Out of all the specialist jazz record labels that have come and gone over the years, none has had the longevity or produced music of such high quality as Blue Note. In the 1950s and 1960s, albums by legends Horace Silver, Dexter Gordon, Hank Mobley, Jimmy Heath - to name but a few - laid down a body of work that provided a wealth of inspiration for the the next wave of modern jazz musicians. A bit like giving a writer the complete works of Shakespeare and saying 'pick the bones out of that'.
JazzMain, the Edinburgh based quartet, have selected tunes composed by or associated with the above artists and successfully put their own stamp on them. Paying respect to the past whilst at the same time serving them up for today's hard bop fans.
Tough tenor Nick Gould has the tone and the technique for the project bringing to mind Gordon (with fewer quotes) and Mobley (with a harder sound). Grossart, Harkness and Dorrian slot in well laying down the perfect cushion as well as playing piquant solos of their own.
If I'd had any second thoughts about toddling along to the Globe for JazzMain's gig on Sunday, which of course I hadn't, but, if I had, Blue Note Nights would certainly have blown those reservations away.
So, when you go to the Globe on Sunday night (April 14 - 8:00pm) not only will you enjoy the gig but you'll also have the opportunity to take home a memento of the evening with you. Lance
Liberated Brother; My Groove, Your Move; Mamacita; Full House*; You Stepped Out of a Dream; This I Dig of You; Short Story; CTA; Soy Califa
*Full House is a Wes Montgomery composition. To the best of my knowledge Montgomery never recorded for Blue Note but that, I suspect was for geographical rather than musical reasons as the label was based in NYC and Montgomery was out on the west coast. However, in 2006, 38 years after Montgomery's death, guitarist Pat Martino recorded a tribute to Montgomery for Blue Note which included Full House so all is kosher!
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