The Blue Note Thread

RHANDMJ said:
Same here. Extensions is amazing - the only appearance of Alice Coltrane on BN!
The cover though...
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Do you prefer the artwork of Expansions over that of Extensions? I'll admit I'm not huge fan of either, but Tyner's face split trhough 9 cubes is just too cheesy and sort of cheap for me. Extension's cover at least falls in line with the spiritual/world theme of Alice Coltrane's albums, so it makes some sort of sense.
 
BazookaTooth said:
does anyone have the re:imagined compilation allready ? if so, hw does it sound ?
i canceled my pre-order of the blue version and think about buying the standard once i find it a bit cheaper.
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I'm v much on the fence on it - it feels like there's too much vocal jazz on it for me, it's at least half the tracks. But I'll give it another listen on Spotify later
 
agutierrezb said:
Do you prefer the artwork of Expansions over that of Extensions? I'll admit I'm not huge fan of either, but Tyner's face split trhough 9 cubes is just too cheesy and sort of cheap for me. Extension's cover at least falls in line with the spiritual/world theme of Alice Coltrane's albums, so it makes some sort of sense.
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Neither are great covers but Extensions always seemed to be a National Geographic knockoff. Might be politically incorrect today.
 
Normally don’t enjoy list journalism, but I thought this was an interesting, non-traditional Blue Note Top 5 list from the ECM founder. Definitely had a couple albums I hadn’t heard before and nice explanations.

www.zoneout.com

Manfred Eicher – Founder of ECM – Selects Top 5 Blue Note Albums - ZoneOut

In founding Edition of Contemporary Music (ECM) in 1969, producer Manfred Eicher sought records with the ambience of ideal concert venues; with crystalline clarity and extraordinarily three‑dimensional spatial sense. His commitment to excellence, idiom-crossing collaborations and artistic...
www.zoneout.com www.zoneout.com
 
TCell said:
Normally don’t enjoy list journalism, but I thought this was an interesting, non-traditional Blue Note Top 5 list from the ECM founder. Definitely had a couple albums I hadn’t heard before and nice explanations.

www.zoneout.com

Manfred Eicher – Founder of ECM – Selects Top 5 Blue Note Albums - ZoneOut

In founding Edition of Contemporary Music (ECM) in 1969, producer Manfred Eicher sought records with the ambience of ideal concert venues; with crystalline clarity and extraordinarily three‑dimensional spatial sense. His commitment to excellence, idiom-crossing collaborations and artistic...
www.zoneout.com www.zoneout.com
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Thanks for sharing! The "opposite" list (Don Was listing his favorite ECM records) is listed on the article, and is very interesting too.
 
Poly-Rythmo said:
I'm v much on the fence on it - it feels like there's too much vocal jazz on it for me, it's at least half the tracks. But I'll give it another listen on Spotify later
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BazookaTooth said:
did the preorder based on the names involed but canceled last week since ut felt expensive.
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You 2 just summed up how I feel about it as well. Killer line-up but a lot of vocals and not a cheap release.
 
TCell said:
Normally don’t enjoy list journalism, but I thought this was an interesting, non-traditional Blue Note Top 5 list from the ECM founder. Definitely had a couple albums I hadn’t heard before and nice explanations.

www.zoneout.com

Manfred Eicher – Founder of ECM – Selects Top 5 Blue Note Albums - ZoneOut

In founding Edition of Contemporary Music (ECM) in 1969, producer Manfred Eicher sought records with the ambience of ideal concert venues; with crystalline clarity and extraordinarily three‑dimensional spatial sense. His commitment to excellence, idiom-crossing collaborations and artistic...
www.zoneout.com www.zoneout.com
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I looked through the latest issue of Jazzwise today and Don Was did a similar list but with non-Blue note releases. If I end up buying it I will share it here, it was an interesting list from what I remember.
 
Selaws said:
I looked through the latest issue of Jazzwise today and Don Was did a similar list but with non-Blue note releases. If I end up buying it I will share it here, it was an interesting list from what I remember.
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Yeah, the list @agutierrezb was referring to was of ECM titles:

www.zoneout.com

Don Was – President of Blue Note Records – Selects Top 5 ECM Albums

President of Blue Note Records Don Was reflects on the work of another iconic label – ECM Records – and shares with ZoneOut his top 5 ECM albums.
www.zoneout.com www.zoneout.com

 
RHANDMJ said:
Neither are great covers but Extensions always seemed to be a National Geographic knockoff. Might be politically incorrect today.
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I'd like to add some context to the cover art of Extensions because this is something I know about. I'm also Nigerian.

The cover of Extensions is a photo of the Ashanti (Asante) people in present-day Ghana. Historically, the Ashanti Empire was one of the preeminent and most powerful West African empires. Back to the cover of Extensions. Based on the color of their attire (mostly black and red), this is likely a funeral. What they are wearing is very special, meaningful, and expensive. The average person in their communities can't afford it. The man in the middle with the umbrella being held over his head is likely a titled man. Many jazz artists at the time were heavily connected, interested, and in tune with many different African cultures, rites, and traditions. There's nothing politically incorrect about it. An interpretation of this as a faux pas is a giant misunderstanding of what is going on here. This was very topical and on point with the artistic expression of many black jazz musicians. From the 50s on down, jazz artists littered their work with nods, acknowledgements, and tributes to Africa and the African diaspora. Sometimes in obvious ways, other times in covert ways. McCoy was cut from that cloth even before he hooked up with Coltrane, who pretty much laced a sizable chunk of his work with nods and acknowledgments to the African diaspora. No doubt Tyner's connection only made it deeper.

Extensions was just the natural progression of that and if you look at the names of the compositions, they are either are related to something African, afrocentric, or something spiritual. Following Extensions, McCoy Tyner recorded the album Asante. Again, a nod to the Asante people. When he left Blue Note, the next record he did was Sahara. Another nod to the African continent. Like Extensions and Asante, the compositions here are afrocentric and spiritual in nature, from the title track Sahara, to Ebony Queen, to Valley of Life which is about the East African Rift Valley, one of the earliest places humans ever existed.

Hope this clarifies things. If anyone is interested in the Ashanti Empire, the wiki page is fairly decent. Ashanti Empire - Wikipedia
 
btf1980 said:
I'd like to add some context to the cover art of Extensions because this is something I know about. I'm also Nigerian.

The cover of Extensions is a photo of the Ashanti (Asante) people in present-day Ghana. Historically, the Ashanti Empire was one of the preeminent and most powerful West African empires. Back to the cover of Extensions. Based on the color of their attire (mostly black and red), this is likely a funeral. What they are wearing is very special, meaningful, and expensive. The average person in their communities can't afford it. The man in the middle with the umbrella being held over his head is likely a titled man. Many jazz artists at the time were heavily connected, interested, and in tune with many different African cultures, rites, and traditions. There's nothing politically incorrect about it. An interpretation of this as a faux pas is a giant misunderstanding of what is going on here. This was very topical and on point with the artistic expression of many black jazz musicians. From the 50s on down, jazz artists littered their work with nods, acknowledgements, and tributes to Africa and the African diaspora. Sometimes in obvious ways, other times in covert ways. McCoy was cut from that cloth even before he hooked up with Coltrane, who pretty much laced a sizable chunk of his work with nods and acknowledgments to the African diaspora. No doubt Tyner's connection only made it deeper.

Extensions was just the natural progression of that and if you look at the names of the compositions, they are either are related to something African, afrocentric, or something spiritual. Following Extensions, McCoy Tyner recorded the album Asante. Again, a nod to the Asante people. When he left Blue Note, the next record he did was Sahara. Another nod to the African continent. Like Extensions and Asante, the compositions here are afrocentric and spiritual in nature, from the title track Sahara, to Ebony Queen, to Valley of Life which is about the East African Rift Valley, one of the earliest places humans ever existed.

Hope this clarifies things. If anyone is interested in the Ashanti Empire, the wiki page is fairly decent. Ashanti Empire - Wikipedia
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Thank you for shedding this light on the cultural connections. I haven't ever listened to this record, but what you've written about its cover art lends a lot of meaning to it.
 
btf1980 said:
I'd like to add some context to the cover art of Extensions because this is something I know about. I'm also Nigerian.

The cover of Extensions is a photo of the Ashanti (Asante) people in present-day Ghana. Historically, the Ashanti Empire was one of the preeminent and most powerful West African empires. Back to the cover of Extensions. Based on the color of their attire (mostly black and red), this is likely a funeral. What they are wearing is very special, meaningful, and expensive. The average person in their communities can't afford it. The man in the middle with the umbrella being held over his head is likely a titled man. Many jazz artists at the time were heavily connected, interested, and in tune with many different African cultures, rites, and traditions. There's nothing politically incorrect about it. An interpretation of this as a faux pas is a giant misunderstanding of what is going on here. This was very topical and on point with the artistic expression of many black jazz musicians. From the 50s on down, jazz artists littered their work with nods, acknowledgements, and tributes to Africa and the African diaspora. Sometimes in obvious ways, other times in covert ways. McCoy was cut from that cloth even before he hooked up with Coltrane, who pretty much laced a sizable chunk of his work with nods and acknowledgments to the African diaspora. No doubt Tyner's connection only made it deeper.

Extensions was just the natural progression of that and if you look at the names of the compositions, they are either are related to something African, afrocentric, or something spiritual. Following Extensions, McCoy Tyner recorded the album Asante. Again, a nod to the Asante people. When he left Blue Note, the next record he did was Sahara. Another nod to the African continent. Like Extensions and Asante, the compositions here are afrocentric and spiritual in nature, from the title track Sahara, to Ebony Queen, to Valley of Life which is about the East African Rift Valley, one of the earliest places humans ever existed.

Hope this clarifies things. If anyone is interested in the Ashanti Empire, the wiki page is fairly decent. Ashanti Empire - Wikipedia
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Thanks - very illuminating.

I have had a copy of Extensions since my teens. For me it is a special record. This only makes it more so.

The cover though - I am hopefully wrong, but in the current climate, I fear it may be criticized.
 
RHANDMJ said:
Thanks - very illuminating.

I have had a copy of Extensions since my teens. For me it is a special record. This only makes it more so.

The cover though - I am hopefully wrong, but in the current climate, I fear it may be criticized.
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Why would using a photo of people be criticized?
 
Saw on the Hoffman boards that a poster who seems to be in good with the Music Matters guy said two Grant Green Tone Poets will come out in 2021. Oleo which includes Sonny Clark and one I'm really excited for since it hasn't had a reissue since the 90s, Feelin' The Spirit, which features Herbie Hancock. Also Grant Green's The Latin Bit will be out in 2022. Very excited as Grant Green might be my favorite Blue Note artist. The full 2021 Tone Poet list will be out next month.
 
mingerton said:
Advice needed from the Blue Note experts: I just picked up Lee Morgan, The Cooker, Tone Poet reissue. But I already have a NM- 1973 reissue (blue label with a black B): Lee Morgan - The Cooker.

Which one do I keep? Which one do I sell or gift to a friend?
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Fantastic album, one of my favourites. Does the 1973 pressing have a RVG stamp? If it does then its likely to be a good sounding pressing. To be honest though I would just listen to the 2 and see which you prefer. The Tone Poet isn't one I have as I'm lucky enough to have a mono pressing, but I have no issues at all picking up the Tone Poets as they generally sound fantastic.
 
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