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Stuart Chalk’s Top Ten Blue Note Recordings (In no particular order of merit)

Hmmm....this was a hard task - but very enjoyable.  So many fantastic albums, moods, shades and styles to choose from. This was a constantly shifting and changing list, so many worthy candidates and so many fantastic memories wrapped up in them. Tough decisions had to be made!

In the end the selection was based upon those albums that hold a special place in my heart, might have showed me a new direction, introduced me to new artists or are simply just fantastic records that repeatedly visit the record deck.

1. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - “ Mosaic” (1961)

I first heard this record 23 years ago when I was 17. It made a huge impression on me. My friend, Nic Vipond, had a load of old jazz records given to him by his Dad, and “Mosaic” was one of them. I remember clearly, sitting in his bedroom late one night listening to it. I’d never really heard anything like it, yet it all seemed strangely familiar and accessible, and at the same time, new, adventurous, dark and mind expanding.
What a recording this is!  Every tune hits the spot, from the lightning quick tempo of the title track to the Eastern influenced “Arabia”, the frustratingly familiar (I’ve never figured out why, but it is!) “Down Under” to the awesome “Children of the Night” and “Crisis”. Wayne Shorter is phenomenal throughout and his solos are ingrained in my mind - every honking, spiralling note. Listen to Blakey shout his approval at the end of Shorter’s solo on “Arabia"- you can almost imagine being there, listening to geniuses at the top of their game. Essential!

2. Bobby Hutcherson - “Now” (1969)

Dark, dramatic, edgy, unique, powerful, emotional, complex, meaningful, - just some of the words that spring to mind when listening back to this incredible record. I can’t think of another album like it. For me, it’s Bobby Hutcherson’s best recording.
First hearing this back in the very early ‘90’s (’90?) I was immediately drawn to the unusual, fresh sounding vocals of Eugene McDaniels. Such a unique and instantly recognizable vocal style. Who was this guy?  Had he recorded anything else? Of course, back then, there wasn’t any internet to answer these questions. Thanks to this album I was made aware of his presence and put on course to track down his other recordings. For that alone, this album goes into my top ten, but it’s the music within that qualifies it’s inclusion. I couldn’t pick a favourite tune from here. They are all masterpieces.

3. Joe Henderson - “Mode For Joe” (1966)

This 1966 album could very easily be my favourite jazz album of the lot! Free flowing, fluid, exciting jazz music. I didn’t want to use the word “cool” in my description of these records but the title track is just that - “cool”. Almost effortless sounding in it’s execution, Bobby Hutcherson’s solo lifting it to the heights. Cedar Walton (the composer of the tune) not getting a solo until the very end of the track, on the fade out - but it works. Somehow!  The rest of the album follows in similar fashion held together by the most wonderful drumming skills of Joe Chambers.
A gem of the Blue Note catalogue.

4. Grant Green - “Idle Moments” (1963)

This one just keeps finding it’s way back onto the record player. It is truly a most beautiful and delicate record. Grant Green’s best. If you’re looking for the funky side of Grant Green you’ll be disappointed. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for a guitarist displaying his artistry and mastery of the instrument, you’ll be rewarded. The title track is like a cool breeze blowing over you. Subtle, melodic and tinged with melancholy. “Nomad” has more drive but still exhibits all the descriptions present in the title track.  Grant Green’s solos, soar, sing, and make your heart ache. Beautiful.

5. Bobbi Humphrey - “Fancy Dancer” (1975)

If I wish to be transported back to the late 80’s, I put this album on, and I’m young and foolish once more!  The Mizell brothers had to make an appearance in this list and this is the choice of the lot, for me anyway. This was my introduction to these maestros of production, I hadn’t got hold of the Donald Byrd albums yet, but I had heard of Bobbi Humphrey and the “Blacks And Blues” lp.
I bought “Fancy Dancer” blind in ‘88/’89 from a mail order company for £12 (maybe Soul Explosion) purely because I’d heard of Bobbi Humphrey and it was on Blue Note. I wasn’t disappointed. It was an important record for me in many ways, because until recently, I’d been very much a straight-ahead jazz man, very much on the fringes of the fusion/funk world, but finding my way into it gradually. This record, along with Johnny Hammond’s “Gambler’s Life”, and Lonnie Liston Smith’s “Renaissance” were the catalysts for me. A turning Point that changed everything.
Every tune on this album is a beaut. I’ll say no more.

6. Big John Patton - “Let ‘Em Roll” (1965)

The addition of Bobby Hutcherson to this record lifts it above the other organ-lead combos of the time. This record swings. It’s clean, bright, joyous music. “ Latona” will always be a unique, unequalled tune from this genre (maybe Larry Young’s Plaza De Toros comes close) A classic.

7. Horace Silver Quintet - “The Cape Verdean Blues” (1965)

This album will forever have a special place in my collection. Why?  The lushness of the cover maybe, the yellowing on the back of the sleeve, the pink import stamp that reads “Mecolico”, the weight of the vinyl.  I love original Blue Note albums and this was one of the first I got my hands on back in ‘88. The music is special too!
The title track had appeared on one of the first jazz compilations that focused on the club culture of the time - “Blue Bossa” was it’s title, released in 1986.  It also featured the aforementioned “Latona” and I was determined to get the original albums that every track came from.
This is a great album. From the monstously fast and hard “Nutville”, to the rolling, rhythms of the title track, but the standout tune for me is the waltzing “Pretty Eyes”. Stick it on, breath it in. Blue Note sound personified.

8. Grant Green - “Carryin’ On” (1969)

The Funkier sound of Mr Green is illustrated very well here, with covers of James Brown and The meters. But the reason this album made it into the 10 is purely for the wonderful version of “Hurt So Bad”. I’ve played this tune SO many times, mostly at home, but also occasionally playing out. It always gets a response, always makes me smile, and always has me whistling along to every note of Grant Green’s and Claude Bartee’s solos. Pure and simple.

9. Larry Young - “Contrasts” (1967)

Probably the most obscure album on the list and not one that would spring to mind with most,but I love this record. “Majestic Soul” is 12 minutes of funky insanity, followed by the much needed relaxation of “Evening”. On the flip we have unexpected vocals from Althea Young with a dark and slightly twisted version of “Wild is The Wind”, and then into the highlight of the session, the uplifting “Tender Feelings”.
An excellent and unusual organ lead session, exploring new and familiar territories.

10. Kenny Dorham - “Afro Cuban” (1955)

This could be in the list for the cover art alone!  Add to that a 1955 recording, fusing Afro Cuban rhythms with jazz, throw in Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Hank Mobley, Oscar Pettiford, Jay Jay Johnson and Carlos “Potato” Valdes and you have an exciting, unusual session that blew me away the first time I heard a track from it.
Central TV made a programme about Art Blakey back in the mid 1980’s - I think it was for the South Bank Show, around about the time I was getting into jazz,proper. One of the first tunes played as background music on the show was Kenny Dorham’s “ Afrodisia”, though I didn’t know what the hell it was at the time. I just knew that I had to get it!! It was like I’d been waiting for this tune, this moment, all my life. It was so familiar.
Luckily for me, a few months later, Gilles Peterson compiled “Blue Bossa”, and for a jazz starved young Brummie lad like myself, it was a breath of fresh air. Guess what the first track was? Yes..."Afrodisia" I couldn’t believe my ears. There it was.
“It’s that track, it’s that track!!!”
There was no turning back.
It took a few years before I managed to get hold of the album “Afro Cuban” - many frustrating years, but when I did it was a special moment.
This album and especially that track changed my life and therefore it HAS to be in the 10.