Blue Note Records

Inigualable vivero de jóvenes talentos veinteañeros, los Jazz Messengers reunieron en 1961 al saxofonista Wayne Shorter, al trompetista Lee Morgan, al pianista Bobby Timmons y al contrabajista Jymie Merritt. Por primera vez en su carrera, Art Blakey actuaba en Japón, concretamente en Tokio el 14 de enero. Una primicia que motivó más que nunca al baterista de 42 años y a sus jóvenes cachorros, locos por ser sus sidemen, ebrios de energía y nunca faltos de ideas en sus solos e intercambios. El bop vivía una revolución que está bien documentada en este concierto inédito. Como ejemplo la versión XXL (¡más de 22 minutos!) de Now’s The Time de Charlie Parker que abre el álbum que acaba de publicar Blue Note, First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings, con el jefe pisando fuerte. Los libros de historia siguen documentando a los Jazz Messengers, nacidos en 1953, como maestros del hard-bop. Así lo confirma este vigoroso set en vivo, repleto de éxitos como el himno Blues March de Benny Golson, entregado aquí a una imparable versión swing. Sin llegar a tener un sonido perfecto, First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings se beneficia de una hermosa grabación que documenta a la perfección el ambiente en el Hibiya Public Hall de Tokio aquella tarde de enero de hace 60 años... © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Inigualable vivero de jóvenes talentos veinteañeros, los Jazz Messengers reunieron en 1961 al saxofonista Wayne Shorter, al trompetista Lee Morgan, al pianista Bobby Timmons y al contrabajista Jymie Merritt. Por primera vez en su carrera, Art Blakey actuaba en Japón, concretamente en Tokio el 14 de enero. Una primicia que motivó más que nunca al baterista de 42 años y a sus jóvenes cachorros, locos por ser sus sidemen, ebrios de energía y nunca faltos de ideas en sus solos e intercambios. El bop vivía una revolución que está bien documentada en este concierto inédito. Como ejemplo la versión XXL (¡más de 22 minutos!) de Now’s The Time de Charlie Parker que abre el álbum que acaba de publicar Blue Note, First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings, con el jefe pisando fuerte. Los libros de historia siguen documentando a los Jazz Messengers, nacidos en 1953, como maestros del hard-bop. Así lo confirma este vigoroso set en vivo, repleto de éxitos como el himno Blues March de Benny Golson, entregado aquí a una imparable versión swing. Sin llegar a tener un sonido perfecto, First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings se beneficia de una hermosa grabación que documenta a la perfección el ambiente en el Hibiya Public Hall de Tokio aquella tarde de enero de hace 60 años... © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Christmas music, which first became a common move for singers back in the 1950s, continues to exert a mystical pull on musicians from punk rockers to pop/jazz luminaries like Norah Jones. There are two paths to making a Christmas record: cover the classics or write your own tunes. Given that Christmas music is built on impossibly catchy one-hit wonders, and the list of successful songwriters includes such talents as Irving Berlin ("White Christmas"), Leroy Anderson ("Sleigh Ride") and Johnny Marks ("Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer"), the bar is high if you're banging out originals. On the other hand, presenting your version of the classics is equally daunting considering that you're following heavyweights like Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and Elvis Presley. Norah Jones decided to split the risk by molding classics into her style while also writing half an album of new Christmas originals. Twenty years past her early but still resonant hits like "Don't Know Why," and "Turn Me On" (both from blockbuster debut Come Away with Me) Jones makes her mark on the genre with the five tunes she penned, sometimes in collaboration with album producer Leon Michels. The single, a Jones original called "Christmas Calling (Jolly Jones)," is an enjoyably melodic holiday number. Her gospel-inflected "You're Not Alone" unfurls like a classic '60s country tune with an assembly of overdubs providing angelic vocals on the choruses and a pedal steel guitar ringing in the background. Pedal steel returns on "Winter Wonderland" where a synth sounds like timbales. The champ among the classics attempted, however, is "Christmas Don't Be Late" which gets a wonderfully slow, torchy arrangement. Memorable details include the oozy horns of Raymond Mason, Dave Guy and Leon Michels, the snare drum reverb, and Jones—singing her own harmonies—leaning into the "hula hoop" line. Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time Is Here," famous from the Peanuts cartoon, is a natural fit for Jones' piano-and-voice prowess. Berlin's "White Christmas'' gets a straight mid tempo cocktail jazz reading with Jones keeping up a brisk pace. On the other hand, the Elvis chestnut, "Blue Christmas'' gets an ultra-slow reading with Jones on piano and vocals, letting her impeccably tight vibrato stretch over this holiday lament. The other favorite that Jones makes her own is "Run Rudolph Run," best known as Chuck Berry's Christmas hit, which here benefits from a deep rhumba beat and reverb on her doubled vocals. Ever the mercurial talent, Jones' holiday dream is a worthy addition to the Christmas lexicon that's merry and bright and yet innovative where it counts. © Robert Baird/Qobuz

Christmas music, which first became a common move for singers back in the 1950s, continues to exert a mystical pull on musicians from punk rockers to pop/jazz luminaries like Norah Jones. There are two paths to making a Christmas record: cover the classics or write your own tunes. Given that Christmas music is built on impossibly catchy one-hit wonders, and the list of successful songwriters includes such talents as Irving Berlin ("White Christmas"), Leroy Anderson ("Sleigh Ride") and Johnny Marks ("Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer"), the bar is high if you're banging out originals. On the other hand, presenting your version of the classics is equally daunting considering that you're following heavyweights like Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and Elvis Presley. Norah Jones decided to split the risk by molding classics into her style while also writing half an album of new Christmas originals. Twenty years past her early but still resonant hits like "Don't Know Why," and "Turn Me On" (both from blockbuster debut Come Away with Me) Jones makes her mark on the genre with the five tunes she penned, sometimes in collaboration with album producer Leon Michels. The single, a Jones original called "Christmas Calling (Jolly Jones)," is an enjoyably melodic holiday number. Her gospel-inflected "You're Not Alone" unfurls like a classic '60s country tune with an assembly of overdubs providing angelic vocals on the choruses and a pedal steel guitar ringing in the background. Pedal steel returns on "Winter Wonderland" where a synth sounds like timbales. The champ among the classics attempted, however, is "Christmas Don't Be Late" which gets a wonderfully slow, torchy arrangement. Memorable details include the oozy horns of Raymond Mason, Dave Guy and Leon Michels, the snare drum reverb, and Jones—singing her own harmonies—leaning into the "hula hoop" line. Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time Is Here," famous from the Peanuts cartoon, is a natural fit for Jones' piano-and-voice prowess. Berlin's "White Christmas'' gets a straight mid tempo cocktail jazz reading with Jones keeping up a brisk pace. On the other hand, the Elvis chestnut, "Blue Christmas'' gets an ultra-slow reading with Jones on piano and vocals, letting her impeccably tight vibrato stretch over this holiday lament. The other favorite that Jones makes her own is "Run Rudolph Run," best known as Chuck Berry's Christmas hit, which here benefits from a deep rhumba beat and reverb on her doubled vocals. Ever the mercurial talent, Jones' holiday dream is a worthy addition to the Christmas lexicon that's merry and bright and yet innovative where it counts. © Robert Baird/Qobuz

Bebop jazz remix albums are nothing new. In fact when it comes to the revered Blue Note catalog, it's been plumbed by remixers a number of times in recent years since Don Was took over as label president. As trendy an idea as it is, remixing or more accurately making new albums out of the raw materials provided by a catalog as illustrious as Blue Note's is a delicate dance. To succeed you must stay respectful of the sources while adding to their legacy and making music that, as drummer/remixer Makaya McCraven puts it, "people can vibe to." There's even an underlying educational element to these remixes. If the beat scientist generation hears a track with Lee Morgan's trumpet or Hank Mobley's tenor sax, perhaps this will pique enough curiosity to explore the original records. An edge that McCraven has over straight remixers who may only be manipulating laptops is that he can add live instrumental tracks to samples of the original recordings. With the octet he's assembled—vibraphonist Joel Ross, trumpeter Marquis Hill, alto saxophonist Greg Ward, guitarists Matt Gold and Jeff Parker, bassist Junius Paul, and De'Sean Jones on tenor saxophone and flute—McCraven can control, accentuate and reshape the core rhythms of the older recordings, guiding the remix with live drums and percussion. His method is intricate and controversial, often working best when just he and a few extra instrumentalists contribute. A track like "Wail Bait," written by Quincy Jones and originally played by an all-star group of boppers including trumpeter Clifford Brown, pianist John Lewis and drummer Art Blakey, now has Brown's horn and Blakey's drums opening before McCraven's drums enter and then Jones' flute, Ross' vibraphone and McCraven on guitar take over the tune. In Kenny Burrell's version of "Autumn in New York," here called "Spring in Chicago," his original guitar part meshes beautifully with the added flute and vibes. The massed female voices present in the original of Eddie Gale's "Black Rhythm Happening" are seamlessly joined by drummer McCraven and Jones on tenor sax and flute on a remix of the same name. While Jack Wilson's "Frank's Tune," now called "De'Jeff's Tune," 'ventures a long way from the original with added keyboards and flute, it does have one of McCraven's wisest touches—spoken introductions from original Blue Note records, in this case by Blakey. Adding fresh grooves to classic jazz has uncovered new messages in venerated vessels. © Robert Baird/Qobuz

Bebop jazz remix albums are nothing new. In fact when it comes to the revered Blue Note catalog, it's been plumbed by remixers a number of times in recent years since Don Was took over as label president. As trendy an idea as it is, remixing or more accurately making new albums out of the raw materials provided by a catalog as illustrious as Blue Note's is a delicate dance. To succeed you must stay respectful of the sources while adding to their legacy and making music that, as drummer/remixer Makaya McCraven puts it, "people can vibe to." There's even an underlying educational element to these remixes. If the beat scientist generation hears a track with Lee Morgan's trumpet or Hank Mobley's tenor sax, perhaps this will pique enough curiosity to explore the original records. An edge that McCraven has over straight remixers who may only be manipulating laptops is that he can add live instrumental tracks to samples of the original recordings. With the octet he's assembled—vibraphonist Joel Ross, trumpeter Marquis Hill, alto saxophonist Greg Ward, guitarists Matt Gold and Jeff Parker, bassist Junius Paul, and De'Sean Jones on tenor saxophone and flute—McCraven can control, accentuate and reshape the core rhythms of the older recordings, guiding the remix with live drums and percussion. His method is intricate and controversial, often working best when just he and a few extra instrumentalists contribute. A track like "Wail Bait," written by Quincy Jones and originally played by an all-star group of boppers including trumpeter Clifford Brown, pianist John Lewis and drummer Art Blakey, now has Brown's horn and Blakey's drums opening before McCraven's drums enter and then Jones' flute, Ross' vibraphone and McCraven on guitar take over the tune. In Kenny Burrell's version of "Autumn in New York," here called "Spring in Chicago," his original guitar part meshes beautifully with the added flute and vibes. The massed female voices present in the original of Eddie Gale's "Black Rhythm Happening" are seamlessly joined by drummer McCraven and Jones on tenor sax and flute on a remix of the same name. While Jack Wilson's "Frank's Tune," now called "De'Jeff's Tune," 'ventures a long way from the original with added keyboards and flute, it does have one of McCraven's wisest touches—spoken introductions from original Blue Note records, in this case by Blakey. Adding fresh grooves to classic jazz has uncovered new messages in venerated vessels. © Robert Baird/Qobuz

A sus 55 años, Bill Charlap nunca aparecerá en los titulares de las revistas de jazz. Es pianista singular, que se centra en transmitir y celebrar una especie de jazz eterno. Charlap es uno de esos maestros de su instrumento que es capaz de apropiarse de un estándar grabado miles de veces y convertirlo en una refinada y depurada miniatura. Un paréntesis encantado de swing implacable y discreta improvisación. Como el Day Dream de Billy Strayhorn, el What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life? de Michel Legrand o el The Duke de Dave Brubeck, que hace que su nuevo álbum Street of Dreams, que acaba de salir en Blue Note, sea tan reconfortante como (¡cuidado con el cliché!) una copa de single malt bebida a sorbos junto al fuego al final de la tarde... Con su sección rítmica habitual, compuesta por el bajista californiano Peter Washington y el batería neoyorquino Kenny Washington, también de una precisión loca, Charlap perpetúa sobre todo ese arte del trío piano-bajo-batería que forma una sola voz. Elegante, sofisticada y mágica, su banda, nacida en 1997, no pretende iniciar ninguna revolución, romper ningún muro. Es en su economía de notas, en el grano de la rítmica y en esta forma de abordar las melodías como acuarelas que Bill Charlap y los Washington emergen de la contienda y firman el álbum de alto vuelo que es este Street of Dreams. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

A sus 55 años, Bill Charlap nunca aparecerá en los titulares de las revistas de jazz. Es pianista singular, que se centra en transmitir y celebrar una especie de jazz eterno. Charlap es uno de esos maestros de su instrumento que es capaz de apropiarse de un estándar grabado miles de veces y convertirlo en una refinada y depurada miniatura. Un paréntesis encantado de swing implacable y discreta improvisación. Como el Day Dream de Billy Strayhorn, el What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life? de Michel Legrand o el The Duke de Dave Brubeck, que hace que su nuevo álbum Street of Dreams, que acaba de salir en Blue Note, sea tan reconfortante como (¡cuidado con el cliché!) una copa de single malt bebida a sorbos junto al fuego al final de la tarde... Con su sección rítmica habitual, compuesta por el bajista californiano Peter Washington y el batería neoyorquino Kenny Washington, también de una precisión loca, Charlap perpetúa sobre todo ese arte del trío piano-bajo-batería que forma una sola voz. Elegante, sofisticada y mágica, su banda, nacida en 1997, no pretende iniciar ninguna revolución, romper ningún muro. Es en su economía de notas, en el grano de la rítmica y en esta forma de abordar las melodías como acuarelas que Bill Charlap y los Washington emergen de la contienda y firman el álbum de alto vuelo que es este Street of Dreams. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz