Blue Note Records That Are, Ahem, “Essential”
I thought we might have some fun with this. As I mentioned in a previous post, Blue Note is issuing new vinyl releases to commemorate its 75th anniversary. I was perusing my online version of The New York Times last evening and came upon this article, asking “Which Greats Were Left Off the Blue Note 100?” I hadn’t realized the first time around that Blue Note was issuing this records in any particular order and I assumed all along (and still do) that it was mostly a commercial venture and they would be issuing those records that they believe will sell the most copies. However, you can see in The Times article that they are considering these albums to be “essential,” which, of course, is a marketing ploy — but also a chance for us to talk about some of the Blue Note records we consider to be “essential” that are not on this list. Somehow, I don’t see a lot of readers of Jazz Collector putting records from Brian Blade Fellowship, Robert Glasper, Stefon Harris or Madlib on our lists of essential Blue Notes, and that’s if we’ve even heard their music, which, I have to admit, I have not. Anyway, here is the complete list, following by a comment or two from me: