Blue Note/UMe to Release 5-CD Singles Box Set & Book “Blue Note: Uncompromising Expression” on Nov. 4th, 2014

Blue Note Records’ 75th Anniversary Celebrations Continue With Commemorative ‘Blue Note: Uncompromising Expression’ 5-CD Singles Box Set & Hardbound Book to Be Released November 4

Blue Note Records’ 75th anniversary celebrations continue in full swing. In addition to fall releases from Jason Moran, Otis Brown III, and Kandace Springs, as well as the continuation of the label’s successful vinyl reissue series, Blue Note/UMe will release a new label-spanning 5-CD singles box set as a companion piece to a new hardcover book, both titled Blue Note: Uncompromising Expression. The book and 75-track singles collection are both available now for preorder ahead of their November 4 release.

The Blue Note: Uncompromising Expression singles box opens with the label’s very first artist, pianist Meade “Lux” Lewis, and closes seventy five years later with the beautifully progressive sounds of Derrick Hodge. A sweeping overview of one of the world’s most diverse and celebrated Jazz catalogs, the 75-track collection also features singles by Jazz greats Art Blakey, Donald Byrd, John Coltrane, Norah Jones, Thelonious Monk, Cassandra Wilson, and many more. Curated by Jazz expert and author of the Uncompromising Expression book, Richard Havers, each of the collection’s 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? 1953 – 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.

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Blue Note Records was founded when a German immigrant named Alfred Lion produced his first recording session with two boogie woogie pianists on January 6, 1939 in New York City. Blue Note has gone on to represent The Finest In Jazz, tracing the entire history of the music from Boogie Woogie, Hot Jazz and Swing, through Bebop, Hard Bop, Post Bop, Soul Jazz, Avant-Garde, and Fusion, and into Jazz’s numerous modern day incarnations. Blue Note’s legendary catalog includes a true Who’s Who of Jazz history: Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Jimmy Smith, Dexter Gordon, Grant Green, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Donald Byrd, Andrew Hill, Ornette Coleman, and many more.

Blue Note has since established itself as the most respected and longest running Jazz label in the world, remaining home to some of the most prominent stars and cutting-edge innovators in Jazz today while at the same time broadening its horizons to include quality music in many genres. Under the leadership of current President Don Was, Blue Note has renewed its dedication to Lion’s original vision that “any particular style of playing which represents an authentic way of musical feeling is genuine expression.” In the 21st century Lion’s words still ring true and provide a blueprint that includes Robert Glasper Experiment’s visionary melding of Jazz, R&B, and Hip-Hop and Elvis Costello’s funky collaboration with The Roots, as well as bringing both the legendary saxophonist Wayne Shorter and vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson back to the label where they made their early classic albums, and continuing to sign singular voices in Jazz such as saxophonist Ravi Coltrane and vocalist Gregory Porter. Blue Note Records is one of the flagship labels of the Capitol Music Group.