Bobby Hutcherson, Montara, 1975 on Blue Note

Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson’s ~13th album on Blue Note – west coast Latin jazz. Recorded in LA (Record Plant) in August 1975 and produced by Dale Oehler. Hutcherson passed in 2016.

My copy is part of the Vinyl Me Please Anthology The Story of Blue Note Records (2024 edition) which reproduces the mid-70s Blue Note labels.

Wayne Shorter, Schizophrenia, 1969 on Blue Note

Eleventh Wayne Shorter album, with Herbie Hancock, Curtis Fuller, Ron Carter, James Spaulding, and Joe Chambers. Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder, with Francis Wolff producing.

This is transitional between post-bop and free jazz – looser and closer to the edge than my normal taste, but worth a listen for anyone interested in post-bop or Shorter and Hancock.

My copy as part of the Story of Blue Note Records VMP Anthology, which was reissued in 2024.

Lou Donaldson, The Natural Soul, 1963 on Blue Note

Another album from the excellent Story of Blue Note Records VMP Anthology, this came five years after Blues Walk, and features Grant Green, John Patton, Ben Dixon, and Tommy Turrentine (brother of Stanley).

Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in his Englewood Cliffs NJ studio and produced by Alfred Lion.

My copy is part of the 2024 reissue of the 2019 Vinyl Me Please Anthology.

Dexter Gordon, Dexter Calling, 1962 on Blue Note

Released in mono in 1961 and in stereo in 1962, this was Gordon’s second album on Blue Note, following quickly after Doin’ Allright and five years after Daddy Plays the Horn.

Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder at his studio in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Gordon is joined by Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, and Kenny Drew. Liner notes by Leonard Feather, produced by Alfred Lion.

My copy is from the VMP Anthology The Story of Blue Note Records, which was first issued in 2019 and then reissued in 2024 – my copy is from that second edition.

Ambrose Akinmusire, When the Heart Emerges Glistening, 2011 on Blue Note

Akinmusire is an avant-garde jazz trumpeter from Oakland by way of the Manhattan School of Music, USC, and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in LA. This was his second album (first on Blue Note) with Walter Smith III on sax, Gerald Clayton on piano, Harish Raghavan on bass, and Justin Brown on drums.

“My Name is Oscar” is a spoken word piece with drums (or maybe it is a drum piece with spoken word interlude) about the shooting of Oscar Grant III at Fruitvale Station in 2009 – also the subject of Ryan Coogler’s film Fruitvale Station from 2013.

My copy is actually from the Vinyl Me Please Anthology The Story of Blue Note Records, second edition, on which it stands in for Blue Note’s “modern” era. Wonderful record I might not have heard outside the context of the anthology but I’m very happy to have.

#2010s #2011 #AmbroseAkinmusire #BlueNote #FruitvaleStation #GeraldClayton #HarishRaghavan #OscarGrantIII #TheStoryOfBlueNoteRecords #vinyl #vinylMePlease #VinylMePleaseAnthology #vinylcollection #vinylfinds #WalterSmithIII

Horace Silver, Horace Silver Trio, 1956 on Blue Note

BLP 1520, originally released in 1956. Horace Silver on piano with Art Blakey on drums and three different bass players on different cuts: Gene Ramey, Curly Russell, and Percy Heath. Compiles recordings from two earlier 10″ releases: 1953’s New Faces – New Sounds and 1954’s Vol. 2. Sabu Martinez joins on “Message from Kenya.”

Excellent hard bop album – maybe lesser known than the Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (BLP 1518) also released in 1956. Recorded at WOR studios in New York.

My copy is part of the Vinyl Me Please Anthology The Story of Blue Note Records, second edition. You can tell it’s the second edition because the labels correctly identify it as mono, where the first edition had stereo labels.

#1950s #1956 #ArtBlakey #BlueNote #CurlyRussell #GeneRamey #HoraceSilver #HoraceSilverTrio #jazz #PercyHeath #TheStoryOfBlueNoteRecords #vinyl #vinylMePlease #VinylMePleaseAnthology #vinylcollection