In celebration of the 80th anniversary of Blue Note Records in 2019, the Classic Series presents affordable, high-quality reissues in standard packaging that are mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal Media in Germany. The pressings are all-analog whenever an analog source is available, with Gray cutting directly from the Original Master Tapes.

• Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series
• LP 180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl
• All Analog Mastering
• Cut from the Original Master Tapes
• Cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio
• Pressed at Optimal Media in Germany

The Classic Vinyl Reissue Series is the continuation of our acclaimed Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series, which was created in celebration of the 80th anniversary of Blue Note Records in 2019. The series presents affordable, high-quality reissues in standard packaging that are mastered by Kevin Gray of Cohearent Audio and manufactured on 180g vinyl at Optimal Media in Germany. The pressings are all-analog whenever an analog source is available, with Gray mastering directly from the original master tapes. Blue Note Records has recorded the legends of Jazz and has traced the entire evolution of the music from the early days of Boogie Woogie, Hot Jazz and Swing, through the innovations of Bebop, Hard Bop, Post-Bop, Soul Jazz, Avant-Garde, and 70s Fusion, and into the vibrant sounds of Jazz’s many modern-day incarnations. The Classic Vinyl Series is curated by Don Was and Cem Kurosman and is broad in its scope. The series reissues the best-known Blue Note classics from the 1950s and 60s, but also goes deeper, exploring the many different eras and styles of the legendary label’s eight-decade history with the aim of telling our story and fully representing the Blue Note motto: The Finest In Jazz Since 1939.

After a prolific 5-year run from 1961-1965 when he made more than 20 great hard bop & soul jazz albums for Blue Note, guitarist Grant Green didn’t record again for the label until 1969. By then, Green’s style had moved into funkier territory as was perfectly captured on his first-ever live album “Alive!” which documented a hard-driving set of jazz-funk at the Cliché Lounge in Newark, New Jersey in 1970. The band is propelled by drummer Idris Muhammad who keeps a fire burning under Green, saxophonist Claude Bartee, vibraphonist Willie Bivens, organists Ronnie Foster & Neal Creque, and Joseph Armstrong on congas. The closing track “Down Here On The Ground” was famously sampled by A Tribe Called Quest for the track “Vibes and Stuff” on their hip-hop classic Low End Theory.

Experience the thrill of live jazz with Blue Note Live, a selection of 7 spectacular live albums to be reissued as part of the Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series. From hard bop and organ soul to jazz-funk and modern jazz, these recordings capture how the spontaneity inherent in jazz improvisation thrives in a live club setting with the most creative musicians of all-time feeding off the energy of an audience.

This Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

Musicians:

Claude Bartee - tenor sax
Grant Green - guitar
William Bivens - vibes
Ronnie Foster - organ
Earl Neal Creque - organ
Idris Muhammad - drums
Joseph Armstrong - conga

Track Listing:

A1: Let The Music Take Your Mind
A2: Time To Remember

B1: Sookie, Sookie
B2: Down Here On The Ground

Click here to listen to samples on YouTube.com ♫