CJ Shearn

Haha. Well retro is in for millennials, my generation though I was born in 1981 but I agree a lot of recent Blue Note covers are nondescript but at the same time, I think we have to move on since the Reid Miles era... that said, the last iconic Blue Note cover of the last 40 years for me is One Night With Blue Note Preserved I kind of like it but his daughter designed it apparently. I guess for recent BN covers Melissa Aldana's and Gerald Clayton's are more interesting

I kind of like it but his daughter designed it apparently. I guess for recent BN covers Melissa Aldana's and Gerald Clayton's are more interesting

Has anyone heard it? It's pretty good, I'm streaming until I can get the CD. Probably will review, but it's the best Blue Note I've heard from him besides Live At Montreux because there's no commercial pretense here, it's just Ronnie being Ronnie without the need to cater to capitalistic concerns like his 70's stuff. I think for many, YMMV, and may not to be to taste like the last two Dr. Lonnie albums on BN but I enjoyed this one.

I'm not buying this... I already have Hub Tones, Hubcap, The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard and The Body And Soul on AP SACD and Open Sesame on Audiowave XRCD in my rebuilt collection. I used to have Ready For Freddie as a Connoisseur since I was 14, Breaking Point, Blue Spirits and Night Of the Cookers as RVG's, the only one I never owned was Goin Up which was OOP. Casual fans won't buy this so what's the aim? Is it Mosaic's way as they can do material from Universal, a way to counter cheap PD sets which do not have the sound, or documentation? I love Mosaic but sorry to say the Joe Henderson was probably the last set I'll ever buy from them.

Thanks for reading! And as said above, four new Blue Note releases I will stream before purchase are Chapel, Reboot, and The Spirit of Ntu. I also need to hear the first Julian Lage on the label before his new one.

My pleasure. I almost want to send it to my contact Cem Kurosman there but to keep in the good graces of their promo list I probably shouldn't.

I like that balanced viewpoint actually. I will purchase Makhathini's new one and have to check out the new Joel Ross. It is true like the old days they do play on each others records. I like what I heard from DOMi and JD Beck so far. I love Derrick Hodge as a player, and composer at times, "Over There" on Blanchard's Flow is great, but though I was kind in my review his last one didn't really stick with me after review

The new Melissa Aldana is nice, as is the singles from the new Ronnie Foster, the first Gerald Clayton, Happenings was great as was Nduduzo Makathini (though the sound sucked) I look forward to streaming Clayton's new one. I have to check out Immanuel Wilkins 7th Hand and see if I want to review. So hard to keep up streaming new music. I got the files from them from the Ornette box and they sound terrific. Why not do a set like the Complete Morgan Lighthouse set there on CD so fans like myself who never owned the initial CD's could own them? Did the Lee set on CD do bad numbers? I love that set They are shitting the bed with the new Charles Lloyd by releasing the three separate CD's but LP is getting a nice box set. It sucks because Lloyds 8 Souls I never investigated on CD or streaming because the complete concert was only available on LP. The Tone Poet masterings I dont understand why they can't be available streaming, AT LEAST when say inferior masterings like some RVG'S are still physically available. Perhaps the brand should have gone under after Lundvall was replaced by Don Was

This list is gold. Lots of new stuff to hear.

My pleasure

I figured

OP ed I wrote. Enjoy https://medium.com/@cjshearn/change-makes-you-wanna-hustle-blue-note-until-it-wasnt-blue-note-anymore-377fcf18b9eb

OP ed I wrote. Enjoy https://medium.com/@cjshearn/change-makes-you-wanna-hustle-blue-note-until-it-wasnt-blue-note-anymore-377fcf18b9eb

What I've always been confused by is he's credited with playing drums on The New Boss Guitar of George Benson but the sound of the drums and the feel clearly is Joe Dukes. That was cut at Regent Studios. I have the George Benson and Jack McDuff Prestige 2fer reissue from 2006 or 7 Concord put out

RIP. Last week, Bernard Wright now this.

Hugely important for the trans community, as one of the first trans musicians, in the sense she didn't have to hide her identity, unlike Billy Tipton for exxample

Wow... Really shocking news to hear, RIP. The fact he and his wife had a developmentally disabled child really, my heart goes out, my late mother ignored the advice of those to institutionalize me and here I am.

Gotta disagree Ken. I reinvestigated the Warner Bros years and found a lot of great music there and live recordings show it was even better. What I found boring if we discuss vamps is Derrick Hodge's last album. I'm just not that into that strain of hip hop/R&B. The influence is fine but the actually contemporary genre I'm not that into but I have friends who are so it's all good.

Oh shit! Great news. Ever since two different firms have handled ECM's digital promo distribution it's been harder to keep up. Their former PR, Tina Pelikan was terrific, I got new release download links in my email without fail. I still gotta listen to the new one with Vijay Iyer and Linda May Han Oh, Ayumi Tanaka Trio and Jorge Rossy Puerta

Wow. Incredible article and one that offers a lot of food for thought Yeah I get what you mean how major labels would at least release some really cool stuff

What's changed? Nothing really, just a transition to streaming and labels still kind of neglecting stuff beyond the big sellers.

Yeah, that one is great. Very upset I lost both Montreux Summit CD volumes in the fire. Looked up prices on discogs today, ridiculous. Will just have to stream those in the meantime.

The title track too. I'm a Jimmy Smith Blue Note completist so I'll go for it again. I had before the fire his entire Blue Note output on CD, including the three Japanese albums. Started collecting JOS on CD at age 13 so that was a bit of a huge blow. Yes, the below posted videos, a few on Crazy! Baby (his best solos), Bucket!, one on Prayer Meetin' the Salle Pleyel, Mai 28 1965 discs, and I think a few solos on Bashin, the trio material. Was he the greatest guitarist ever? No when you look at who JOS had as guitarists, especially Burrell, Benson and Wes. Eddie McFadden was a better soloist IMO in regards to Jimmy's "regular" guitarists. Quentin? he was there to provide a buffer for Jimmy to cook, and when you view it at that angle, he's not half bad.

Yes! That's right. I had both those albums pre fire. You are welcome. Kind of surprised it brought forth quite a bit of discussion.

Definitely many perspectives should be considered Yes... many of those CTI'S are not smooth in the least. Now once we get to David Matthews as arranger, that's where things get SUPER generic. There was an interview I read with Marcus Miller once, he said at first he thought Bob James was Black without seeing his picture which was really funny and quite a compliment. His arrangement of "Don't Mess With Mr. T" then using the same material for Grover's Soul Box is masterful IMO