Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue notes of jazz and the blues. Originally dedicated to recording traditional jazz and small group swing, the label began to switch its attention to modern jazz around 1947. From there, Blue Note grew to become one of the most prolific, influential and respected jazz labels of the mid-20th century, noted for its role in facilitating the development of hard bop, post-bop and avant-garde jazz, as well as for its iconic modernist art direction.
History
Historically, Blue Note has principally been associated with the "hard bop" style of jazz (mixing bebop with other forms of music including soul, blues, rhythm and blues and gospel), but also recorded essential albums in the avant-garde and free styles of jazz. Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Art Blakey, Grant Green, Hank Mobley, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, and Jackie McLean were among the label's leading artists. During its heyday, the 1950s and 1960s, the photography and graphic art of Reid Miles created a series of iconic album covers, often incorporating session photos by Francis Wolff, which added to Blue Note's artistic reputation.
Early years
Lion first heard jazz as a young boy in Berlin. He settled in New York City in 1937, and shortly after the first From Spirituals to Swing concert, recorded pianists Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis in 1939 during a one-day session in a rented studio.[1] The Blue Note label initially consisted of Lion and Max Margulis, a communist writer who funded the project. The label's first releases were traditional "hot" jazz and boogie woogie, and the label's first hit was a performance of "Summertime" by famous soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet, which Bechet had been unable to record for the established companies.[1] Musicians were supplied with alcoholic refreshments, and recorded in the early hours of the morning after their evening's work in clubs and bars had finished. The label soon became known for treating musicians uncommonly well—setting up recording sessions at congenial times, and allowing the artists to be involved in all aspects of the record's production.
Francis Wolff, a professional photographer, emigrated to the US at the end of 1939 and soon joined forces with Lion, a childhood friend.[1] In 1941, Lion was drafted into the army for two years.
Legacy
There has been much sampling of classic Blue Note tracks by both hip hop artists and for mashing projects. In 1993, the group Us3 designed the entirety of its debut album upon samples from classic Blue Note records. In 2003, hip-hop producer Madlib released Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note, a collection of his remixes and interpretations of Blue Note music. Pete Rock, J Dilla, and DJ Spinna have likewise been involved in similar projects. In 2004, Burning Vision Entertainment created the video for Helicopter Girl's "Angel City",[27] using the art from numerous Blue Note LP sleeves to startling effect. In 2008, hip-hop producer Questlove of The Roots compiled Droppin' Science: Greatest Samples from the Blue Note Lab, a collection of original Blue Note recordings sampled by modern-day hip-hop artists such as Dr. Dre and A Tribe Called Quest.
Notable issues of critical assessment
Publishing rights
Any artist who records a song written by another artists is required to pay the statutory royalty to the copyright owner. A royalty is a usage-based fee paid by a licensee (the party wanting to use the copyrighted music) to a licensor (the owner of the copyrighted music). From the 1930s through the 1960s it was commonplace for a songwriter to sign over the rights to his/her work to a company — usually the record label for which they were recording — as part of the terms of the recording contract. Unfortunately, few musicians of this period had sufficient knowledge of US copyright laws or the proper advocator legal advice to ensure they would receive the royalties for their compositions. As a result, whenever any of their pieces were recorded, broadcast, telecast, etc., it was the record company that profited — and the writer received nothing. The majority of jazz musicians fell victim to this practice in that period. Andrew Dowd writes: "The example that still haunts me (and probably always will) is the famous tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley. He recorded countless albums for the storied label Blue Note from 1955 to 1970 (many of them classics) yet he died alone and penniless in a tiny Philadelphia apartment in 1986"[28]
Donald Byrd
Trumpeter Donald Byrd recorded for Blue Note Records, 1959-1967. He encouraged fellow musicians to always retain the publishing rights to their own music and to always negotiate their recording contracts as a standard practice.
Documentary films
Discography
Subsidiaries
External links
References
- The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music Guinness Publishing, 1992^
- Howard Rye, Barry Kernfeld. Blue Note (jazz)(ii) 2003^
- Blueprints Of Jazz: part two Birdpages.co.uk, retrieved October 17, 2019^