Blue Note honors the legacy of the brilliant and beloved trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and educator Ron Miles with the release of Old Main Chapel, a sublime 2011 live recording featuring Miles’ trio with guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Brian... read more
Acclaimed pianist and composer Aaron Parks has returned to Blue Note Records where he released his influential label debut Invisible Cinema in 2008. The visionary album will receive its first-ever vinyl release on June 21 as part of Blue Note’s Classic Vinyl Reissue Series and is available for... read more
Nduduzo Makhathini has shared “Izinkonjana,” the second single to be revealed from the South African pianist, composer, and healer’s forthcoming third Blue Note album uNomkhubulwane out June 7. The enchanting ballad is imbued with the gospelish elegance of such South African greats as... read more
Blue Note Records’ 85th Anniversary celebrations continue with the announcement of the new photography exhibition The All Seeing Eye: Blue Note Records Through the Lens of Francis Wolff presented by The Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame which opens at the Boch Center in Boston on May 1. Other... read more
South African pianist, composer, healer, and philosopher Nduduzo Makhathini has announced the June 7 release of his third Blue Note album uNomkhubulwane. The transcendent three-movement suite—which pays homage to the Zulu Goddess uNomkhubulwane and explores Africa’s tragic history of... read more
In the trio format he’s favored throughout his career, the guitarist and composer Bill Frisell has always projected an orchestral scope through his remarkably complete sense of harmony, a unique gift for melodies that remain with you long after a performance, and a keen feel for how dynamic range... read more
MICHAEL CUSCUNA September 20, 1948 – April 20, 2024 It is not easy to bid farewell to a best friend, knowing that it’s a final goodbye. Michael Cuscuna was one of the best friends this music has had. It's simply too limiting to call him the leading jazz reissue producer of the past fifty years — which he certainly was. He was much more. As a producer of new jazz, R&B and rock recordings and as... read more
By Evan Haga In the trio format he’s favored throughout his career, the guitarist and composer Bill Frisell has always projected an orchestral scope — through his remarkably complete sense of harmony, a unique gift for melodies that remain with you long after a performance, and a keen feel for how dynamic range can be used to convey emotion. But on his new double album, his fourth release for Blue Note... read more
By Evan Haga A fascinating paradox defines Echoes Of The Inner Prophet, Melissa Aldana’s follow-up to her acclaimed Blue Note Records debut as a leader, 2022’s 12 Stars. As the GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist and composer explains, her new album reflects her “personal journey, with an especially introspective point of view. The inner prophet is my own self, now older, who has the knowledge and the intuition... read more
By Adolfo Alzuphar Unsettled by the state of the world in 2020, Charles Lloyd began conceiving of a musical offering in the form of a new studio recording featuring a new band, a quartet of unrepressed sensibility that would be a first-time convening of four distinctive voices with the legendary saxophonist joined by pianist Jason Moran, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Brian Blade. In Spring 2023, around... read more
DON WAS ON NORAH JONES VISIONS: A while back I set out to learn more about what differentiates a truly great artist from the rest of the pack and charted the narrative development of Bruce Springsteen’s songs during his career. Over decades, he had traveled on a Hero’s Journey straight from the pages of Joseph Campbell’s books and ultimately returned home with the knowledge that having someone to talk to... read more