Blue Note Re:imagined II

Various Artists

Released on 30/09/2022 by Decca (UMO)
Main artist: Various Artists
Genre: Jazz

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The young British jazz scene is on the rise, and Don Was, the president of the legendary Blue Note label, has clearly noticed this. He’s dived into his rich catalogue in search of material for covers intended to pay tribute to the jazz tradition whilst shaking things up with some contemporary rhythms and energy. After the international success of the first compilation featuring musicians such as Shabaka Hutchings, Jordan Rakei and Jorja Smith, the second volume of the Blue Note Re:imagined series is now here (with a brand-new cast, of course). If you can get on board with the overarching concept that sees everything unite under the standard song format, with vocals on the majority of tracks (most of which are predominantly female), the record is a joy to listen to and even contains some veritable successes.

With original tracks borrowed from Donald Byrd, Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea, as well as Norah Jones, Neil Young, Grant Green and Chico Hamilton, this is a very coherent and ultimately very ‘uniform’ album (underneath the surface-level differences) presented by this collection of musicians who represent the richness and diversity of the British jazz (from the singer Ego Ella May to the London duo Venna & Marco and Conor Albert from Ninja Tune). Depending on your taste, you might enjoy the seductive lo-fi vocals or the arrangers' skilful mixing of styles (the beautiful orchestral version of Donald Byrd's 'Miss Kane' by Swindle is particularly striking). However, there are a selection of covers that recreate the original material with such talent and imagination that they almost single handedly give the album its sense of depth and dimension: trumpeter Yazz Ahmed (Chick Corea's ‘It’), tuba player Theon Cross (Thelonious Monk's ‘Epistrophy’) and Nubiyan Twist (Donald Byrd's ‘Through the Noise (Chant 2)’). © Stéphane Ollivier/Qobuz

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Blue Note Re:imagined II

Various Artists

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Yazz Ahmed

00:05:13

CHICK COREA, Composer - Noel Langley, Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Tim Garland, Bass Clarinet, Sopranino & Alto Sax, AssociatedPerformer - Martin France, Drums, Percussion, Recording Engineer, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Rob Kelly, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Oli Barton-Wood, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Dave Manington, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Prash "Engine-Earz" Mistry, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Samuel Hallkvist, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Ralph Wyld, Vibraphone, AssociatedPerformer - Naadia Sheriff, Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Yazz Ahmed, Producer, Flugelhorn, Trumpet, Recording Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer