Blue Note Classic Series

The suave saxophone master Dexter Gordon had been living in Europe for several years when he returned to the U.S. for a brief stay during... 

Blue Note MVP Duke Pearson was a versatile presence on the label from the late-1950s thru the early 1970s, contributing in myriad ways to numerous... 

Donald Byrd was off to the races after joining the Blue Note roster in 1958 and had fully hit his hard bop stride by 1961 when he laid down... 

One of the greatest line-ups of drummer Art Blakey’s hard bop finishing school The Jazz Messengers coalesced in... 

German jazz pianist Jutta Hipp is one of the most intriguing yet little-known figures in Blue Note history, a unique and... 

The Three Sounds were one of the most prolific groups on the Blue Note roster from the late-1950s into the... 

1964 was a momentous year in the musical life of Wayne Shorter. At the start of the year the saxophonist was still a member of Art Blakey & The... 

Following the runaway success of The Sidewinder in 1964, Alfred Lion continued to record trumpeter Lee Morgan frequently in the hopes of... 

The Magnificent Thad Jones is widely regarded as the greatest small group recording of the trumpeter and composer’s career. Following... 

Tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan blew in from Chicago in 1957 and put the NYC jazz scene on notice with a trio of excellent Blue Note sessions... 

Pianist and composer Aaron Parks made his first Blue Note appearances as a member of Terence Blanchard’s band, an outfit akin to... 

In 1999, the same year that Jason Moran released his debut recording Soundtrack To Human Motion, the pianist and composer also joined New Directions, a... 

Alfred Lion’s inspired idea to pair tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine with The Three Sounds—the trio featuring... 

Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was at the peak of his powers throughout the early 1960s as he produced a staggering run of hard bop classics including... 

The crystalline sound of Bobby Hutcherson’s vibraphone was an essential element of a broad range of Blue Note albums throughout the... 

Following the release of his 1965 masterpiece Maiden Voyage, the brilliant pianist Herbie Hancock wouldn’t record his Blue Note... 

Blue Note legends like Grant Green, Horace Silver, and Jimmy Smith often looked to the church for musical inspiration, but trumpeter Donald... 

The legendary trumpeter Miles Davis was still near the beginning of his storied career when he cut the three sessions that comprise his Blue... 

Two months after recording what would become his hit record The Sidewinder, trumpeter Lee Morgan returned to Van Gelder Studio in... 

Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson capped off his run of five sublime 1960s Blue Note leader dates with his 1966 classic Mode for Joe, an... 

The incomparable trumpeter Clifford Brown’s star was just starting to ascend when he recorded two sessions as a leader for Blue Note... 

The amazing bebop piano genius Bud Powell made his most enduring recordings as a leader for Blue Note and was a catalyst for moving... 

Grant Green began his lengthy and prolific Blue Note career with the 1961 release of his debut album Grant’s First Stand, a stellar soul... 

Sonny Rollins first appeared on a Blue Note recording session in 1949 as part of Bud Powell’s Modernists during a period when the saxophonist... 

In addition to appearing as a sideman on dates led by Kenny Burrell, Freddie Hubbard, and Jackie McLean, tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks recorded... 

1964 was a pivotal year in the musical life of Wayne Shorter. Early in the year the saxophonist was still a member of Art Blakey & The... 

The 1961 album Mosaic marked a pivotal moment in the story of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers with the drummer welcoming the... 

In addition to boasting one of Reid Miles’ greatest album cover designs, Hank Mobley’s 1963 album No Room for Squares is also... 

It’s a testament to Jimmy Smith’s volcanic creativity that the Hammond B3 organ firebrand recorded not one but two soul jazz classics—Midnight... 

The Horace Silver Quintet of 1959 was a hard bop juggernaut featuring the great pianist and composer with trumpeter Blue Mitchell, saxophonist... 

The intrepid free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor produced some of his best work for Blue Note Records, including his explosive 1966 label... 

The precocious and prodigious drummer and composer Tony Williams had already participated in numerous landmark Blue Note recordings including... 

There may not be a more apropos album title in all of recorded music than tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec’s 1961 classic Heavy Soul. The session... 

One of the funkiest and most creative organists of all time, Dr. Lonnie Smith was first brought into the Blue Note fold by alto saxophonist Lou... 

The release of pianist Robert Glasper’s acclaimed Blue Note debut Canvas in 2005 signaled the arrival of a singular new voice in... 

The sound of Blue Note Records has been embedded in hip-hop since the music’s early days with artists like A Tribe Called Quest, De La... 

The legendary trumpeter Miles Davis was still near the beginning of his storied career when he cut the three sessions that comprise his Blue... 

The prodigiously talented trumpeter Theodore “Fats” Navarro was a bebop innovator whose career was cut tragically short... 

Under-recognized trumpeter Johnny Coles recorded only one album for Blue Note but 1963’s Little Johnny C is a little-known treasure of... 

Jamaican-born trumpeter Dizzy Reece was a fixture of the London jazz scene before moving to New York City in 1959 where he recorded his... 

Herbie Hancock debuted on Blue Note in 1962 and quickly established himself as both a remarkable pianist and a brilliant composer with... 

A saxophonist of striking originality, Sam Rivers was born in Oklahoma and exposed to music from an early age by his pianist mother and... 

Pianist Horace Parlan is perhaps best known for his work with Charles Mingus on the bassist’s seminal 1959 albums Mingus Ah... 

Alto saxophonist Jackie McLean was already a veteran of the NYC jazz scene by the time he began recording as a leader for Blue Note in 1959. In... 

Guitarist Grant Green was prolific on Blue Note through the early-60s recording more than 20 hard bop and soul jazz sessions as... 

The musical partnership between vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson— a Blue Note stalwart since his arrival on the New York jazz scene... 

Thelonious Monk was a little-known figure on the New York City bebop scene when Blue Note founder Alfred Lion discovered and... 

Trombonist J. J. Johnson took the language of bebop and adapted it to his instrument winning the admiration of... 

Though he first appeared on Herbie Hancock’s 1963 album My Point of View, trombonist Grachan Moncur III’s first true Blue Note introduction... 

The great tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine imbued every single note he played with a depth of feeling and soulfulness that still... 

Saxophonist Joe Lovano signed with Blue Note Records in 1990 and over the next 25 years became one of the most recorded artists in... 

Until the emergence of Larry Young, Blue Note’s Hammond B3 organ tradition was firmly rooted in Soul Jazz, having been established by B3 trailblazer... 

Wayne Shorter had already set a high bar over the course of his first several Blue Note albums, which included all-time jazz classics including... 

The deeply soulful Louisiana-born tenor saxophonist Don Wilkerson made his Blue Note debut in 1962 with Preach Brother!, an under-recognized soul... 

Between September 1963 and March 1964, the singular New York City-born saxophonist George Braith recorded three Blue Note sessions that introduced... 

Lou Donaldson had already been at the helm of seven Blue Note sessions by the time he made his undisputed masterpiece Blues Walk in 1958. The... 

Brother Jack McDuff was already a well-established and prolific organist who led his own soul jazz bands throughout the 1960s when... 

Organist Ronnie Foster has collaborated with many greats over the course of his career from George Benson to the Jacksons to Stevie... 

One of the most distinctive voices in modern jazz, Cassandra Wilson made her artistic breakthrough with her visionary 1993... 

The brilliant pianist and composer Geri Allen came out of Detroit’s fertile jazz scene, eventually moving to New York where she became... 

Vibraphonist Milt Jackson appeared on a number of Blue Note sessions throughout the bebop era in the late 1940s and early 1950s... 

In the late 1940s, Blue Note founder Alfred Lion became enthralled with the modern sounds of bebop and began recording several of the new... 

At 27 years old, tenor saxophonist and composer Joe Henderson was already in his full artistic stride by the time he made Inner Urge, his... 

In May 1968 when he entered Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey to record his album ¡Caramba!, trumpeter Lee Morgan was still... 

The innovative hard bop of Jackie McLean began to evolve and take on a harder edge as the early-1960s progressed. Inspired... 

Cornetist Don Cherry first rose to prominence as part of the revolutionary Ornette Coleman Quartet that turned... 

The Indianapolis-born trumpeter Freddie Hubbard introduced his prodigious talent on Blue Note Records with a run of remarkable albums... 

Many great Blue Note artists have hailed from the jazz hotbed of Detroit over the course of the... 

The Incredible Jimmy Smith was a self-taught keyboard virtuoso who gave up the piano in 1954 in favor of the Hammond B3 organ, setting up... 

Following his 1968 Blue Note debut On Broadway, Hammond B3 organist Reuben Wilson returned to Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in March 1969 to... 

The timeless 1960 hard bop classic The Big Beat was the album that first introduced one of the greatest line-ups of... 

Bobbi Humphrey was one of the most prominent stars on the Blue Note roster of the 1970s. The flutist debuted on the label in 1971 with... 

In February 1964, Eric Dolphy assembled a formidable quintet of modern jazz visionaries with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Bobby Hutcherson on... 

Even by the high-water marks set by Herbie Hancock’s tremendous 1960s Blue Note output, 1965’s Maiden Voyage remains one of the... 

Pianist Duke Pearson recorded his Christmas album I in 1969 with Bob Cranshaw on bass and Mickey Roker on drums, as well as percussionist Airto... 

By the time he recorded GO! in 1962, Dexter Gordon had already lived several lifetimes in jazz. He was among the first to adapt the language of... 

Time and troubles seem to melt away during the 15 enrapturing minutes of Idle Moments, the opening track of Grant Green’s sublime 1963... 

Guitarist Kenny Burrell debuted on Blue Note Records in 1956 and over the following 7 years made a series of excellent albums for the... 

Jimmy Smith was a self-taught pianist who abandoned the instrument in 1954 in favour of the Hammond B3 organ, renting a... 

Conrad Yeatis Clark, otherwise known as Sonny Clark, was in many ways the quintessential hard bop pianist. Possessed of an enviable lyrical... 

Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley had already led nine dates for Blue Note Records by the time he arrived at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio on... 

More than any other album in the canon of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, 1958’s Moanin’—featuring the great drummer... 

Johnny Griffin had been kicking around in R&B bands for years before his Blue Note debut in 1956. And what was "introduced" was... 

The line-up of drummer Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers shifted in 1961 with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard replacing Lee... 

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1964 was one of the most momentous years in the musical life of Wayne Shorter. Early in the year the saxophonist was still a member of... 

A decade into his recording career, pianist Horace Silver made the album that would endure as the crown jewel of a catalog that... 

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On his second Blue Note album Smoke Stack, pianist and composer Andrew Hill used an unusual line-up of two bassists (Richard Davis and Eddie... 

Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard burst upon the Blue Note scene in June 1960 with his auspicious debut album Open Sesame. Within 6 months Hubbard... 

Grant Green's debut album, Grant's First Stand, still ranks as one of his greatest pure soul-jazz outings, a set of killer grooves laid... 

Art Taylor was one of the greatest drummers in modern jazz who propelled the bands of Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Donald... 

On 1964’s Into Somethin’—his first album for Blue Note—Larry Young made it abundantly clear that he had his own unique approach to... 

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Drummer Tony Williams had a long, fruitful relationship with Blue Note Records starting in the 1960s when he appeared on numerous post-bop... 

Flutist Bobbi Humphrey found wide success with Blacks and Blues (1973), her breakout third album for Blue Note, working with the... 

Just 2 days after saxophonist Dexter Gordon recorded his classic album GO! in August 1962 he brought the same quartet with pianist Sonny... 

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After a prolific 5-year run from 1961-1965 when he made more than 20 great hard bop & soul jazz albums for Blue Note, guitarist Grant Green took... 

“We’d like for you all to help us get in the groove, let your hair down, and come on and get in the music with us,” says... 

On his debut album Takin’ Off—recorded and released in 1962—jazz legend Herbie Hancock arrived fully formed at the helm of an impressive... 

For his third Blue Note album Inventions & Dimensions (1963), pianist Herbie Hancock began moving away from the modernist hard... 

Drummer Art Blakey recorded Indestructible—his final album for Blue Note—in 1964 with a powerful sextet line-up... 

Recorded in April 1964, In ‘N Out falls square in the middle of the formidable run of five classic Blue Note albums that launched tenor... 

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German Jazz pianist Jutta Hipp remains one of the most intriguing yet little-known figures in Blue Note history. A unique... 

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For his third Blue Note album Blue Mode (1969), organist Reuben Wilson kept it right in the pocket and laid down one of the funkiest soul... 

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