Thelonious Monk
A Foundation Of Jazz: Blue Note Records
In the annals of music history, particular names rise above the rest. In the 1940s, jazz exploded into American pop culture supported by the vision of two men, who had faith in its complex rhythms, soaring melodies and precise chord progressions. Putting out nearly countless timeless jazz vinyl, Blue Note Records would soon take its rightful place as one of the primary forces in driving both jazz’s popularity and development.
Created in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, Blue Note instantly grew into a force in the world of jazz. The pair’s first foray into recording and jazz vinyl was a 1939 session with pianists Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis in a rented studio. The label’s first releases were traditional “hot” jazz and boogie-woogie. Blue Note’s first hit – the infectious performance of “Summertime” by saxophonist Sidney Bechet, which Bechet had been unable to record for the recognized companies – proved to be a breakthrough in the early days of jazz vinyl.
Musicians were often provided with alcohol as they recorded late into the night after their evening’s work in the clubs and bars in Blue Note’s initial days. The label shortly became recognized for treating musicians especially well, scheduling sessions sometimes that were convenient to working musicians and giving them freedom and input as to the record’s production.
While World War II proved to be a disruption to Blue Note’s development, by late 1943, the label was back in business recording musicians and supplying jazz vinyl to the armed forces. Willing to record artists and styles that most other labels simply passed over, Blue Note brought some of the best musicians the U.S. has ever produced to the forefront of the national music scene.
Through the 1940s and 50s, Blue Note found themselves at the front of the bebop and hard bop sounds, delivering them all over the world on now-legendary jazz vinyl LPs. During the same era, symbolic names such as Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Hank Mobley, Lou Donaldson and Sonny Rollins all cut sides for the label or sat in as session players. Still counted to be the best jazz ever recorded, those recordings stand as a testament to Blue Note’s reach and influence.
While America changed in the coming decades, the commercial viability of jazz came into questions as well. Blue Note records lay inactive by 1979. However, in 1985, EMI purchased the company that still owned Blue Note and launched an aggressive reissue strategy. These days, the renaissance’s remains in full swing as many of the class jazz vinyl reissues have become mainstays in vinyl albums‘ resurrection.
THELONIOUS MONK – Blue Monk
|
|
In Walked Bud Powell Magnet $2.00 Bud Powell was a jazz pianist, and the subject of one of his buddy Thelonious Monk’s best known joints, “In Walked Bud” As we know, “every hip stud really dug Bud soon as he hit town. Finding that note nobody wrote, putting it down.” Dig him on this refrigerator magnet…. |
|
|
Thelonious Monk Underground Magnet $2.00 The excellent 1968 Thelonious Monk Underground album featured a famous cover with a little fantasy about having been part of the French resistance in WWII – complete with the Nazi tied up in the back. It also features the only Monk recording with a vocal, a version of “In Walked Bud.” Of course, every hip stud really dug Bud soon as he hit town. Finding that note nobody wrote, putting it down.”… |
|
|
Sound of Jazz [VHS] $25.98 … |
|
|
Jazz on a Summer’s Day [VHS] $3.90 Part concert documentary, part pop-cultural time capsule, Bert Stern’s Jazz on a Summer’s Day chronicles the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival with an approach as deceptively relaxed, even impulsive, as the music itself. Still photographer Stern sidesteps more formal documentary conventions such as narrative voiceovers to wander purposefully from festival stage to boarding-house jam sessions, taking in t… |
|
|
Masters of American Music – Count Basie – Swingin’ the Blues – A Celebration of Basie’s Legacy [VHS] $11.73 New!!! VHS TAPE Sealed (as shown) “Masters of American Music – Count Basie – Swingin’ the Blues – A Celebration of Basie’s Legacy [VHS]” Fast shipping..(L-8)… |
|
|
Monk’s Dream $4.74 No Description AvailableNo Track Information AvailableMedia Type: CDArtist: MONK,THELONIOUSTitle: MONK’S DREAMStreet Release Date: 08/27/2002… |
|
|
Round About Midnight $4.78 All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed…. |
|
|
Original Album Classics $8.76 CD > POPULAR MUSIC > JAZZ… |
|
|
New Essential Jazz Classics Thelonious Monk Complete 1951-1954 Recordings Product Type Compact Disc $16.44 … |
|
|
Thelonious Monk – CBS Overdye T-Shirt Thelonious Monk hits the keys during his famous 1963 CBS Recording Sessions in a stylized violet photo graphic on the front of this premium black, 100% cotton t-shirt. Presented by and featuring a photograph by legendary rock photographer Jim Marshall, with distressed overdye print and soft, reinforced construction for authentic vintage style and quality, this is a a truly stunning tee – any Monk … |
