest list includes the aforementioned Ndegeocello as well as soul stars Erykah Badu and Bilal, has been so influential that many jazz students now arrange Glasper’s take on the seminal ‘Afro-Blue’ rather than John Coltrane or Mongo Santamaria’s 1960s versions. The other defining feature of the album is the commentary on the condition of African-Americans in the digital age, where issues of discrimination, exploitation, and appropriation are prevalent. It is a reminder that there is a long lineage of political Blue Note releases that includes anything from Art Blakey’s The Freedom Rider and Jackie McLean’s Let Freedom Ring to Eddie Gale’s Ghetto Music and Herbie’s Hancock’s The Prisoner. In each case the musician was addressing pressing matters.

“Improvised music is a stream of consciousness conversation where the best artists tap into everything that’s floating around in their heads, from McDonald’s commercials and Thelonious Monk chord voicings to feelings about social injustice,” says Was on the subject of jazz as a means of protest. “Since our music is primarily black American music it would be disingenuous for artists not to reflect those feelings. So yes, socio-political themes are an integral part of Blue Note’s identity because they are an integral part of the black experience in America.”

Eighty-five years into its existence the label now has a grand historical arc that is inseparable from the country itself. More importantly, Blue Note’s hallowed ‘first phase’, the post-war glories of Monk, Trane and Blakey, has been matched by such sustained creativity over the subsequent decades that ‘the finest in jazz since 1939’ really stretches all the way to the millennium. The forthcoming release of Wayne Shorter’s Celebration Vol.1 (recorded live in Sweden 10 years ago with his dazzling latter day Quartet) makes that clear in no uncertain terms, for this is a concert recording by the iconic saxophonist not from 1964 but 2014. Such is Blue Note in 2024 where the roster and catalogue are still able to surprise and delight.

“It’s ad hoc, it just mirrors the music,” says Was. “We’re improvising….making it up as we go along.”

This article originally appeared in the August 2024 issue of Jazzwise. Never miss an issue – subscribe to Jazzwise today