85 Years of Blue Note Records

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. This collection, curated & selected by Don Was, uniquely represents its legendary catalog spanning the entire history of the music, with the pillars of Jazz history such as Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Ornette Coleman, Robert Glasper, Gregory Porter, Norah Jones and many others. 6 tracks out of 10 on CD1 are the latest remasters by Kevin Gray, made for Blue Note's signature Tone Poet & Classic Vinyl series — available here for the first time in CD format. Presented in a 2-CD jewel with obi-strip, with an introduction by Don Was and a (translated) note about the history of the label by Mitsutaka Nagira, CD1 celebrates some of the most iconic Blue Note legends, while CD2 is representative of the current roster of Blue Note artists shaping the future of jazz.