"We're very enthusiastic about the potential of this series," states Blue Note vice-president Tom Evered. "Two of the CDs that were included in the first Connoisseurs set--Wayne Shorter's The All Seeing Eye and Ornette Coleman's The Empty Foxhole--have already sold out, and the LP sales of those recordings are not far behind. Another five releases are scheduled to be out this fall," continued Evered, "and we have definite plans to extend the series through 1996."
Of the two previous Connoisseur sets, John Corbett wrote the following in a review for Down Beat magazine. "Musically, Blue Note has covered a lot of ground in 12 discs. Perhaps the most important accomplishment is to have reissued some of the music that walked the line between jazz convention and formal exploration. This is the most overlooked aspect of Blue Note's activities--great records...that recall a time when the fence that separated inside and outside had a few extra gates in it." Like the earlier Connoisseur releases, the six records here provide a solid case for that point.
Green Street places guitarist Grant Green in a trio context, as he was on his debut album Grant's First Stand (Blue Note 4064). The difference here is that the bass of Ben Tucker replaces the organ played by Baby Face Willette on the earlier album. The drummer for this 1961 recording was Dave Bailey. According to the late Leonard Feather, who wrote liner notes for Green Street, "Bailey is perhaps the ideal drummer for this instrumentation, in view of his frequent association since 1955 with Gerry Mulligan in a variety of pianoless rhythm sections." Hailed as a vital new link in the six-stringed lifeline from Charles Christian through Barney Kessell to Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery, Green composed three of the titles contained in the original release: "No. 1 Green Street," "Grant's Dimensions" and "Green with Envy." The reissue release includes a previously unissued alternate take of "Green with Envy," which Feather noted "might well have been titled for the reaction it would inspire among the guitari
Basra, drummer Pete LaRoca's first album as a leader "is a fine group effort," wrote critic Ira Gitler in the album's liner notes. "It also is a demonstration of how to do new things in jazz without losing sight of the music's entire tradition and spirit." This 1965 recording is not the first time LaRoca had led his own group, however. After gaining important experience with Sonny Rollins (between 1957 and 1959), Slide Hampton (1959) and John Coltrane (1960), the drummer formed a quintet which worked intermittently until the middle of 1963. Joining him in the rhythm section for Basra are two players LaRoca described as his "main men": pianist Steve Kuhn and bassist Steve Swallow. Both had been playing with LaRoca in Art Farmer's quartet and the rapport the three developed is in strong evidence here. "They are revealed as one of the most attuned rhythm sections in jazz," noted Gitler. Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson is also featured and although he had not played with the trio on a regular basis befor
Destination Out by alto saxophonist Jackie McLean extends the sounds and moods that were captured by the group on McLean's One Step Beyond (Blue Note 4137). "There was so much tonal quality woven by that group," explained the saxophonist, "I wanted to record with Grachan [Moncur III on trombone], Bobby [Hutcherson on vibes], and myself again." Also appearing here are bassist Larry Ridley and drummer Roy Haynes. "I would say that Roy is an all around drummer," stated McLean. "He is a living example of the jazz musician's progress with the times." McLean went on to describe Ridley as "the whipped cream that is needed to make the chocolate pie complete. His bass line weaves in and out between the vibes and drums, leaving everything free and still swinging." Recorded in 1963, Destination Out features three Moncur originals, "Love and Hate," "Esoteric" and "Riff Raff." McLean contributes the remaining title, "Kahlil the Prophet."
Some Other Stuff is an impressive showcase for Grachan Moncur III's writing skills as well as his talent as a trombonist. All four titles here, "Gnostic," "Thandiwa," "The Twins" and "Nomadic" are his. Recorded in 1964, Moncur was flourishing as a composer and maturing as a soloist. His early pieces, written as a member of the Art Farmer/Benny Golson Jazztet, reflect strong bop influences. The compositions on this recording, which were written a couple of years after his Jazztet tenure, run the gamut from traditional to the most unusual free improvisation. For the interpretation of music, Moncur chose a rhythm section that included two artists who were then members of the Miles Davis Quintet: pianist Herbie Hancock and drummer Tony Williams. Bassist Cecil McBee completed the rhythm section and tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter joined Moncur on the front line. "I really wanted Wayne," said the trombonist, "because I knew he would know about everything I was doing." In his liner notes for Some Other Stuf
Trumpeter Lee Morgan's Leeway is the result of a 1960 session with alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, pianist Bobby Timmons, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Blakey--all post-graduate improvisers who would later be counted among the most celebrated leaders of the hard bop revolution. Morgan composed one title for this album,"The Lion and the Wolff," a rollicking blues that pays tribute to Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff (who were then directors of Blue Note). McLean contributed "Midtown Blues." Two other titles, "These Are Soulful Days," and "Nakatini Suite" were penned by Cal Massey--then a relative newcomer whom Nat Hentoff described in the liner notes as "a writer of considerable ability and beguiling imagination." Also in the notes, Massey recalled first hearing Morgan when the trumpeter was about 15. "Lee sounded amazing for a fifteen-year-old," Massey recounted. "Naturally, I kept up with him through the years, and I'm not surprisesd at how extraordinary a player he has become...he has fire and i
The 1961 recording of Heavy Soul represented tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec's first full album session with Blue Note Records. In the late 1950s, he cut and released a string of 45s for Blue Note, and in the 1940s there had been a series of 10 inch 78s and a couple of 12 inch 78s that featured hand-picked swing-style groups with Quebec as leader. Although these sides belong to a pre-LP era, they were some of the most warmly received performances of their day and established Quebec, among more discerning connoisseurs, as an extremely unique tenor voice. Like many musicians of his generation, Quebec experienced disappointments. Trained primarily as an orchestral musician whose early years focused on a career as a featured soloist, Quebec found himself less in demand as the big band era began to fade. Music, however, did remain his vocation as well as the heart of his life and Blue Note's Alfred Lion did continue to record Quebec. Today, Blue Note continues to reissue his work (the label also included Quebe
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