BST 84429

The Best of Blue Note - Volume 1

Released - 1984

Recording and Session Information

Apex Studios, NYC, October 25, 1948
Dave Burns, Elmon Wright, trumpet; Ernie Henry, alto sax; James Moody, tenor sax; Cecil Payne, baritone sax; Hen Gates, piano; Nelson Boyd, bass; Art Blakey, drums; Chano Pozo, vocals, bongos; "Gil" Fuller, arranger.

BN347-0 Tin Tin Deo

WOR Studios, NYC, May 1, 1951
Bud Powell, piano; Curly Russell, bass; Max Roach, drums.

BN382-4 Un Poco Loco

WOR Studios, NYC, July 23, 1951
Sahib Shihab, alto sax; Milt Jackson, vibes; Thelonious Monk, piano; Al McKibbon, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

BN393-0 Criss-Cross

WOR Studios, NYC, April 7, 1952
Lou Donaldson, alto sax; Milt Jackson, vibes; John Lewis, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums.

BN424-2 tk.8 Bags' Groove

WOR Studios, NYC, April 20, 1953
Miles Davis, trumpet; Jay Jay Johnson, trombone; Jimmy Heath, tenor sax; "Gil" Coggins, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

BN480-0 tk.10 Tempus Fugit

Audio-Video Studios, NYC, August 28, 1953
Clifford Brown, trumpet; Gigi Gryce, alto sax, flute; Charlie Rouse, tenor sax; John Lewis, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

BN527-1 tk.21 Cherokee

Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, September 15, 1957
Lee Morgan, trumpet; Curtis Fuller, trombone; John Coltrane, tenor sax; Kenny Drew, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; "Philly" Joe Jones, drums.

tk.9/8 Blue Train

Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, July 28, 1958
Lou Donaldson, alto sax; Herman Foster, piano; Peck Morrison, bass; Dave Bailey, drums; Ray Barretto, congas.

tk.15 Blues Walk

Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, October 30, 1958
Lee Morgan, trumpet; Benny Golson, tenor sax; Bobby Timmons, piano; Jymie Merritt, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

tk.4 Moanin'

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, April 25, 1960
Stanley Turrentine, tenor sax; Jimmy Smith, organ; Kenny Burrell, guitar; Donald Bailey, drums.

tk.16 Back At The Chicken Shack

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, January 8, 1963
Stanley Turrentine, tenor sax; Kenny Burrell, guitar; Major Holley Jr., bass; Bill English, drums; Ray Barretto, congas.

tk.23 Chittlins Con Carne

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, January 12, 1963
Donald Byrd, trumpet; Hank Mobley, tenor sax; Donald Best, vibes; Herbie Hancock, piano; Kenny Burrell, guitar; Butch Warren, bass; Lex Humphries, drums; unidentified chorus, Coleridge Perkinson, director; Duke Pearson, arranger.

tk.5 | 14283-E Cristo Redentor

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, December 21, 1963
Lee Morgan, trumpet; Joe Henderson, tenor sax; Barry Harris, piano; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Billy Higgins, drums.

tk.25 The Sidewinder

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, October 26, 1964
Carmell Jones, trumpet; Joe Henderson, tenor sax; Horace Silver, piano; Teddy Smith, bass; Roger Humphries, drums.

1457 tk.26 Song For My Father

Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, March 17, 1965
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; George Coleman, tenor sax; Herbie Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Anthony Williams, drums.

1545 tk.2 Maiden Voyage

Track Listing

Side One
Artist	Title	Author	Recording Date
Bud Powell	Un Poco Loco	Earl "Bud" Powell	May 1 1951
James Moody	Tin Tin Deo	Chano Pozo	October 25 1948
Thelonious Monk	Criss Cross	Thelonious Monk	July 23 1951
Milt Jackson	Bags' Groove	Milt Jackson	April 7 1952
Clifford Brown	Cherokee	Ray Noble	August 28 1953
Miles Davis	Tempus Fugit	Earl "Bud" Powell	April 20 1953
Side Two
John Coltrane	Blue Train	John Coltrane	September 15 1957
Herbie Hancock	Maiden Voyage	Herbie Hancock	March 17 1965
Donald Byrd	Christo Redentor	Duke Pearson	January 12 1963
Side Three
Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers	Moanin'	Bobby Timmons	October 30 1958
Lou Donaldson	Blues Walk	Lou Donaldson	July 29 1958
Horace Silver	Song For My Father	Horace Silver	October 26 1964
Side Four
Jimmy Smith	Back To The Chicken Shack	Jimmy Smith	April 25 1960
Kenny Burrell	Chitlins Con Carne	Kenny Burrell	January 8 1963
Lee Morgan	The Sidewinder	Lee Morgan	December 21 1963

Liner Notes

Blue Note began in 1939 when Alfred Lion recorded a marathon session with Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons. A few weeks later the first small band sides were recorded with a sextet called The Port Of Harlem Jazzmen. That group had an unusual front line of trumpet and trombone.

On the next occasion, the Port Of Harlem was expanded to seven pieces with the addition of Sidney Bechet on clarinet and soprano sax. On that day Bechet recorded Summertime (with only the rhythm section) and that performance became the first Blue Note hit.

Now a "hit" for a little jazz label in 1939 is not the same as a major label pop hit in 1985. But exactly what constitutes a "jazz hit" in 1985 has not changed that much since 1939. Because jazz has limited opportunities for exposure (vis a vis other styles of music) a successful record must be one with appeal that lasts beyond the immediate moment. The timeless performance that attracts each new generation of jazz fans is the goal of all jazz releases. Some recordings can accomplish this largely _because of the leader's celebrity. Those are the albums that appear in each new round of reissues. Yet a true jazz hit must be more than that.

The term "crossover" crept into the jazz lexicon in the 1970s to try to describe a phenomenon that certain jazz records attained, These were recordings that, for whatever reasons, were finding large numbers of buyers who had no great interest in jazz in general. Whether the new buyers were coming from an audience that usually supported, say, Latin music or Rhythm & Blues didn't really matter. What mattered was that the 'word of mouth" (that circulates so freely in jazz circles) would be operating in another part of town. "Crossover;" regardless of what direction it takes, is — for jazz record sales — a very positive thing.

This is not to suggest that Alfred Lion had crossover in mind when Sidney Bechet recorded Summertime in 1939 or even in the 1940s or early 1950s when the music on Side 1 was recorded. Lion, for the most part, was attracted to Black musicians who could play the blues. Since the blues form tends to bring out the emotional side of a musician, Blue Note recordings from the beginning tended to have that "good feeling." During the classical Blue Note LP period from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s, most of the albums led off one side with an off-beat variation on the blues or church harmony. The hits of Blue Note — not all of them, — are on Sides 2, 3, and 4. Blue Note artists tended to rehearse carefully before going to the studio and many of the problems in getting the natural feeling into the off-beat tunes were solved before the tapes began to roll. This is how Alfred Lion dealt with crossover as we now recognize it.

THE ARTISTS

From the beginning Blue Note was able to attract major players because "we recorded what we liked" (in the words of Frank Wolff, Lion's long-time associate). Lion was especially interested in pianists as witness his recording of Ammons, Lewis, Pete Johnson, Art Hodes and James P Johnson in his first few years. When Ike Quebec (and, to a lesser extent, Babs Gonzales) got Blue Note interested in modern jazz, more pianists were involved: Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell and, most importantly, Theolonious Monk. From those players and the positive feelings musicians had for Blue Note, more were to follow.

A look at the first two sides of this collection will show that these "hits" were less crossover than they are time-tested examples of great art.

Just exactly Alfred Lion routinely got great performances from Bud Powell when others got mediocrity is not known, but it is true. Listen to the extremely uneven work that Bud played on his RCA or Norgran LPs (of the 1950s) and then marvel at the fine Blue Note LPS by Bud. Un Poco Loco heard here is a jazz standard widely played today and Bud's piano is top notch.

James Moody and his cohorts from Dizzy Gillespie's band were recorded during the recording ban of 1948. That Lion decided to record despite the threat of union reprisals was fortunate for all of us. Had Blue Note waited until James C. Petrillo sorted out his differences the big labels, (Chano Pozo, who was murdered December 2, 191%, would not have been able to lend his considerable presence to Tin Tin Teo. This is another jazz standard and we should reminded that this item is from the second of Moody's two Blue Note sessions which were his first as a leader.

Criss-Cross by Thelonious Monk is a tune not frequently attempted by others. This version is the first recording and it comes from Monk's next to last Blue Note session in 1951. Note the of Art Blakey on drums, who always seemed to bring out the best in Monk.

Many musicians will tell you that Bags' Groove was actually a creation of John Coltrane, but Milt Jackson got it on record first on this date. The performance is from a session that, in effect, had Lou Donaldson playing with The Modern Jazz Quartet. Jackson did not appear on Blue Note with any regularity; but when he did the results, as here, were memorable.

Clifford Brown was recorded on Blue Note in four different sessions and Cherokee is from the third, the only one under his leadership. Cherokee has been one of a handful of test pieces for modern jazzmen and Brown delivers the goods here. Compare this version (with Art Blakey on drums) to the Emarcy version of Brown-Max Roach Quintet.

Tempus Fugit by Miles Davis was written by Bud Powell and played by a sextet featuring Jay Jay Johnson, Jimmy Heath and the obscure pianist Gil Coggins. Miles recorded three Blue Note dates during the time he was under contract to Prestige in 1952, 1953, and 1954. Prestige claimed to have received a settlement Blue Note for these violations, although it is not known for certain whether this happened.

Blue Train by John Coltrane, was recorded while Coltrane was also under contract to Prestige. In this case Coltrane had an agreement to do a Blue Note LP prior to his exclusive deal with Prestige, and it was merely a matter of scheduling that it done at the time it was actually recorded. This particular album is Coltrane's most famous LP of the 1950s.

Herbie Hancock's first major exposure as a jazz player came in the Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet. After making several Blue Note dates in the group, he was signed to the label, His first LPs contained crossover hits in Blind Man, Blind Man and the enormously successful Watermelon Man. On the other hand, Maiden Voyage with sterling work from Freddie Hubbard and George Coleman, was an album that sold over an extended period of time. In addition to his own LPs, Hancock succeeded Sonny Clark as lying the most frequent "house" pianist on Blue Note sessions in the mid-1960s.

Duke Pearson's Christo Redentor is a modern hymn. The use of voices here, a first for Blue Note and a first time experiment for Donald Byrd, who would go on to find huge success on Blue Note in the late 1960s-early 1970s with other crossover ventures.

Bobby Timmorn's Moanin' has been Art Blakey's most popular number through the years. The different players who have populatod the Blakey repertory company that he calls the Jazz Messengers have all played the tune, but none has topped the performance here, especially in the work of Lee Morgan and Benny Golson. Other groups played Moanin' as well, but few were able to capture the spirit of the original. Rudy Van Gelder's recording helps and his distinctive approach to recording is heard on all the titles on Sides 2, 3 and 4.

Lou Donaldson was a Blue Note artist for more than twenty years. His unique blend of down home blues and sophisticated bebop enabled him to fit into all manner of recording situations whether it was with Art Blakey and Clifford Brown or Jimmy Smith. Blues Walk is one of his most requested items today; despite the fact that Lou had many best sellers for Blue Note.

Horace Silver always had a knack for coming up with great compositions, and Song For My Father is surely one of them. Silver's quintets also were, like Blakey's groups, prime proving grounds for young talent. His front line on this 1965 recording includes Carmell Jones and Joe Henderson, each of whom would leave his mark on jazz in the coming years.

Back At The Chicken Shack comes from a marathon session in 1960 which produced not only the album of this title, but Midnight Special as well. In the manner of so many other Blue Note hits, the tune is the blues but also in the manner of Blue Note, there was something just a bit different about it. In this case, it is the beat that Donald Bailey keeps. Jimmy Smith is probably the best blues player — regardless of instrument to emerge in the 1950s. Turrentine and Burrell are also in the front rank of blues improvisors. While the heyday of the organ combo has long past, the repertoire has endured and Back At The Chicken Shack is a staple in the books of many Chicago Blues bands!

Chillins Con Carne is very much like Back At The Chicken Shack, in the sense that this is blues with a hook and that the hook is the beat that Ray Barretto keeps on his conga chum. Once again Burrell and Turrentine are key soloists as they were on so many Blue Note hits. Turrentine was a Blue Note artist for virtually the entire 1960s and had several big sellers under his own name. Burrell's association with Blue Note was more informal, but either in his own sessions and his sideman appearances, his presence was akin to a seal of approval. If Burrell was on it, you knew it had to be good.

Once again the blues an off-beat this time rhythm effect produced a hit, with trumpeter Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder. There have been rumors years that this beat was around Philadelphia for a good deal of time before Morgan got ahold of it, bill there is no question that the groove is sustained in this ten-minute track. Morgan had a long and successful relationship from his first date as a teenager to the last, made just before his death in February 1972.

All the marvelous music of Blue Note began to take a down turn after the death of Frank Wolff in 1971. New people stepped in and operated the label from California throughout the 1970s, but the focus and direction of Alfred Lion, who retired from Blue Note in 1967, was lost and gradually new recording withered away. Horace Silver was the last Blue Note artist and he left in 1980. Throughout much of the 1970s Blue Note had reissued material in several different series and much newly issued material was taken from a large reservoir of music from the Alfred Lion era.

After a five year hiatus, Blue Note begins again in 1985 new recordings, reissues and still more newly issued sides from the classic Blue Note era. Should the music produced in this new era come close to the quality of music on this double album, the future seems bright indeed.

BOB PORTER