The Blue Note Thread

Blowing through more of these Tone Poets I got towards the end of the year. Tender Moments and The Phantom were today's listens. Simply incredible. I love Bobby Hutcherson so that was a real treat.

I saw on the Hoffman boards that the 2021 Tone Poet schedule is supposed to be released this Wednesday. Also it appears The Waiting Game got moved up to being released on 1/8. It was pushed back to the 28th but got an earlier release.
 
jamieanderson1968 said:
Tina actually named it that because BN took forever to release and really dragged their feet on it.
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Its actually one step further than that and was not released until 25 years after his death.

I read somewhere that Alfred Lion was not a fan of Brooks because of his excessive drug taking, often not turning up to sessions or being wasted if he did. Im struggling to remember the book I read this from but the author theorised that Lion shelved a lot of Brooks' releases because of these personal feelings over the quality of the music itself.

I have the Tina Brooks Complete Blue Note Recordings Mosaic Box set which includes this album and I have to say that its certainly a stand-out session. I bet the Tone Poet release is going to be fantastic.
 
Selaws said:
Its actually one step further than that and was not released until 25 years after his death.

I read somewhere that Alfred Lion was not a fan of Brooks because of his excessive drug taking, often not turning up to sessions or being wasted if he did. Im struggling to remember the book I read this from but the author theorised that Lion shelved a lot of Brooks' releases because of these personal feelings over the quality of the music itself.

I have the Tina Brooks Complete Blue Note Recordings Mosaic Box set which includes this album and I have to say that its certainly a stand-out session. I bet the Tone Poet release is going to be fantastic.
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Sadly while Brooks had some BN stars who were strong supporters (Blakey and MacLean to name a few) Alfred Lion just did not see his potential.
 
jamieanderson1968 said:
Sadly while Brooks had some BN stars who were strong supporters (Blakey and MacLean to name a few) Alfred Lion just did not see his potential.
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That is the truth. Lion just didn't like him or his playing. Drugs had little to do with it - Lion was known to keep smack in his desk drawer for 'emergency use' or to send someone out to do a street buy when a session needed some.
 
RHANDMJ said:
That is the truth. Lion just didn't like him or his playing. Drugs had little to do with it - Lion was known to keep smack in his desk drawer for 'emergency use' or to send someone out to do a street buy when a session needed some.
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I think you would be surprised how much drugs did play a role to be honest. While a large number of musicians were addicts during their careers, Lion and co would let it slide as long as the musicians turned up when they said they would and played well. According to accounts, Tina Brooks was always turning up late or missing recording dates because he was presumably strung out. This was after he had performed on multiple successful dates as a side-man for Blue Note. I'm trying to dig out where I read this next bit (I'm convinced it's in a book I just cant remember which one) but essentially Brooks began asking Lion for cash upfront (for drugs) to the point where Lion was giving out more than he was to be paid for the session. Brooks then not turning up or turning up late likely soured Lions' view of him, espeically after the good will he showed the musician. A very similar thing, unfortunately, happened to Grant Green towards the end of his career and a lot of his later Blue Note sessions were shelved as a result (that bits definitely confirmed in Grant Green's biography written by his daughter-in-law, Sharony Andrews Green).

I guess when you were recording the high volumes that Lion was, there just wasn't any need to release work by someone that rubbed you the wrong way.
 
New Tone Poet up for pre-order on BN web shop :

store.bluenote.com

Andrew Hill - Passing Ships 2LP (Blue Note Tone Poet Series)

Andrew Hill is one of the most distinctive pianists and composing talents in jazz. Yet this profoundly moving session recorded in 1969 sat unreleased until 2003 when it was finally issued on CD through the efforts of Blue Note archivist Michael Cuscuna. Hill penned all seven of Passing Ships’...
store.bluenote.com store.bluenote.com

store.bluenote.com

Dexter Gordon - One Flight Up LP (Blue Note Tone Poet Series)

Dexter Gordon had been living in Europe for several years when he recorded One Flight Up, one of his acknowledged masterpiece albums, in Paris in June of 1964. It’s all here: Dexter’s magnificently huge sound, Donald Byrd in peak form on trumpet, the subtle sophistication of pianist Kenny Drew...
store.bluenote.com store.bluenote.com
 
Skalap said:
New Tone Poet up for pre-order on BN web shop :

store.bluenote.com

Andrew Hill - Passing Ships 2LP (Blue Note Tone Poet Series)

Andrew Hill is one of the most distinctive pianists and composing talents in jazz. Yet this profoundly moving session recorded in 1969 sat unreleased until 2003 when it was finally issued on CD through the efforts of Blue Note archivist Michael Cuscuna. Hill penned all seven of Passing Ships’...
store.bluenote.com store.bluenote.com

store.bluenote.com

Dexter Gordon - One Flight Up LP (Blue Note Tone Poet Series)

Dexter Gordon had been living in Europe for several years when he recorded One Flight Up, one of his acknowledged masterpiece albums, in Paris in June of 1964. It’s all here: Dexter’s magnificently huge sound, Donald Byrd in peak form on trumpet, the subtle sophistication of pianist Kenny Drew...
store.bluenote.com store.bluenote.com
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Really looking forward to the Dexter Gordon one. His other blue note album that he recorded in Paris, aptly named Our Man in Paris, is in my top 5 Blue Note records of all time.
 
Selaws said:
I think you would be surprised how much drugs did play a role to be honest. While a large number of musicians were addicts during their careers, Lion and co would let it slide as long as the musicians turned up when they said they would and played well. According to accounts, Tina Brooks was always turning up late or missing recording dates because he was presumably strung out. This was after he had performed on multiple successful dates as a side-man for Blue Note. I'm trying to dig out where I read this next bit (I'm convinced it's in a book I just cant remember which one) but essentially Brooks began asking Lion for cash upfront (for drugs) to the point where Lion was giving out more than he was to be paid for the session. Brooks then not turning up or turning up late likely soured Lions' view of him, espeically after the good will he showed the musician. A very similar thing, unfortunately, happened to Grant Green towards the end of his career and a lot of his later Blue Note sessions were shelved as a result (that bits definitely confirmed in Grant Green's biography written by his daughter-in-law, Sharony Andrews Green).

I guess when you were recording the high volumes that Lion was, there just wasn't any need to release work by someone that rubbed you the wrong way.
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Fair enough. I have no doubt that Brooks, as well as many others of the era, did themselves in.

As to the many sessions Blue Note shelved - my opinion is that, for the most part, the right sessions were selected for release at the time. While quite a few sessions of some merit were released in the 70's, in too many cases, my feeling is that BN has been scraping the vaults a bit too much to release virtually anything that is a complete session, despite being distinctly 'B' or 'C' material.

The sessions that Cuscuna selected for release in Japan in the 70's all had great merit. Minor Move, Dance With Death, Clubhouse, etc. all are very strong.

Sessions like The Rajah, for example, while enjoyable, really aren't top grade stuff. Just my opinion, though.

I also feel that some very strong material from the 70's in the post-Lion era is highly worthy of reissue and reassessment, although that material is likely to be dumped on my conservative listeners. Genesis did not do well for MM, but is a glorious session.
 
RHANDMJ said:
Fair enough. I have no doubt that Brooks, as well as many others of the era, did themselves in.

As to the many sessions Blue Note shelved - my opinion is that, for the most part, the right sessions were selected for release at the time. While quite a few sessions of some merit were released in the 70's, in too many cases, my feeling is that BN has been scraping the vaults a bit too much to release virtually anything that is a complete session, despite being distinctly 'B' or 'C' material.

The sessions that Cuscuna selected for release in Japan in the 70's all had great merit. Minor Move, Dance With Death, Clubhouse, etc. all are very strong.

Sessions like The Rajah, for example, while enjoyable, really aren't top grade stuff. Just my opinion, though.

I also feel that some very strong material from the 70's in the post-Lion era is highly worthy of reissue and reassessment, although that material is likely to be dumped on my conservative listeners. Genesis did not do well for MM, but is a glorious session.
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Yeah very true. I bet there are still loads of fantastic unused recordings as well. I'm really grateful for Cuscuna's deep dive he did into the vaults but I imagine there is still some untouched which would be great to hear.
 
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