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Blue Note: Uncompromising Expression
Purveyor of extraordinary music and an arbiter of cool, Blue Note is the definitive jazz label—signing the best artists, pioneering the best recording techniques, and lead cover design trends with punchy, iconic artwork and typography that shaped the way we see the music itself. The roster of greats who cut indelible sides for the label include Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Bud Powell, Norah Jones, and many more. Published for Blue Note's seventy-fifth anniversary, this landmark volume is the first official illustrated story of the label, from 1939 roots to its renaissance today. 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.
399 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 9, 2020
Gorgeously illustrated, this book is far more than merely a coffee table accessory. It recounts the history of this mythic label of jazz from the early days of Alfred Lion - the ideas man, Francis Wolff - the ingenious photographer, and Reid Miles - the ingenious graphic designer including profiling some of their more extraordinary albums. It also talks about the revival of the label as it took new directions with vocal jazz (Norah Jones, Gregory Porter) and hip-hop/jazz efforts (maudlin, Robert Glasper Experiment). But it is really the extraordinary photography and album covers that make this such a joyous read. Keep Spotify nearby to listen the the tracks that are highlighted throughout! Jazz is not dead!
January 8, 2015
The perfect companion to this righteous tome is Spotify.
I have a lot of the Blue Note cd's, but Spotify has the mother lode.
The listening experience is enhanced, by the ability to call up whichever song/album you may be reading about.
The history sections immerse you deeper into the Blue Note experience.
What a wildly creative era, with such first class artists.
If you are a Blue Note fan acquiring this beautiful volume is a no brainer.
June 20, 2017
“Uncompromising Expression” — a phrase taken from Blue Note Records’s original manifesto — is a beautifully designed and lovingly written celebration of the storied label, from its humble beginnings right up to its 75th anniversary preparations in 2014. This substantial book is appropriately bursting with co-founder Francis Wolff’s striking session photographs and graphic artist Reed Miles’s iconic album sleeves. With the bulk of the proceedings focused on Blue Note’s fifties and sixties heyday, and with author Richard Havers’s text chronicling the label’s history deftly woven into the mix, “Uncompromising Expression” is as finely balanced and richly captured as a Rudy Van Gelder recording. And, as you might expect from any book that pays tribute to a label that released more than 800 titles in its original independent incarnation (before selling to Liberty Records in 1966), we also get something of an introductory buyer’s guide, highlighting not just the biggest sellers or best-known albums, but those that served as important milestones for Blue Note in particular, or, as was often the case, for jazz in general. Aficionados will, of course, find themselves beaming at every turn of the page, but lovers of photography and design beyond the jazz world will also find much to enjoy in this stunner.
December 10, 2023
What started as a fascination about the beautiful covers of these Jazz Albums, became a full blown fixation on the history of one of the most important Jazz Labels to have ever existed. This book is one part coffee table book for flipping through, and one part history of the label and the emergence of Hard Bop and Bebop.
Buying it is an oof, but at least the library had it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Buying it is an oof, but at least the library had it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
May 13, 2015
This lavish book is a gem. Celebrating 75 years of the jazz label, Blue Note, it is packed with fine photographs and intelligent text.
It will probably appeal to people who know the story of Blue Note but for those who don't: Alfred Lion, a German Jew with a love of jazz flees Germany and settles in the States. Here, he meets left-wing journalist (a regular contributor to the Daily Worker), Max Margulis, and they set up the Blue Note label. Soon, they are joined by Francis Wolff, a friend of Lion from Germany, who is also fleeing the Nazis.
With Lions producing and being joined by recording engineer, Rudy Von Gelder, they were to help create some of the greatest (and popular) jazz albums of the fifties and sixties. Mainly associated with hard bop (bebop meets R&B, blues, soul and gospel)they created a 'sound' which was recognisably Blue Note. Musicians such as John Coltrane, Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith and Art Blakey recorded superb albums for the label. Not that it was only hard bop; with Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy and Cecil Taylor releasing free-jazz classics for them.
But whatever the genre of music, what makes this a great book as opposed to just a book about great music, is that the albums not only sounded fantastic but looked it too. Jimmy Smith's Back at the Chicken Shack, John Coltrane's Blue Train and Horace Silver's Song for My Father for example, are sublime albums and look equally as good. Designed by Reid Miles and with photography by Wolff, the covers were varied but shared a style. Thankfully, Thames and Hudson don't stint on showing them. Nor do they with photographs of the musicians who are effortlessly cool. Aptly, sub-titled Uncompromising Expressions, it could equally be Uncompromising Hipness.
You can spend hours reading this or just enjoying the pictures. A great way to both is to purchase the CD box set which has been compiled to accompany it and listen to the music.
(There is also a similar book on the Verve label, which is also recommended).
See also my blog on jazz album covers of the 1950s:
https://philbrettdotme.wordpress.com
It will probably appeal to people who know the story of Blue Note but for those who don't: Alfred Lion, a German Jew with a love of jazz flees Germany and settles in the States. Here, he meets left-wing journalist (a regular contributor to the Daily Worker), Max Margulis, and they set up the Blue Note label. Soon, they are joined by Francis Wolff, a friend of Lion from Germany, who is also fleeing the Nazis.
With Lions producing and being joined by recording engineer, Rudy Von Gelder, they were to help create some of the greatest (and popular) jazz albums of the fifties and sixties. Mainly associated with hard bop (bebop meets R&B, blues, soul and gospel)they created a 'sound' which was recognisably Blue Note. Musicians such as John Coltrane, Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith and Art Blakey recorded superb albums for the label. Not that it was only hard bop; with Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy and Cecil Taylor releasing free-jazz classics for them.
But whatever the genre of music, what makes this a great book as opposed to just a book about great music, is that the albums not only sounded fantastic but looked it too. Jimmy Smith's Back at the Chicken Shack, John Coltrane's Blue Train and Horace Silver's Song for My Father for example, are sublime albums and look equally as good. Designed by Reid Miles and with photography by Wolff, the covers were varied but shared a style. Thankfully, Thames and Hudson don't stint on showing them. Nor do they with photographs of the musicians who are effortlessly cool. Aptly, sub-titled Uncompromising Expressions, it could equally be Uncompromising Hipness.
You can spend hours reading this or just enjoying the pictures. A great way to both is to purchase the CD box set which has been compiled to accompany it and listen to the music.
(There is also a similar book on the Verve label, which is also recommended).
See also my blog on jazz album covers of the 1950s:
https://philbrettdotme.wordpress.com
June 7, 2023
What a journey!
The best jazz record label just got an excellent book to tell its history and stories.
Gray read to everyone interested in jazz! Imho it is highly recommended!
The best jazz record label just got an excellent book to tell its history and stories.
Gray read to everyone interested in jazz! Imho it is highly recommended!
June 24, 2023
In the annals of jazz history, there are few labels that can claim to be the greatest. It really comes down to three: Verve, Impulse, and the illustrious Blue Note. In terms of breadth and quality and aesthetic influence, to my mind, Blue Note reigns supreme.
This superb and gorgeous volume traces a concise history of this legendary jazz label from its beginnings into the early parts of the 21st century. It’s a big coffee table style book, replete with beautiful photographs of not only the incredible album covers that Blue Note became known for, but the artists that graced the label.
The book is divided up into vaguely defined eras of the label. The first traces its humble beginnings and the journey of Alfred Lion, Max Margulis, and Francis Wolff to creating one of the most iconic record labels in jazz history. The story of why they all ended up in New York and how they came to start the label was fascinating. Quickly, the story shifts gears to the musicians, but all the while the founders and creative directors of this enterprise stay in the picture.
At the end of each section, there are several features on important albums from the timeframe that was covered. Each one features beautiful renderings of the album art and some other photos of the musicians. I was surprised, as someone who has delved pretty deeply into Blue Note’s catalog, that there were plenty of albums I was unfamiliar with. It was exciting to see that there are lots of new records for me to listen to that are known as classics. The writing about each of the albums is concise and incisive, giving excellent perspective on them.
This is no fault of the author, but the book got less interesting toward the end, simply because the recorded output of Blue Note declined. Though they try admirably, it’s tough to make subpar music sound exciting and compelling. It was still extremely interesting to read about Blue Note’s descent into mediocrity after being bought by a corporate conglomerate–a tale as old as time.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to gain a greater understanding of one of the most essential record labels in jazz–and generally music–history.
One last thing I found funny: the author only admits to disliking one album he covers in the entire book. Fittingly, it is Unit Structures by iconoclast and all around genius composer Cecil Taylor. I thought it was quite funny that if anyone in Blue Note’s recorded output was going to be disliked by the author, it was the misunderstood genius who is generally regarded as one of the most important jazz composers of the 20th century.
This superb and gorgeous volume traces a concise history of this legendary jazz label from its beginnings into the early parts of the 21st century. It’s a big coffee table style book, replete with beautiful photographs of not only the incredible album covers that Blue Note became known for, but the artists that graced the label.
The book is divided up into vaguely defined eras of the label. The first traces its humble beginnings and the journey of Alfred Lion, Max Margulis, and Francis Wolff to creating one of the most iconic record labels in jazz history. The story of why they all ended up in New York and how they came to start the label was fascinating. Quickly, the story shifts gears to the musicians, but all the while the founders and creative directors of this enterprise stay in the picture.
At the end of each section, there are several features on important albums from the timeframe that was covered. Each one features beautiful renderings of the album art and some other photos of the musicians. I was surprised, as someone who has delved pretty deeply into Blue Note’s catalog, that there were plenty of albums I was unfamiliar with. It was exciting to see that there are lots of new records for me to listen to that are known as classics. The writing about each of the albums is concise and incisive, giving excellent perspective on them.
This is no fault of the author, but the book got less interesting toward the end, simply because the recorded output of Blue Note declined. Though they try admirably, it’s tough to make subpar music sound exciting and compelling. It was still extremely interesting to read about Blue Note’s descent into mediocrity after being bought by a corporate conglomerate–a tale as old as time.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to gain a greater understanding of one of the most essential record labels in jazz–and generally music–history.
One last thing I found funny: the author only admits to disliking one album he covers in the entire book. Fittingly, it is Unit Structures by iconoclast and all around genius composer Cecil Taylor. I thought it was quite funny that if anyone in Blue Note’s recorded output was going to be disliked by the author, it was the misunderstood genius who is generally regarded as one of the most important jazz composers of the 20th century.
March 22, 2021
While Blue Note's music was not the introductory piece that led me to the tunnel of jazz. That, as it probably was for many people, belongs to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. That being said, it was the catalogue of Blue Note that propelled my desire to invest in the genre, with outstanding artists like Hank Mobley, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, and Wayne Shorter capturing my ears in a way that left me hungry to search for more.
Richard Havers' Blue Note: Uncompromising Expression is a perfect companion of the music that it celebrates as it dives deep into the history of the label that not only elevates the reputation of its artists but also of its co-founders and frequent collaborators that have made it to what it amounts itself to be today. Reading through this hefty book compelled me to further explore everything Blue Note has to offer, hoping to one day completely understand the feeling of "Uncompromising Expression" that its founders were harvesting.
Richard Havers' Blue Note: Uncompromising Expression is a perfect companion of the music that it celebrates as it dives deep into the history of the label that not only elevates the reputation of its artists but also of its co-founders and frequent collaborators that have made it to what it amounts itself to be today. Reading through this hefty book compelled me to further explore everything Blue Note has to offer, hoping to one day completely understand the feeling of "Uncompromising Expression" that its founders were harvesting.
January 20, 2023
A beautiful, stunning book in every way. Wonderful hardback Thames & Hudson edition. Wonderfully insightful writing covering the legendary recordings, records, artists, producers (especially Van Gelder) and record covers (unprecedented and trailblazing) of the peerless record label that is Blue Note Records.
And of course, full of those great photos of their artists that we associate with Blue Note Records.
A must for any serious Jazz fan and/or record enthusiast.
A five star no brainer.
And of course, full of those great photos of their artists that we associate with Blue Note Records.
A must for any serious Jazz fan and/or record enthusiast.
A five star no brainer.
October 3, 2022
A brilliant photographic history of Blue Note records and the artists signed to the label. This is definitely one for the jazz fans. The book runs in chronological sequence and records the albums produced by the company and the featured artists on each. A joy to read.
October 11, 2022
És un baül interminable de descobertes musicals, té un interès especial per aquells a qui els hi agradi la fotografia. Un llibre que celebra la vida d'un dels segells més importants de la història de la música i, concretament, del jazz.
April 10, 2021
Nice historical overview of the label and some of its releases. Gorgeous photography and design throughout.
January 27, 2024
Excellent resource for any fan of Blue Note. Lots of great archival photos and plenty of their best covers along with a history of the label and short summaries of important albums.
February 4, 2017
A fantastic look at the Blue Note catalogue. A visual document of astounding proportion that tracks the trajectory of the shape of Jazz past the Cool era into the steams of Post Bop, Funk Jazz, Harmolodics and Free Jazz that informs music to this day. Among these pages I encounted album artwork of long cherished friends in my collection, but it also sent me digging into new Artists I had overlooked or whos records had not been available in my small town. An excellent read for any Jazz fan to reminisce and at the same time uncover hidden treasures.
To quote Phil Woods "Those were the days when giants walked the earth"
To quote Phil Woods "Those were the days when giants walked the earth"
October 16, 2015
Let's be honest... this is an advertisement for Blue Note records...somewhat akin to buying records based on reviews in Pulse magazine... but it's an ad for a brand that I really love. And, I did learn a lot that I didn't know. What an incredible label!
July 4, 2018
If you haven't fallen in love with Blue Note yet, this book will make it happen.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews