Jazz today.  BLUE NOTE RECORDS

I love blue note as a jazz record company.  Most of the music was made in the 50s and 60s.  However the company is still around today.  The best stuff was in the 60s and most of it was hard bop with trumpet, sax, bass, drums, and piano.  There are lots of great jazz artists who made their best music on Blue Note.  Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, Grant Green, and many more.  The latter are two of my favorites.

Grant Green made at least two dozen of his own albums plus guested on many others.  He plays the electric guitar. His solos are beautiful.  Check out an album called Idle Moments.  Definitely five stars.  I have most of his music on CDs.  Horace Silver was and still is an incredible funky piano player.  He is still alive.  His best album is a classic, Song For My Father.  Lots of his tunes have a Carribean sound.  I think his father was born in the Virgin Islands.  You will recognize the opening bars of the title song.  Steely Dan borrowed it for Riki, don't lose that number.  Anyways, another five stars for this album.

Also, on the above albums, Joe Henderson plays the tenor sax.  Joe was great and most of his solos will blow you away.  He also recorded many lps on blue note, on his own, some with Kenny Dorham, and often as a sideman.  Try Basra by Pete LaRocca.  An album that got re-released not too long ago.  Another classic.

There is a good Blue Note app. for your Ipads.  Subscription is only 2$ a month and you can play many of these classic albums with high quality streaming.  It has articles about the music, some playlists, and some very cool photos and links to you tube videos of the music and musicians.

I will save Thelonious Monk for another day.  He deserves a discussion all by himself.  Can you say 'Round Midnight.   However his best song for me is Ruby, My Dear.

Joe P. April 30, 2013