Destination…Out! by Jackie McLean
Acclaimed saxophonist and hard-bop innovator Jackie McLean was a vital contributor to the direction of jazz music into post-bop by introducing elements of the avant-garde through the 1950s and ’60s. His Blue Note studio album Destination…Out! (Blue Note, 1964) brings…
Chris Dave And The Drumhedz’s Self-titled Debut Album
Chris Dave, the recognized drummer who supported amongst other Adele and Justin Bieber, released his self-titled debut album with a large group of experienced musicians called the Drumhedz in 2018. With it, he exhibits things he couldn’t before. The album…
Dear Love by Jazzmeia Horn and Her Noble Force
There is nothing more appealing to me than a jazz album infused with poetry and spoken word. And this is exactly what Jazzmeia Horn offers us. Dear Love is the third and most ambitious album by the American vocalist and…
Alfa Mist’s “Bring Backs” Blends Jazz with Spoken Word
With his third studio album, the British producer, songwriter, and self-thought pianist Alfa Mist reflects upon his sampling and hip-hop days on the streets of London. After self-releasing his two previous albums – Antiphon and Structuralism – Alfa Mist partners…
There Is No End: Tony Allen’s Final Drumroll Is a Message For the Next Generation
There Is No End is the album Tony Allen was working on before passing away at the age of 79. His fellow collaborators finished the recording and posthumously released the album on April 30, 2021. It’s the afrobeat pioneer’s final…
Out To Lunch! with Eric Dolphy: An Imaginatively Advanced Improviser
The year nineteen sixty-four was revolutionary when it comes to jazz records. Coltrane recorded his most acclaimed work, A Love Supreme, which got released the following year. Lee Morgan released The Sidewinder, Blue Note’s best-selling record ever. And saxophonist Wayne…
Duke Ellington & John Coltrane: A Collaboration Between the Generations
World-renowned jazz pianist and composer Duke Ellington regularly partnered with other acclaimed jazz musicians during the early sixties. John Coltrane was no exception. In 1962, the pianist and the tenor saxophonist recorded the self-titled album Duke Ellington & John Coltrane.…
John Coltrane’s Soultrane
The second half of the nineteen-fifties defined John Coltrane’s career and helped him come into prominence as a musician and arranger. Underlined is the time as a member in Miles Davis’ First Great Quintet and later sextet, and the period…
Robert Glasper Shows Off His Jazz Chops With “Canvas”
Robert Glasper showed off his jazz chops long before he released the Grammy-winning album Black Radio in 2012. His Blue Note debut album titled Canvas was released in 2005 and features the pianist in a jazz scenery influenced by Herbie…
Tony Allen’s The Source – Afrobeat or Jazz?
Tony Allen’s 2017 mini-album release A Tribute To Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers was a unique opportunity to marry his afrobeat rhythms with Art Blakey’s hard bop influences. It also served as a forerunner for his full-length Blue Note…
John Coltrane’s Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album
Another lost John Coltrane recording which recently got discovered is the album titled Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album. The album got recorded on March 6, 1963, in the Rudy Van Gelder Studio. The recording got lost but surfaced…
Dee Dee Bridgewater’s Debut Album: Afro Blue
Dee Dee Bridgewater, born Denise Garrett (1950), is an award-winning singer-songwriter with a career encompassing jazz, soul, and disco. Her debut studio album Afro Blue is a timeless soul-jazz masterpiece that highlights her exceptional vocal abilities. The album features a…
A Collective of Musicians Re:imagined the Blue Note Catalogue
Ever since its birth, jazz music has continuously evolved into various subgenres. The American record label Blue Note Records, which got established in 1939, played a significant role in this evolution. The company is a landmark in jazz music and…
Tony Allen’s Tribute To Art Blakey
Afrobeat legend and drummer, Tony Allen, was strongly influenced by the recordings of Art Blakey. For his first release on Blue Note Records, he pays a tribute to one of the greatest hard bop drummers in jazz history by blending…
Youthful Enthusiasm: The Cooker by Lee Morgan
Trumpeter Lee Morgan was only 19 years old when he led the recording of his Blue Note original album titled The Cooker. The album is a demonstration of Morgan’s early bop-oriented influence and contains improvisation that communicates to the listener.…
Time OutTakes: A Peek Into The Studio With The Dave Brubeck Quartet
When author Philip Clark was researching for his biography Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time, he discovered previously unissued tapes from the recording sessions of Time Out in 1959. Time Out, a studio album by The Dave Brubeck Quartet, was…
The Album That Documented Ethio-Jazz: Mulatu Of Ethiopia
Ethiopian jazz musician and composer Mulatu Astatke had one important goal. He got inspired by jazz music and wanted to promote and actively use Ethiopian music in his jazz compositions. “The Nigerian and Ghanaian people living in London, they were…
John Coltrane’s Blue World
By 1964 saxophonist John Coltrane was one of the leading figures in jazz music. Mainly, thanks to his release of Giant Steps in 1960. Officially, he recorded and released two albums that year: the often-overlooked album Crescent, and the well-known…
Just Coolin’ With Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
Just Coolin’ is the result of a unique but short-lived ensemble of The Jazz Messengers collective. Originally founded and led by drummer Art Blakey, The Jazz Messengers knew many changes. “Stability can be elusive for even the most successful jazz…
John Coltrane’s Giant Steps
John Coltrane’s masterpiece, Giant Steps, turned sixty in 2020 and this was celebrated with an anniversary deluxe edition LP. Let’s have a brief look at how the album came to life and how Coltrane developed, personally and musically, before being…
Thelonious Monk At His Best – Palo Alto
In 1968, the sixteen-year-old Danny Scher invited Thelonious Monk and his quartet to play a benefit concert at his high school in Palo Alto, California. The concert got recorded and now, more than 50 years later, the music was released.…
Hugh Masekela and Tony Allen – Rejoice, Here Comes Tony
Would there be afrobeat without Tony Allen? Tony Allen’s beats and rhythms were, to say it modest, genre-defining. He will always be remembered as the pioneer and co-founder of afrobeat. He was a curious musician and left his mark on…
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