85 years ago on January 6, 1939, a German-Jewish immigrant and passionate Jazz fan named Alfred Lion produced his first recording session in New York City founding what would go on to become the most iconic and longest-running Jazz label in the world. For 85 years Blue Note Records has represented The Finest In Jazz, tracing 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—after being relaunched by Bruce Lundvall in 1984—has remained the leading label dedicated to documenting today’s vibrant and creatively thriving Jazz scene under the leadership of current President Don Was, who took the helm in 2012.
Marking the 85th Anniversary of Blue Note Records, July through November will see the release of a limited series of coloured vinyl, available exclusively to brick and mortar Indie stores. These opaque blue 180g all-analog vinyl reissues in standard packaging, with OBI strip are mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes. The run of ten titles presents some of the most iconic Blue Note masterpieces by Jazz legends Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, Dexter Gordon, and Cannonball Adderley.
Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley had already led nine dates for Blue Note Records by the time he arrived at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio on February 7, 1960 with pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Blakey, but on that day the quartet laid down what would become his masterpiece: Soul Station.
The crystalline six-song set was a showcase for Mobley’s lyrical flow from the breezy opening take on Irving Berlin’s “Remember” through bluesy originals like “Dig Dis” and the title track, and the swinging up-tempo numbers “This I Dig of You” and “Split Feelin’s.” Soul Station endures as a jazz classic for the ages.
