Launched by Alfred Lion in 1939, Blue Note Records celebrates the 75th anniversary by announcing that they will be reissuing 100 iconic records from their catalog. The titles will be reissued on vinyl and in Digital Hi Def, CD and the Mastered for iTunes formats. The celebration will start on March 25th with the release of five of their biggest hits, a collection of who’s who of jazz legends: Art Blakey’s ‘Free For All’, John Coltrane’s ‘Blue Train’, Eric Dolphy’s ‘Out To Lunch’, Wayne Shorter’s ‘Speak No Evil’ and Larry Young’s ‘Unity’.
The celebration will begin on March 25th with the albums mention about, the label releasing five new albums every month until late 2015.
Two years ago, we decided to begin remastering the jewels of the Blue Note catalog in hi-def resolutions of 96k and 192k. In order to develop a guiding artistic philosophy for this delicate endeavor, we donned our lab coats, ran dozens of sonic experiments and carefully referenced every generation of our reissues. Ultimately, we decided that our goal would be to protect the original intentions of the artists, producers and engineers who made these records and that, in the case of pre-digital-era albums, these intentions were best represented by the sound and feel of their first-edition vinyl releases. Working with a team of dedicated and groovy engineers, we found a sound that both captured the feel of the original records while maintaining the depth and transparency of the master tapes… the new remasters are really cool!
While these new versions will become available in Digital Hi Def, CD and the Mastered for iTunes formats, the allure of vinyl records is WAY too potent to ignore. This year, Blue Note – along with our friends at Universal Music Enterprises – is launching a major 75th Anniversary Vinyl Initiative that is dedicated to the proposition that our catalog should be readily available at a low cost – featuring high quality pressings and authentic reproductions of Blue Note’s iconic packaging. Beginning in March 2014, we’ll start rolling out five remastered vinyl reissues every month. Although this program begins in celebration of Blue Note’s 75th Anniversary, our catalog runs so deep that we will faithfully be reissuing five albums a month for many years to come!
FSM EXCLUSIVE DEAL You can check out the full list of planned vinyl reissues here and read more about Blue Note’s anniversary celebrations on their website.
