September 30, 2014
Uncompromising Expression is the first official illustrated history of Blue Note Records. The 400-page hardcover book is authored by Richard Havers and tells the 75 year story of the label that has always represented The Finest In Jazz. Also released is a 5-CD companion box set curated by Havers that opens with the label’s very first artist, boogie woogie pianist Meade “Lux” Lewis, and closes 75 years later with the progressive sounds of bassist Derrick Hodge, also featuring greats such as Art Blakey, Donald Byrd, John Coltrane, Norah Jones, Thelonious Monk, and Cassandra Wilson along the way.
Each of the box set discs covers a specific era of the label’s evolution, from boogie to bop, soul jazz to the roots revival of the 1990s, and 21st Century trailblazers including Robert Glasper and Gregory Porter. The new collection is presented in a beautiful slipcase with a 48-page booklet including a complete discography of its 75 featured singles.
Disc 1: From Boogie To Bop 1939 – 1953
Disc 2: Messengers, Preachers and Hard Bop 1953 – 1958
Disc 3: Struttin’, Moanin’ and Somethin’ Else 1958 – 1960
Disc 4: Bossa, Blues and Hits 1961 – 1965
Disc 5: Can You Dig It? 1969 – 2014
Authored by Richard Havers, the new Blue Note: Uncompromising Expression book is the first official illustrated history of Blue Note Records. Commemorating the storied label’s 75th anniversary, the 400-page hardcover book includes forewords by Wayne Shorter, Robert Glasper, and Blue Note President Don Was. The book details Blue Note’s impact on popular culture and celebrates more than seven decades of extraordinary music, as well as the label’s ongoing commitment to “Uncompromising Expression,” the tenet first set forth by Blue Note’s founder, Alfred Lion, a German immigrant who came to America to pursue his dreams and his love of music.
Tracing the evolution of jazz from the boogie woogie and hot jazz of the 1930s, through bebop, hard-bop, the avant-garde and fusion, to the eclectic mix Blue Note releases today, the book also narrates a complex social history from the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany to the developments in music and technology in the late 20th century. Featuring classic album artwork, unseen contact sheets, rare ephemera from the Blue Note Archives, commentary from some of the biggest names in jazz today, and feature reviews of seventy-five key albums, this is the definitive book on the legendary label.
