rattlebackrecords

Blue Note Tone Poet

Blue Note Tone Poet

Quick View
Vinyl LP pressing. Recorded in 1956 for producer Tom Wilson's short-lived Boston-based label Transition Records, Byrd Blows On Beacon Hill presented trumpeter Donald Byrd in a relaxed and intimate quartet setting with his frequent collaborator Doug Watkins on bass along with Boston area musicians Ray Santisi on piano and Jim Zitano on drums. The standards heavy set was captured on a rainy Spring afternoon in the Beacon Hill home of engineer Steve Fassett which provided a casual atmosphere that gave the album both it's title and it's easy-going charm. Byrd is at his lyrical best on Joe Sullivan's tune "Little Rock Getaway" as well versions of "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," "If I Love Again," and "Stella by Starlight." The trumpeter lays out to let the trio shine on "People Will Say We're in Love" and "What's New."
Donald Byrd - Byrd Blows On Beacon Hill (Blue Note Tone Poet Series)
$40.98
Quick View
Vinyl LP pressing. The late-1960s and early-1970s were a wildly creative period for Bobby Hutcherson with the vibraphonist freely exploring a wide range of stylistic possibilities from post-bop and the avant-garde to fusion and Latin Jazz. The cutting-edge 1969 session Medina-which wouldn't be first released until 1980 as part of the LT Series-documented one of Hutcherson's most remarkable band line-ups featuring two of his frequent collaborators-Harold Land on tenor saxophone and flute and Joe Chambers on drums-along with Stanley Cowell on piano and Reggie Johnson on bass. The set presented a pair of original compositions each by Hutcherson, Cowell, and Chambers that explored a variety of moods from the churning rhythms of "Avis" and "Medina" to the more atmospheric realms of "Comes Spring" and "Orientale."
Bobby Hutcherson - Medina (Blue Note Tone Poet Series)
$40.98
Quick View

Jackie McLean’s 1962 album Let Freedom Ring reflected the change in the air of the early ‘60s: both the musical freedoms being explored by the emergent avant-garde movement and the social freedoms sought by the ascendent civil rights movement. This four-song set featuring the alto saxophonist with Walter Davis Jr. on piano, Herbie Lewis on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums melds the bluesy language of hard bop with the bristling energy of The New Thing. McLean’s emotive horn wails, shrieks, and soothes as the quartet moves through three striking McLean originals: “Melody For Melonae” (dedicated to his daughter), “Rene” (dedicated to his son), and “Omega” (dedicated to his mother). A plaintive rendition of the Bud Powell ballad “I’ll Keep Loving You” rounds out the date.

Jackie Mclean - Let Freedom Ring (Blue Note Tone Poet Series)
$40.98
Quick View

Recorded in 1956 for producer Tom Wilson’s short-lived Boston-based label Transition Records, Watkins At Large was the first of only two albums that the great bassist Doug Watkins would make as a leader. The Detroit native had moved to New York and begun to garner recognition for his contributions to the Art Blakey-Horace Silver co-led iteration of the Jazz Messengers as well as Bud Powell’s trio when Wilson decided to give him the opportunity to front his own recording date. Along with a first-rate ensemble featuring trumpeter Donald Byrd, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, guitarist Kenny Burrell, pianist Duke Jordan, and drummer Art Taylor, Watkins swings through a stellar set of blues, ballads, and more including originals written by Jordan, Burrell, and Thad Jones.

Doug Watkins - Watkins At Large (Blue Note Tone Poet Series)
$40.98
Quick View

Kenny Dorham added stellar entries to the catalogs of Blue Note, Riverside, and New Jazz throughout the 1950s as he solidified his reputation as a leading trumpeter and composer on the jazz scene. He began 1961 in the studio for Blue Note recording his excellent album Whistle Stop and later that year cut his first date for Pacific Jazz, Inta Somethin’, a spirited live recording that captured Dorham leading a quintet with alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, pianist Walter Bishop Jr., bassist Leroy Vinnegar, and drummer Art Taylor at The Jazz Workshop in San Francisco. The band is firing on all cylinders throughout this set of four standards bookended by the Dorham originals “Us” and “San Francisco Beat.” A buoyant version of “It Could Happen To You” is performed quartet as a Dorham showcase, while the trumpeter lays out on “Let’s Face The Music And Dance” and “Lover Man” to give the spotlight to McLean.

Kenny Dorham  / Mclean,Jackie - Inta Somethin' (Blue Note Tone Poet Series)
$40.98
Quick View
Vinyl LP pressing. Recorded in 1955 for producer Tom Wilson's short-lived Boston-based label Transition Records, Byrd's Eye View was trumpeter Donald Byrd's first issued recording as a leader. The date presented Byrd at the helm of what was then the current line-up of The Jazz Messengers with tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, pianist Horace Silver, bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer Art Blakey. Local Boston area trumpeter Joe Gordon joins the band for some friendly brass sparring with Byrd on several numbers, further adding to the album's jovial air of a blowing session. Everyone is in fine form on this 5-song set with Side A consisting of an extended stroll through Watkins' laid-back original "Doug's Blues" followed by some inspired trading between Byrd and Gordon on "El Sino." A beautiful rendition of the ballad "Everything Happens To Me" and two swinging Mobley pieces comprise Side B, bringing this highly-enjoyable date to a close.
Donald Byrd - Byrd's Eye View (Blue Note Tone Poet Vinyl Series)
$40.98
Quick View
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing housed in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket. Recorded in 1957, Kenny Burrell's 3rd session as a leader for Blue Note presented the guitarist's signature stylings with a crack team of hard boppers featuring Horace Silver, Hank Mobley, Doug Watkins, & Louis Hayes. Previously only issued on vinyl in Japan this swinging set is given a new shine with this mono Tone Poet Vinyl Edition produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tapes.
$40.98
Quick View

The prodigious trumpeter Freddie Hubbard debuted on Blue Note in 1960 and produced an astounding run of recordings over the first half of the decade that culminated with Blue Spirits, which was the last of his 1960s studio albums for the label. This bluesy and spirited album presented five evocative Hubbard originals, each of which was given a richly textured arrangement for an ensemble that included a dynamic four-horn lineup. Drawn from two different sessions, the first date produced the gratifying opening track "Soul Surge" and the percolating "Cunga Black" with Hubbard joined by James Spaulding on alto saxophone and flute, Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone, Kiane Zawadi on euphonium, Harold Mabern on piano, Larry Ridley on bass, Clifford Jarvis on drums, and Big Black on congas. A week later Hubbard returned to Van Gelder Studio with Spaulding, Zawadi, and a slightly different lineup including Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone, McCoy Tyner on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Pete LaRoca on drums. This second session rounded out the album with hard-charging performances of "Outer Forces" and "Jodo," as well as the mesmerizing title track.

This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Record Technology Inc. (RTI), and packaged in a deluxe tip-on jacket.

FEATURES:

  • 180gram Vinyl LP
  • Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series
  • Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio
  • Mastered from the Original Analog Tapes
  • Deluxe Tip-On Jacket

Freddie Hubbard Blue Spirits (Blue Note Tone Poet Series) 180gram LP

Freddie Hubbard - Blue Spirits (Blue Note Tone Poet Series) [LP]
$40.98
Quick View

John Coltrane's first great masterpiece, Blue Train, is the legendary saxophonist's sole album as a leader for Blue Note Records and is now available in its original mono form. Blue Note Tone Poet Series features all-analog, remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging. 

Also Available: Stereo 2LP and 2CD

John Coltrane - Blue Train (Blue Note Tone Poet Series) [Mono LP]
$40.98 Video

        
back to top