Blue Note Classic Series

For his second album, recorded in April 1957, Johnny Griffin called upon his fellow master practitioners of the tenor saxophone John... 

After discovering Jimmy Smith in 1956, Blue Note founder Alfred Lion recorded the Hammond B3 organ master frequently in various settings including... 

When Blue Note founder Alfred Lion first heard Andrew Hill he knew he had discovered another pianist and composer as unique as Thelonious Monk... 

As the early 1960s progressed, alto saxophonist Jackie McLean’s innovative hard bop began to take on a harder edge and a more adventurous... 

In Spring 1964, guitarist Grant Green recorded two blazing post-bop albums—Matador and Solid—both of which would go unreleased for more than... 

Elvin Jones’ 1968 Blue Note debut Puttin’ It Together marked the start of a new chapter in the master drummer’s career. Following... 

Lee Morgan’s prodigious creative output in the years following the smash success of his comeback album The Sidewinder was staggering by... 

Wayne Shorter’s formidable and prolific output in 1964 produced his first three Blue Note albums as a leader each of which would become... 

One of the finest pianists and composers of the hard bop era, Sonny Clark followed up his 1957 Blue Note debut Dial “S” for Sonny with... 

The underrated hard bop pianist and composer Freddie Redd first gained a degree of prominence as the composer of the remarkable score... 

Donald Byrd’s 1974 fusion masterpiece Stepping Into Tomorrow was a high-water mark of the legendary trumpeter’s vibrant latter... 

Born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, trumpeter Eddie Henderson’s exceptional childhood was shaped by parents who counted Miles... 

In the 1960s, Blue Note’s roster of organists boasted a formidable line-up of leading Hammond B3 practitioners like Jimmy Smith, Big... 

In the 1960s, Blue Note’s roster of organists boasted a formidable line-up of leading Hammond B3 practitioners like Jimmy Smith, Big... 

Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley was on a serious roll in 1960 when he recorded Roll Call, the middle album in a trilogy of hard bop masterpieces that... 

After making a strong impression in a sideman roll on Jimmy Smith’s twin soul jazz classics Midnight Special and Back at the Chicken... 

The brilliant pianist Don Pullen was a striking and versatile player whose music spanned a wide variety of styles. Pullen first came to... 

Drummer Tony Williams had a long, fruitful relationship with Blue Note Records beginning in the 1960s when as a teenager he appeared on... 

Lou Donaldson had been a Blue Note stalwart since his earliest recordings in 1952 and over the following 15 years produced numerous classic... 

Horace Silver had been delivering hard bop classic after hard bop classic for more than a decade when he shifted gears and... 

Dexter Gordon’s 1963 album Our Man In Paris was his first dispatch from Europe and is also symbolically considered to be the last... 

After Sonny Rollins first appeared on a Blue Note session as a member of Bud Powell’s Modernists in 1949, the Saxophone Colossus began building... 

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

Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard burst out of the gates with a torrent of creativity beginning with his debut album Open Sesame in 1960, and... 

One of the most creative and funkiest organists of all time, Lonnie Smith was first introduced to Blue Note listeners by standout sideman appearances... 

Grant Green’s Blue Note output was prolific through the early-60s producing more than 20 hard bop and soul jazz sessions as a leader for the... 

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...