BLUE NOTE RECORDS PRESENTS THE TONE POET AUDIOPHILE VINYL REISSUE SERIES

NEW SERIES OF ALL-ANALOG, MASTERED-FROM-THE-ORIGINAL-MASTER-TAPE, 180g AUDIOPHILE VINYL REISSUES IN DELUXE GATEFOLD PACKAGING BEGINS FEBRUARY 8 WITH CLASSIC TITLES BY WAYNE SHORTER & CHICK COREA

25 January 2019 (Toronto, ON) – In honour of Blue Note Records’ 80^th Anniversary, the legendary Jazz label is launching the Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series. Blue Note President Don Was brought in “Tone Poet” Joe Harley—co-founder and co-producer of the acclaimed Music Matters audiophile vinyl series—to produce this new series of all-analog, mastered-from-the-original-master-tape 180g audiophile vinyl reissues in deluxe gatefold packaging. Mastering is by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) and vinyl is being manufactured at Record Technology Incorporated (RTI).

The titles were handpicked by Harley and cover lesser-known Blue Note classics, modern era standouts, and albums from other labels under the Blue Note catalogue. The first two albums in the series—Wayne Shorter Etcetera and Chick Corea Now He Sings, Now He Sobs—will be released on February 8, with Sam Rivers Contours and Cassandra Wilson Glamoured to follow on March 15. See below for a full list of 2019 releases for the Tone Poet Series.

Read Harley’s essay Blue Note, Tone Poetry and Audiophilia about his history with Blue Note, Music Matters, and his “quest to capture the sound of those master tapes on vinyl and to allow listeners to know what it would sound like to actually be in Rudy [Van Gelder]’s living room in Hackensack or later in Rudy’s studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ.”

Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series:

February 8

• Wayne Shorter – Etcetera (Blue Note, 1965)
• Chick Corea – Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (Solid State, 1968)

March 15

• Sam Rivers – Contours (Blue Note, 1965)
• Cassandra Wilson – Glamoured (Blue Note, 2003)

April 26

• Gil Evans – New Bottle Old Wine (World Pacific, 1958)
• Joe Henderson – The State of the Tenor: Live at the Village Vanguard, Volume 2 (Blue Note, 1985)

May 31

• Lou Donaldson – Shing-A-Ling (Blue Note, 1967)
• Lee Morgan – Cornbread (Blue Note, 1965)

June 28

• Baby Face Willette – Face To Face (Blue Note, 1961)
• Dexter Gordon – Clubhouse (Blue Note, 1965)

July 26

• Kenny Burrell – Introducing Kenny Burrell (Blue Note, 1956)
• Andrew Hill – Black Fire (Blue Note, 1963)

September 6

• Donald Byrd – Chant (Blue Note, 1961)
• Stanley Turrentine – Hustlin’ (Blue Note, 1964)

October 25

• Grant Green – Born to Be Blue (Blue Note, 1962)
• Tina Brooks – Minor Move (Blue Note, 1958)

November 15

• Hank Mobley – Poppin’ (Blue Note, 1957)
• Stanley Turrentine – Comin’ Your Way (Blue Note, 1961)

Other highlights of Blue Note’s 80^th Anniversary celebrations will include:

• Blue Note Review: The 2^nd edition of our vinyl boxset subscription series Blue Note Review: Volume Two – Spirit & Time is currently available at bluenotereview.com. Curated by Don Was, the set encapsulates the past, present, and future of Blue Note by celebrating the brilliant late-career albums of the legendary Tony Williams with a tribute album by current drummers, as well as audiophile reissues of Africaine by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers and Patterns by Bobby Hutcherson, the book Spirit & Time: Jazz Drummers On Their Art, the zine Out of the Blue, a set of Topps Blue Note Trading Cards, and a Blue Note carbon fiber anti-static record brush. The 3^rd edition of the Blue Note Review will focus on the legacy of the label in honour of the 80^th anniversary.

• Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series: A series of vinyl releases in standard packaging curated by Don Was and Cem Kurosman with albums grouped by themes: Blue Note Debuts, Blue Grooves, Great Reid Miles Covers, Blue Note Live, and Blue Note Drummer Leaders. Releases will begin in May.

• Vinyl Me, Please x Blue Note 80 Series: A special partnership with the record club Vinyl Me, Please who will offer an exclusive Blue Note vinyl reissue series featuring six titles curated by Don Was that span the many eras of Blue Note history. Pre-order will begin in early 2019.

• Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes Documentary: Director Sophie Huber’s insightful documentary Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes, which premiered at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival, will see wider distribution this year with theatrical runs and festival showings thru the Spring, TV broadcasts and streaming premieres from the Summer, and a DVD release in the Fall. More info at bluenoterecords-film.com.

• Canvas Art Prints of Classic Blue Note Album Covers: A new series of limited-edition wall art that celebrates the iconic imagery of Blue Note’s classic era. Blue Note is offering archival-quality, framed canvas prints in dynamic scale (22”x22”, 32”x32”, 42”x42”) that present the legendary album cover designs of Reid Miles and photography of Francis Wolff. 12 album covers are currently available in the Blue Note Store with additional prints to be made available later this year.

• Blue Note X G-SHOCK G-STEEL Timepiece: G-SHOCK and Blue Note are teaming up for the release of a Blue Note branded G-STEEL watch.

• Blue Note 80^th Anniversary Tour: This Fall, a triple-bill of current Blue Note artists—Kandace Springs, James Francies, and the newly-signed James Carter—will embark on a U.S. tour of performing arts centers around the country.

• Blue Note at Sea: The sold-out 2019 Blue Note at Sea cruise will set sail to the Caribbean January 26-February 2 with hosts Don Was, Robert Glasper, and Marcus Miller. Among the many performers are Terence Blanchard, José James, Kandace Springs, R+R=NOW, Jason Moran, Kurt Elling, Cecile McLorin Salvant, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. The cruise will also feature conversations on the history of Blue Note, screenings of Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes, and special performances celebrating the legacy of the label.

• PDX Jazz Festival – Blue Note @ 80: The 2019 Biamp PDX Jazz Festival (February 20-March 3) in Portland, Oregon celebrates Blue Note @ 80 with tributes to Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Donald Byrd Steppin’ Into Tomorrow, Joe Henderson Mode for Joe, Hank Mobley Soul Station, Wayne Shorter Speak No Evil, Lou Donaldson Alligator Bogaloo, Eric Dolphy Out to Lunch, and more.

• Blue Note Tent at Monterey Jazz Festival: The return of the popular Blue Note Tent at the venerable Monterey Jazz Festival in September will feature anniversary programming including special artist conversations and performances, a screening of Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes, and more.

• Jazz Classics Blue Note Edition on Spotify: Spotify’s dedicated Blue Note Records playlist Jazz Classics Blue Note Edition, which has amassed more than 100,000 followers, has expanded to 80 tracks in honour of our 80^th anniversary.

• Blue Note 80: The Finest In Jazz Since 1939 on Apple Music: Apple Music is featuring Blue Note 80: The Finest In Jazz Since 1939, a new 80-track tour of Blue Note history in honour of our 80^th anniversary.

Video/Images:

Blue Note Records: Beyond The Notes trailer: https://bluenote.lnk.to/BeyondTheNotes-trailer

Vox: The Greatest Album Covers Of Jazz: https://bluenote.lnk.to/VoxGreatestAlbumCoversOfJazz

Blue Note images for press use: https://umusic.box.com/s/g4zm2kabm6dtwjt6sag318npf4t2g1qn

It took the joining of many natural forces to create and define one of the greatest Jazz labels there has ever been: Jazz-loving German immigrants on the run from Nazism (Alfred Lion & Francis Wolff), a New Jersey optometrist moonlighting as a recording engineer (Rudy Van Gelder), a classical music-loving commercial designer (Reid Miles), and the most incredible musicians that have ever walked the earth. The elements that each brought to the table—boundless passion and impeccable A&R instincts, elegant and insightful photography, sterling sound quality, strikingly original cover artwork, and consistently transcendent music—were all essential to the label’s early success. Together they created a vivid Blue Note aesthetic. The whole could not have existed without each of the parts.

Blue Note’s legendary catalog traces the entire history of the music from Hot Jazz, Boogie Woogie, and Swing, through Bebop, Hard Bop, Post-Bop, Soul Jazz, Avant-Garde, and Fusion, and into the diverse and vibrant sounds of today. The artists Blue Note recorded represent the pillars of Jazz history: Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Jimmy Smith, Dexter Gordon, Grant Green, Lou Donaldson, Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Andrew Hill, Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, and many more.

After a brief dormancy from 1981-1984 during which producer/historian Michael Cuscuna kept the label’s legacy alive with a series of reissues on EMI, Blue Note returned reinvigorated by the leadership of Bruce Lundvall and has since established itself as the most-respected and longest-running Jazz label in the world, remaining home to some of the most prominent stars and cutting-edge innovators in Jazz while at the same time broadening its horizons to include quality music in many genres. During Lundvall’s 30-year tenure, Blue Note remained a haven for the most creative voices in Jazz, and also had its share of commercial successes from Bobby McFerrin, Dianne Reeves, Cassandra Wilson, Us3, Norah Jones, Al Green, Amos Lee, Medeski Martin & Wood, Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis.

The same must be said of Don Was, the consummate music man who joined Blue Note in 2011 as Chief Creative Officer and became President of the label in 2012. With Was at the helm, Blue Note has renewed its dedication to Lion’s original vision that “any particular style of playing which represents an authentic way of musical feeling is genuine expression.” Lion’s words still ring true and provide a blueprint that includes Robert Glasper’s visionary melding of Jazz, R&B, and Hip-Hop; eclectic singers from Norah Jones to Gregory Porter to Kandace Springs; and the full spectrum of instrumental Jazz artists from legends like Wayne Shorter, Charles Lloyd, and Dr. Lonnie Smith to future legends including Ambrose Akinmusire, James Francies, and Joel Ross. Blue Note Records is one of the flagship labels of the Capitol Music Group and Universal Music Group.

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