★Blue Note
The Prisoner
Recorded and released in 1969, Herbie Hancock’s last Blue Note album The Prisoner is a powerful but overlooked masterpiece. A moving tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, this nonet session features some of the most exceptional instrumentalists in jazz including Joe Henderson, Johnny Coles, Hubert Laws, Garnett Brown, Buster Williams, and Albert “Tootie” Heath. Hancock said of The Prisoner: “I've been able to get closer to the real me with this album than on any other previous one.”
Blue Note Tone …
Empyrean Isles
Herbie Hancock debuted on Blue Note in 1962 and quickly established himself as both a remarkable pianist and a brilliant composer with three excellent albums—Takin’ Off, My Point Of View, and Inventions & Dimensions—before making what is widely considered to be his first masterpiece: Empyrean Isles. Recorded in 1964, the album seemed to distill the full breadth of Hancock’s artistry into a sweeping 35-minute musical journey. Joining Hancock on the voyage were three of his closest collaborators: …
Whistle Stop
Renowned jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham, one of the most underrated virtuosos in jazz history, invites listeners to revisit his landmark 1961 Blue Note masterpiece Whistle Stop – a bluesy, swinging hard bop session that captures the golden era of modern jazz.
Recorded on January 15, 1961, at Rudy Van Gelder's legendary studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Whistle Stop showcases Dorham's original compositions performed by an elite quintet: Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone, Kenny Drew on piano, Paul…
The Cat Walk
Blue Note Records proudly unveils a stunning all-analog reissue of Donald Byrd's seminal 1961 hard bop masterpiece, The Cat Walk, as part of its acclaimed Classic Vinyl Series. Scheduled for release on May 15th, 2026, this limited-edition pressing on 180-gram vinyl has been meticulously mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes at Optimal Media studios, delivering unparalleled warmth, depth, and clarity for audiophiles and jazz enthusiasts alike.
Originally recorded on May 2, 1961, …
Fuchsia Swing Song
Originally released in 1965, Fuchsia Swing Song marked the powerful debut of saxophonist Sam Rivers on Blue Note Records. Recorded at Van Gelder Studio with a stellar band—Jaki Byard on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums—the album reveals Rivers' innovative take on post-bop and hard bop styles. With its balance of structure and freedom, this session showcases the saxophonist’s adventurous spirit and deep harmonic intelligence. Part of the Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series, this r…
Complete Communion
Complete Communion marks the stunning 1965 Blue Note debut of Don Cherry, the visionary cornetist best known for his work alongside Ornette Coleman in the late 1950s. This landmark session captures Cherry at a creative peak, leading a fiery quartet featuring Gato Barbieri on tenor saxophone, Henry Grimes on bass, and Ed Blackwell on drums. Together, they explore the outer edges of post-bop and free jazz, building long-form compositions that seamlessly weave multiple themes into unified, evolving…
In My Dreams
In My Dreams brings Bill Frisell together with a circle of long-time collaborators for a rare sextet performance. Featuring Jenny Scheinman (violin), Eyvind Kang (viola), Hank Roberts (cello), Thomas Morgan (bass), and Rudy Royston (drums), the album captures musicians whose connections stretch back decades, now meeting in this configuration for the first time.
Moving freely across Frisell originals alongside jazz and Americana standards, the group plays with an ease born of familiarity and mutu…
Ready For Freddie
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** The Indianapolis-born trumpeter Freddie Hubbard introduced his prodigious talent on Blue Note Records with a run of remarkable albums recorded thru the early 1960s. At first rooted firmly in hard bop, Hubbard began to broaden his approach on his masterwork Ready for Freddie, recorded in August 1961. “The way in which I’m most interested in going is Coltrane-like,” Hubbard told liner note writer Nat Hentoff. Hubbard had recorded with Coltrane earlier in the year o…
Breaking Point
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Despite having performed on several of the most revolutionary avant-garde jazz records of the 1960s, including Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz and John Coltrane’s Ascension, Freddie Hubbard’s own albums tended to hew closer to the mainstream. Perhaps no other single album captures the trumpeter’s awe-inspiring breadth of ability and versatility than Breaking Point!, which was recorded in May 1964 shortly after Hubbard had departed Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in orde…
Unit Structures
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** The intrepid free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor produced some of his best work for Blue Note Records, including his explosive 1966 label debut Unit Structures featuring Eddie Gale on trumpet, Jimmy Lyons on alto saxophone, Ken McIntyre on alto saxophone, oboe, and bass clarinet, Henry Grimes and Alan Silva on bass, and Andrew Cyrille on drums. Over the course of four extended original pieces by Taylor—“Steps,” “Enter, Evening,” “Unit Structure/As Of A Now/Section,” a…
Herbie Nichols Trio
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Herbie Nichols was one of the most original pianists and composers in Jazz history. Blue Note founder Alfred Lion considered him to be as unique and important a voice as Thelonious Monk, another singular talent who Lion was the first to record a few years before he signed Nichols in 1955. Little-known during his lifetime, recognition has begun to grow in recent decades for Nichols’ incredibly hip, angular compositions, each of which were miniature marvels built w…
New York Is Now!
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On April 29 and May 7, 1968, iconoclastic saxophonist Ornette Coleman brought a dynamic quartet with tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones into the studio to record what would yield his final two albums for Blue Note: New York Is Now! and Love Call. The alchemy of this group, which combined Coleman’s first-time two-saxophone pairing with a rhythm team deeply associated with John Coltrane, produced thrilling results.UHQ-CD…
Spring
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Tony Williams Spring represents the drummer-composer at a crucial moment in his artistic trajectory. By 1965, Williams had already participated in landmark Blue Note sessions - Herbie Hancock's Empyrean Isles, Eric Dolphy's Out To Lunch, Andrew Hill's Point Of Departure, Jackie McLean's One Step Beyond. Despite barely being in his twenties, he had already established himself as a musician capable of listening at the highest level, responding to ensemble dynamics …
Unity
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Unity is one of the great organ records precisely because it refuses to behave like one. Larry Youngbrings the Hammond into a post‑bop, modal context alongside Woody Shaw on trumpet, Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone, and Elvin Jones on drums. The tunes – including originals by Young and his bandmates – are harmonically rich and structurally intriguing, offering the soloists wide latitude. Young’s playing is astonishing: he voices chords in unexpected clusters, sp…
Life Time
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Life Time, Tony Williams upends expectations of a drummer’s debut, convening shifting ensembles that include Sam Rivers, Bobby Hutcherson, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Gary Peacock. Rather than a showcase of drum solos, the album is a series of explorations in texture, space, and form. Williams’ playing ranges from explosive to whisper‑soft, but always with an acute sense of placement: each cymbal stroke, roll, or accent is structural, not ornamental. The o…
Further Explorations
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Further Explorations pairs Horace Silver’s piano with Art Farmer on trumpet and Clifford Jordan on tenor sax, plus Teddy Kotick on bass and Louis Hayes on drums. Silver’s blend of blues, gospel, and hard‑bop sophistication is very much in evidence, but the writing nudges things into slightly more intricate territory. Catchy themes, smart modulations, and rhythmic hooks abound, yet everything feels natural and unforced. Farmer and Jordan bring contrasting horn col…
The All Seeing Eye
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On The All Seeing Eye, Wayne Shorter expands his canvas to a large ensemble that includes Freddie Hubbard, James Spaulding, Grachan Moncur III, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Joe Chambers, Alan Shorter, and Gene Bertoncini. Conceived as a musical cosmology, the album uses layered brass and reeds, intricate voicings, and shifting rhythmic underpinnings to explore themes of creation, judgement, and human frailty. Shorter’s own solos rise out of dense textures rather t…
Juju
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Juju finds Wayne Shorter working with McCoy Tyner on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – essentially the John Coltrane Quartet’s engine repurposed. The tunes, many with subtly African‑inflected rhythmic ideas, open broad spaces for exploration while maintaining clear thematic profiles. Shorter’s improvisations wind through these spaces with a storyteller’s sense of pacing, lingering on simple motifs before leaping into unexpected intervals. …
Speak No Evil
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** On Speak No Evil, Wayne Shorter fronts a quintet of Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Herbie Hancockon piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. Shorter’s compositions are haunted and luminous: melodies that are instantly memorable yet subtly elusive, harmonies rich with unresolved tension, forms deceptively straightforward. His tenor lines slide between inside and outside, often stating a theme in stark tones before twisting it into ambiguous shapes. The ba…
Newk's Time
** Special Time-Limited Offer ** Newk’s Time captures Sonny Rollins in a quartet with Wynton Kelly on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and “Philly” Joe Jones on drums, midway through one of the most fertile stretches any saxophonist has enjoyed. Rollins brings his huge, flexible sound and restless imagination to a set of standards and originals, bending them to his will without ever disrespecting the material. Rhythmic play is central: he toys with the beat, displaces phrases, and locates unexpected…