Blue Note. What a label. Its contemporary releases as enticing as its peerless catalogue. 85 years of jazz bangers! Whatever the opposite of resting on your laurels is – that’s the Blue Note ethos.
motion 1 the new album from “Blue Note Super Group” Out of/Into is a great expression of the label’s commitment to facing forward whilst rejoicing in the rich legacy of a music that is so much captured in the grooves of thousands of releases. So this is state of the art music which hints at the legacy but propels forward the story. As vibes man of the decade Joel Ross puts it “The way the collective keeps the Blue Note legacy going is by unapologetically being true to ourselves.”
Ross is joined by stars of the current BN roster drummer Kendrick Scott, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, bassist Matt Brewer and pianist and musical director Gerald Clayton. The band is the latest in a proud line of Blue Note all-star bands that dates back decades, this one formed to celebrate 85 Blue years.
Followers of modern jazz, and One Jazz listeners, will know the names of each member in this stellar quintet. Amongst them the busiest leaders and sidemen in the business and a collection of fine writers. Immanuel Wilkins’ own recent Blue Note release is amongst the finest albums of 2024.
It feels fitting that this progressive and accomplished set drops just as the label ends another year – it’s 85th – at one sort of vanguard for the music.
Happy birthday Blue Note – keep thrilling us.
This is our Album Of The Week on One Jazz w/c Monday 16th December.