The Blue Note Years

The Blue Note Years presents for the first time many of Francis Wolff's previously unpublished photographs, capturing such jazz legends as John Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Miles Davis, Donald Byrd, Clifford Brown, and Ornette Coleman, among others. 195 duotone photos.

The official illustrated history of Blue Note, the most influential and important brand in jazz. Tracing the evolution of jazz from the boogie-woogie and swing of the 1930s, through bebop, funk, and fusion, to the eclectic mix Blue Note releases today, this landmark publication tells the story of an influential jazz institution and commemorates Blue Note’s momentous contribution to modern music and style. Practically all of the jazz greats passed through Blue Note’s doors, including Miles Davis, Sidney Bechet, Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Ornette Coleman, Donald Byrd, and Jimmy Smith. Blue Note is not only known as the purveyor of extraordinary jazz but is also famous as an arbiter of cool. The photography of cofounder Francis Wolff and the cover designs of Reid Miles helped create a look that was an integral part of the label’s genius. A highly illustrated volume, Blue Note features the very best photographs, covers, and ephemera from the archives, including never-before-published material, and and documents a groundbreaking era in American culture.

This theoretical book is meant to improve contemporary jazz styles techniques for all musician players of modern jazz. These exercises were made as an extension of my book "240 Chromatic Exercises + 1165 Jazz Lines Phrases For The Modern Improviser".

Music lovers have been attracted to the distinct style and sleek sound of jazz since its birth at the turn of the century. The album covers collected in this comprehensive volume under the well-known Blue Note record label embody classic design and pioneering typography. Two hundred color photographs of the album sleeves, an informative history of the Blue Note record company, and a portrait of Reid Miles, who designed nearly 500 album covers, capture the integrity of this distinctive record label. Sophisticated jazz connoisseurs and young listeners alike, as well as those with an interest in style and graphic design, will enjoy this exciting book of jazz memorabilia.

Provides a complete discography of all recordings made or issued on the Blue Note label from 1939 through 1999.

Insightful scenes abound in the first full history of the most noted label in jazz history. With record-collector zeal, Cook analyzes everything from Sidney Bechet's 78s to Norah Jones' recent chart-topper.

Theo the cat has learned to play only one blue note on his saxophone, but when a magical rocket ship carries him to the moon, he joins Charlie Porker, Nat King Cobra, Duck Ellington, and other great jazz musicians in a jam session.

'It is the most singular of sounds, yet among the most ubiquitous. It is the sound of isolation that has sold itself to millions.' Miles Davis's Kind of Blue is the best selling piece of music in the history of jazz, and for many listeners among the most haunting in all of twentieth-century music. It is also, notoriously, the only jazz album many people own. Recorded in 1959 (in nine miraculous hours), there has been nothing like it since. Its atmosphere - slow, dark, meditative, luminous - became all-pervasive for a generation, and has remained the epitome of melancholy coolness ever since. Richard Williams has written a history of the album which for once does not rip it out of its wider cultural context. He evokes the essence of the music - identifying the qualities that make it so uniquely appealing - while making effortless connections to painting, literature, philosophy and poetry. This makes for an elegant, graceful and beautifully-written narrative.