The Smiley Smile Message Board

I figure i would start a thread on the greatest Jazz label of all time ..Blue Note...spent the whole weekend spinning nothing but blue note sessions.
who here is a fan of the Blue Note label ?.......how about the album cover's  what's your fave's. my fave album cover is probably Cool Struttin ..those leg's .

right now i'am listening to "Open Sesame " a Freddie Hubbard date with Tina Brook's on tenor and McCoy Tyner on piano.

Blue Note was always a hip label. Everyone who was anyone was on that label (either them, Columbia, or Verve). I like the new direction they've been taking recently, what with Norah Jones and all.

Dig Larry Young's album Mother Ship, what a great set from the master of the Hammond organ.

My favourite is Ike Quebec's Blue and Sentimental. If you're sort-of-interested in jazz, but put off by frenetic sax improv, this could be the one to hook you. It's the Holy Grail of cool, and pretty much ignored because he did little else, and what other stuff he did doesn't sound much like this. There's just him, Grant Green on guitar (you must know him, right?), and a rhythm section, easing through some of the loveliest tunes you'll ever hear. He's got an incredibly breathy, organic tone, never strains for a note, and the whole album just flows. It's easy to listen to, but it's not easy listening music; this is pure jazz from the height of the Blue Note golden era. The CD re-release has some worthwhile extra cuts, too.

If everyone who bought Miles's Kind Of Blue because it was hip  and they wanted a jazz album in their collection picked up on this, they'd be very happy indeed.

Quebec died from his heroin habit.

As a guy who's pretty much only skimmed the obvious with jazz (Miles, Coltrane, Armstrong, Billy Holiday, etc,) this is a good topic for me to get something out of. Hope people add to it. Nice recommendations, guys!

Something I forgot to mention about the Quebec album is that in terms of sound, it's by far and away the best-recorded album I have (and I have thousands ...) I always use it for reference (both vinyl and CD) when I get new equipment or I want to hear a friend's system at its best. Phenomenally clear, deep, and rich. Close your eyes and there's no way the band aren't set up in your room, just a yard away ...

Here's the Amazon review:

Ike Quebec's 1961-1962 comeback albums for Blue Note were all pretty rewarding, but Blue and Sentimental is his signature statement of the bunch, a superbly sensuous blend of lusty blues swagger and achingly romantic ballads. True, there's no shortage of that on Quebec's other Blue Note albums, but Blue and Sentimental is the best one by far. Quebec was a master of mood and atmosphere, and the well-paced program here sustains his smoky, late-night magic with the greatest consistency of tone. Part of the reason is that Quebec's caressing tenor sound is given a sparer backing than usual, with no pianist among the quartet of guitarist Grant Green, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. It's no surprise that Green solos with tremendous taste and elegance (the two also teamed up on Green's similarly excellent Born to Be Blue), and there are plenty of open spaces in the ensemble for Quebec to shine through. His rendition of the Count Basie-associated title cut is a classic, and the other standard on the original LP, "Don't Take Your Love From Me," is in a similarly melancholy vein. Through it all, Quebec remains the quintessential seducer, striking just the right balance between sophistication and earthiness, confidence and vulnerability, joy and longing. It's enough to make Blue and Sentimental a quiet, sorely underrated masterpiece.

Personnel includes:
Ike Quebec - Piano, Sax (Tenor)
Grant Green - Guitar
Paul Chambers - Bass
"Philly" Joe Jones - Drums

... and here's my Amazon fan review (which I'd forgotten about until I just looked up the album):

"This is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Ike's tone, breathy yet virile, is set against the unusually spare backing of guitar, bass and drums, and to stunning effect. The recording quality is spectacular (as it was on vinyl), and if you close your eyes the musicians are in the room with you. Grant Green's guitar work is relaxed, perfectly judged, and never competes for space.

I much prefer this line-up to the organ-based arrangements of some of his other recordings. Apparently his story is one tragically familiar in jazz, dying young and leaving too little. In one sense this album defines saxophone jazz, in another it transcends genre. It's purely *music*, lyrical, sad, and occasionally full of lively spirit. It's been a personal favourite of mine for many years, and I frequently find myself humming his solos, and hearing that unique tone in my head. In fact, I'm going to stop writing this and listen to it again. This is music that will last you your lifetime.

Thanks, Ike, wherever you are."

I love Ike and listened to Blue and Sentimental this past weekend. Another blue note artist everyone should check out is Horace Silver. his run of albums in the late 50's and early 60' on blue note are very underrated !!! The stylings of silver, Further explorations, Finger poppin, blowin the blue's away, Horascope, the Tokyo blue's and Silver's serenade are all TOP notch !!!.......Blue Mitchell on trumpet and Junior cook on tenor these albums are just the perfect Hard bop sessions. mixing all different styles in the music .gospel, funk, soul...also by listening to Silver you will see where Steely Dan came up with their sound.
it's easy to get all caught up in Miles around the same period .But i think you would be missing out on the essentail hard bop of the blue note label if you didn't check this stuff out !!

Just another hat thrown in the air for the very great Horace Silver ...

Generally I guess there's something great about the jazzrecords from the 40's 50's 60's, because the music doesn't sound so rehashed. For instance when you hear the Blue Note recordings of Thelonious Monk, it sounds really fresh, and the sound on the Blue Note records was really great, maybe it's an illusion but the music sounds very undiluted. Their main engineer Rudy Van Gelder I guess is also seen as one of the great jazzengineers.
Of the stuff  I know some of my favorites are “Thelonious Monk : Genius of Modern Music”, "John Coltrane : Blue Train", “Wayne Shorter : Adam’s Apple”,“Eric Dolphy : Out To Lunch”, “Jackie McLean : Destination Out“ ,“Herbie Hancock : Maiden Voyage”.

Søren

I love Blue Note and the classic period of jazz it was preeminent in capturing. Blue Note was founded and run from 1939 to 1965 by Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff. Wolff took most of the photos on the album covers.  Many of them were taken in or outside engineer Rudy Van Gelder's studios where almost every Blue Note album was recorded.  Mr. Van Gelder's first studio was at his parent’s home in Hackensack.  In 1960 he moved to a larger studio that he had designed and built.  Four years ago I met Rudy and got a tour of the RVG studio. What a nice guy he is and what a thrill it was to be in the room where "A Love Supreme" and so many classic albums were recorded.  It is a relatively large room distinctive by it's high ceiling.  He was in great spirits and appeared to be in excellent health.  I believe that he said his favorite album was Coltrane's 'Lush Life' (which was on Prestige - now OJC Fantasy)  but I don't exactly recall if he meant his favorite Coltrane session or of all the sessions that he did.  It is clear to me that there was a deep mutual respect shared between Coltrane and Van Gelder.   From reading Mr. Stephen Desper's writings here on SmileySmile, he and Mr. Van Gelder seem a lot alike to me.  If they are not acquainted they should be! 

             

WOW.Mikee how did you get to meet him ??.......have you been buying any of the RVG's that he has been remastering. These cd's that he has been remastering are some of the best sounding cd's i have ever heard, they are addicting .

Quebec was a tenor saxophonist out of the swing era.  Alfred Lion, who admired Quebec, hired him to be Blue Notes A&R man in the late 40’s.  Among the artists that Quebec brought to Blue Note were Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. He played only sporadically in the 50’s.  In late 1961 he made a playing comeback that included ‘Blue And Sentimental’.   He had a no-tricks straight-ahead approach and processed beautiful tone and feel.  His solos were direct and heartfelt.  He was from an older generation than most of the hard-bop era musicians that were on Blue Note during his time there but proved to have no problem jumping in with them.  I did not have the “Blue And Sentimental” album though it has been on my ‘get’ list for quite a while. Dog Breath’s recommendation pushed me to acquire the recording last weekend.  I already owned the logical companion album to ‘Blue and Sentimental’ – which is Grant Green’s ‘Born To Be Blue’. Green’s BTBB was recorded just 5 days before Quebec’s B&S and both albums feature Green on guitar with Quebec on tenor.  BTBB also features Sonny Clark on piano with Sam Jones – bass, Louis Hayes – drums. To anyone who likes Quebec’ B&S  I would strongly recommend Grant Green’s BTBB.
 The thing that stands out for me on Quebec’s album is that there is no piano.  That leaves a lot of space for the nuances of Quebec and Green’s solos.  Also the rhythm section of  Paul Chambers and “Philly" Joe Jones is incredibly supportive.  They were an amazing rhythm duo that any soloist would love to perform with.  Listening to this record makes me understand why the relatively intolerant Miles Davis tolerated Philly Joe’s tendency to not show up for gigs. 


Quebec died in 1963 from lung cancer so he probably died from his tobacco use and exposure habit.   He came down with the disease about the time of the Blue and Sentimental recording but reportedly retained his beautiful tone and playing ability until the end.  Sonny Clark did die from his heroin addiction.  He od’ed after shooting up during a break at a NYC club gig on Jan. 16, 1963.  They moved his body to an apartment before calling the police so that the club would not get closed down because of the incident.     

Blue Note just released Ike Quebec's 45 sessions on a 2 cd set.

Mikee, I'm glad you got Blue and Sentimental and enjoy it. It's a disc I never, ever, tire of.

I've seen that 2 disc set of 45s - as far as I can tell, it's mostly his more upbeat stuff (yeah?), with organ comping, which I'm less keen on. It's the uniqueness of that B&S line-up that gives him (as noted) space to breathe.

yes, the 45 sessions were aimed for the jukeboxes for sure.  Any fan's of Stanley Turrentine ?

Note to self: pick up Stanley Turrentine nextly.

Thanks.

Blue Note designed the greatest album covers of all time !!!!!

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2nd'ed.

I also think they were great.  Most (through 1965) were the work of the talented Blue Note co-owner Francis Wolff and (as I should have stated previously) Reid Miles. Wolff took most fo the photos while Miles designed most of the covers (and took a few of the photos). There is a large sized book availible of the BlueNote photographs.  Most are session photos.  The book is pretty expensive but you might be able to find it, as I did, at a local library.  One of my favorite covers is the Wolff photo of Dexter Gordon in Paris on the "One Flight Up" L.P.  That was one of the few Blue Note  albums not recorded at RVG's because Dexter was living in Paris at the time.   Dexter turned out to be amazingly good as an actor in the incredible "Round Midnight" film.   I wonder how they knew he could act?
 The Original Jazz Classics albums on Fantasy (which include Riverside, Prestige, Contemporary, and other jazz labels)  also have a lot of great photos taken at and around the first RVG studio  which was actually located in the living room of Rudy's parents Hackensack home.  That's why you see lampshades and blinds in a lot of the pre-1960 Blue Note photos.  Most of the OJC photos were taken out on the sidewalk.  My guess is that the OJC photographer didn't like to do or was not equipped for indoor photography.
Many classics such as Coltrane's  "BlueTrain",  Thelonious Monks "Monks Music",  and Miles Davis's "Workin" to name just a few, were recorded there.

i have the hardcover photo book , which are all B & W. they also released a softcover whcih is in color also very nice and a little cheaper than the other one.

also check out the cover table,  soft cover (well thats what i have ) Blue Note album cover book. i have the large book , buy again they put out a smaller version.
they also put out one for the west coast labels ..(pacific jazz, contemporary ) the book is called California cool..might be hard to track that one down.

Wow!  I didn't know those photos were shot in color.  I'd like to check that out. 

I'd guess that the "California Cool" book would include a lot of William Claxton photos.  There was one by him of Art Pepper standing on a steep street in the Echo Park section of L.A.  Pepper in his autobiographyI liked it so much that I went out and found the location.  In his very candid autobiography  "Straight Life", Pepper said he hated living there (on top of the very steep hill).  He didn't have a car and had to walk up and down the hill all the time.  I think this photo was taken the day he went to record the classic "Art Pepper Meets the Rythmn Section".  "Straight Life" and Pepper's account of this day is an amazing read.  What Hendrix, Joplin, and Morrison did to put themselves in the morgue, that's what Pepper did on a lean day before breakfast,  just to get out of bed. 
I'm on the lookout for "Calif. Cool".  Claxton has a website   http://www.williamclaxton.com/movie.html  and the Art Pepper photo I am referring to is there.       

i have always been meaning to read Straight life..WOW..that hill that Pepper is climbing is STEEP !!!

'Straight Life' is riveting.  Art's wife, Laurie Pepper, has a script for a film of the book.  She says that she had a deal and that Johny Depp agreed to play Pepper.  She would have lost  control that she wanted to the producers though and turned the deal down.  She then went out and made a film herself, in segments, that stars James Intveld as Pepper.  It looks pretty interesting.  There is a still on her site with the same view of the hill as it looks today.   http://straightlife.org/

Mosaic (mosaicrecord.com) has some Grrrrrreat photos of Blue Note junks.   Francis Wolff, stuff.  Looks top notch in your study.

(http://www.mosaicrecords.com/images/WDAVIM06_4.jpg)

Not all Blue Note artists were "junks"  though many were during the period of the photo you posted (Looks to me like Miles Davis and Tranes right arm recording what became 4 albums, in one day at RVG-Hackensack about 1956. Davis who had been hooked went back to his dad's house in East St. Louis and kicked about this time (probably before this marathon session I'd guess).  His dad by the way, was a fairly well to do physician.  Once Miles kicked, there was a new rule, he didn't allow junkies in his band.  This forced an unpleasant decision, he fired Coltrane, who was hooked.  Coltrane went home and kicked too.  He then got a job with Thelonious Monk who, til now had met with little success with fans or critics though other musicians loved him.  Coltrane now permanently freed from heroin addiction and under the mentoring of Monk, went from good to great.  The Monk with Coltrane band then got a longer term house-band gig at the 5 Spot and suddenly they were the talk of the jazz world - and rightfully so.  Davis who could pay better (having more mainstream appeal and a new major label  (Columbia) contract), re-hired Coltrane who joined the new Miles Davis Sextet - the "Kind Of Blue" band perhaps the greatest band in history.  Monk also eventually got a deal with Columbia and even graced the cover of Time Magazine.   

i have been reading a book by James Cook called Blue Note and I'am surprised at how many of those guys were doing junk...also considering the high quality of playing. of course Blue Note gave the musicians rehearsal time which prestige didn't. But anyway Hank Mobley had a bad habit in the early 60's..Horace Silver , and of course Jackie McClean had a bad habit which he picked up as a kid driving Bird around.

'Blue Note Records : The Biography' by Richard Cook??  That is a pretty good and recent work.

 
Yep but we probably shouldn't be.  I suppose that it was like psycedelic drugs to the classic rock generation of musicians.  It seems like the few who abstained were the stronger more self sufficient personality types (for example Mayall and Springsteen out of rock).  I'm not real certain about the jazz artists that abstained.  My understanding is Clifford Brown did not use.  He was so good too.  Had he not been killed (as a passenger in an auto wreck) I think he might have been 'the guy' in the early 60's.   

Another thing: Rudy Van Gelder, a famous engineer from the Blue Note label is in the news in Holland. (he's of dutch origine)

Van Gelder’s handwork can be heard on hundreds of Blue Note albums as well as many other labels’ releases.

There was an article in the Volkskrant, but I couldn't find a good translation.
It said he'd fell very guilty if he would tell only a little bit about his recording tricks.
For him it's HIGH SECRET!, and it was certainly a business secret in the old days of Jazz.
(now I understand engineers...)
But he said, before you record a single note, the real secret is your goal, your sound-imagination.
(together with the artists sound-imaginations)
Three articles:

Promo about the 11 cd box (http://www.bluenote.com/rvg_promo.asp)

About new remastered releases: "Rudy Van Gelder BLUE NOTE series" (http://members.tripod.com/vermontreview/CD%20Reviews/vangelder.htm)
(warning: the page 1-2-3 links on page 1 are good, not all the links on the other pages)

And an old interview from 2004-01-30: "Rudy Van Gelder, all about jazz Article" (http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=1116)

I don't know about the vinyl sound since I did not start collecting jazz until well into the cd age but my thought on the RVG remasters are that the sound is awesome, and in particular, very warm.   I consider the non-RVG Blue Note cds to have excellent sound  (particularily for the late 80s when most were remastered).  What I liked about the old Blue Notes compared to the first few RVG remasters was that they were stereo while Rudy reverted to mono on some.  An example is the great Cannonball Adderley album, with Miles Davis as a side man!  'Something Else'.  The 1987 remaster has great sound and is in absolutely terrific stereo.  I love the stereo seperation on that version.  The RVG version improved on already suberb sound  but he went with mono.  So now I own a copy of each.   I think the stereo version of 'Something Else' is indispensible.   


I'm not certain if I understand. Are they referring to the stereo mix on those albums that were RVG'ed in stereo?   Could you give an example,  Perhaps from 'The Real McCoy' or 'Song For My Father'?

             

Mikee , i found this on the speakeasy board ...a short little overview as to how RVG's began ..i think it's interesting:

The RVG series was born in Japan and as Chris Albertson says, is the result of a recent "hero worship" that has sprung in recent history. If you think Blue Note is "worshipped" here in the US, imagine it 100 fold in Japan. There was an enhanced CD version of Coltrane's "Blue Trane" put out a few years back that had an interview with Rudy. The Japanese arm of Blue Note saw this and the idea of engaging RVG to remaster the label's classic dates was born in Japan only. It was originally going to be 100 titles and the series would be "special"... i.e. very limited. Rudy was paid very handsomely for his work.

Blue Note in the US heard about this series, obviously, and listened to a few and decided that it presented a marketable way to upgrade the sound of some older CD remasterings. They created this series based purely on its success in Japan. It was always about money.

As for the success of the series, I think there are quite a few that sound phenomenal and some that sound incredibly bad. I applaud Blue Note for starting this series and I will continue to buy these as they come out. However, I do so because the sound is improved over the older remaster, not for any hero worship, even though I appreciate RVG's work and recognize that his skill as a Jazz recording engineer was top shelf.

Mikee, here is one listeners take on the sound of some of the RVG's.....it's probably just personal preference and of course the equipment you play it on :

I hate to spoil the fun, but I don't like RVGs or their Japanese equivalents (JRVGS) at all. Many - if not most - (J)RVGs have a very narrow soundstage and sound very aggressive to my ears; it's as if the mid and high frequencies are "pumped up", as a member of another board once said in an e-mail to me. On my Mark Levinson-fed electrostatics with subwoofer most (J)RVGs sound as if they were recorded in the bathroom. They give me headaches and that's the last thing I want when I'm listening to music.

I prefer the older Japanese Blue Note CD reissues, known to some as "TOCJs"; OK, they're flawed, with the excessive stereo separation of many of the albums (like the old LPs), and they're probably heavily equalized, but to me they sound much more musical than the (J)RVGs and they're true sound reproductions of the 1950s and 1960s LPs.

Just my $0.02...

hey Mikee ..this is what i was talking about ..read this :

The new RVG remaster pulls in the bass and tones down the top even further – while pushing the overall treble balance forward; it also mucks about with the L/R balance, pulling the whole ensemble further between the speakers. This combined with the treble boost brings the solos further to the front and gives a feeling that players are moving to the centre to play their solos – something that does not occur on stereo pressings to my knowledge. The result is radically different from the other two: Autumn Leaves has now become a muscular, almost proto hard bop, workout, shorn of the beautiful “golden glow” and much of the introspection of the other pressings. What I suspect is that RVG is trying to recreate a dynamic pseudo-mono version.
To my mind this works quite well on the more traditionally hard bop recordings (Silver, Mobley, Dorham etc), and does increase the sense that they are playing together, but now I’ve heard something of what is really on the master tape.

Thanks Zen!  Sorry to take so long to post.   I’d like to check the Speakeasy board out. What is the site name?
I find the guys audio techno-babble entertaining and at the same time I hear what he is saying.  In talking about ‘Autumn Leaves’ on Cannonballs “Something Else” album, he is citing the same album I discussed earlier in this thread.  I tend to generally agree with his conclusion.  However what Rudy created in the RVG version is not “pseudo-mono” it is real mono.  He worked off the mono version.  I think what Rudy has done is remaster all the Hackensack albums in mono (including the late ones which were also recorded in 2 track) because of his loyalty to what he feels Alfred Lion would want.  Rudy talks about this in the interview that Jaco provided a link to earlier in the thread.  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=1116
The Englewood Cliffs records (from about June 1959 forward) have been RVG’ed in stereo.   Personally I love the Hackensack 2 track stereo versions though I also like the sound of the RVG’s.   I need to find out when the Hackensack 2 track sessions started so that I can go about collecting them.  I’m particularily interested in knowing if there is a 2 track version of “Blue Train”.                 

Mikee try this link :
http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php

they are talking about the new RVG of the gigolo by Lee Morgan. i have bought quite a few of these RVG's and 95% of the time i think there is a BIG upgrade. last night was listening to Joyride by Stanley Turrentine and Herbie's piano seemed really buried in the mix , i wonder if the new RVG helps with the mix a bit?.
years back on the old Blue Note board they discussed the RVG remasters to death!....don't know if it's been archived ?

Thanks for the link!  How do you like “Joyride”?  I am presently listening to the RVG edition of Herbie’s 1965 “Maiden Voyage” which I think is a great recording.  It includes the 2nd Miles Davis Quintet rhythm section of Herbie-p, Tony Williams-b, and Ron Carter-b with Freddie Hubbard-tp, and George Coleman-t sax.  I feel the Coleman, who also played with Miles, is greatly underrated.  I saw him perform about 6 years ago and he has remained a superb player.  I was at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City (L.A.) one night, about that same time, to listen to the Dave Holland Quintet.  It was Dave’s birthday and Herbie showed up to listen and congratulate him.  Herbie has a real nice Ferrari.  I’m glad somebody has made some money in jazz!                   

i like Joyride ...it's a big band date with Turrentine out front. Oliver Nelson arranged it.

Blue Note album covers link:
http://www.gokudo.co.jp/Record/BlueNote1/

here is a great session , everyone should own Turning Point by Organist Lonnie Smith this was originally released in 69 on blue note ( just remastered as a RVG ) great version of eleanor rigby....Melvin Sparks and Idris Muhammad lay down unshakeable grooves on this album, freeing Smith and his horn soloists Lee Morgan, Bennie Maupin and Julian Priester to deliver inspired, often challenging solos. A unique and powerful album in Lonnie's discography.

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