Bluenote Records Final Paper

Blue Note Records, A Historical Perspective
Christina Hernandez
November 20, 2013
Any particular style of playing which represents an authentic way of musical feeling is
genuine expression. By virtue of its significance in place, time and circumstance, it possesses its
own tradition, artistic stands and audience that keeps it alive...[it] is expression and
communication, a musical and social manifestation, and Blue Note records are concerned with
identifying its impulse, not its sensation and commercial adornments.
- Alfred Lion, 1939, Statement of Purpose of Blue Note Records
1
Throughout history we have seen and witnessed the establishments and growth of many
record labels. Some have been dedicated to specific genres such as Motown and Rock, and some
have also been known to carry that specific commercial sound that a number of listeners enjoy,
while others clearly despise it. The term sold out has even become commonplace for referring
to a band who has sold their individual creativity to a label that throws it away and replaces it
with a specific image and sound that wasnt unique to the bands sound in the beginning. When
there is a label that dedicates itself to producing records with content that is raw, true, and void of
an over compressed recording, we get a gem amongst the coals in the music realm. Alfred Lion
was the entrepreneur who began the Blue Note Records Label and sought the genuine artistic
expressions from jazz artists. The label itself is a staple in recording history--its known for its
jazz recordings as well as the musicians who have recorded for the label. The question is, did
Blue Note Records stay true to its beginning motto with Alfred Lion, or did it also evolve and
transform into a company with different ideals?
1
Blue Note Records History, London Jazz Collector (blog), Wordpress.com, n.d., accessed November 19, 2013,
http://londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/record-labels-guide/labelography-2/blue-note-records-history/.
Blue Note Records had humble beginnings. Alfred Lion was only sixteen when he was
inspired by jazz: in 1925 he had attended a swing concert in Berlin, and it was then that his
passion for jazz music had begun. He became an avid collector of American jazz records, and
after finally traveling to the United States in the hopes of a better future and creating the
American Dream (as many immigrants did during this time), he met two jazz pianists; Meade
Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons. They all agreed to have a recording session, and on January 6,
1939 Lion recorded his very first artists, and Blue Note Records had begun
2
.
Two years later, a man named Francis Wolff had fled Germany in 1941 to partner with
Alfred Lion in the business. While Lion recorded the artists, Wolff would photograph the
musicians for the album cover art. Wolffs photography, combined with graphic artist Reid
Miles (who also joined later) artwork created beautiful album covers, which are sought out by
record collectors
3
. Francis Wolff alone is a major catalyst in documenting the history of jazz. In
his lifetime, he photographed over 30,000 photos of recording sessions and concerts for Blue
Note Records
4
.
His photography was never the average portrait of a person. He always captured the
musicians while they performed, and he wasnt intimidated by the people in the room. His
photographs are simply up close and personal, and have such a authenticity to them that you
wish you could somehow be there when they recorded their albums.
2
Chris Morris, Swingin' at 60, Billboard, January 16, 1999, 6, accessed November 20, 2013, http://
encore.utep.edu:50080/ebsco-web/ehost/detail?sid=1585588c-aadf-4c3c-8db3-72a5d2e2c5ef
%40sessionmgr113&vid=1&hid=128&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=bth&AN=1428
778.
3
4
Don Williamson, Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff, All About Jazz, March 8, 2004, accessed November 19,
2013, http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=1373&pg=2#.UozmCKU7Ts8.

5
Some years further into the future, Rudy Van Gelder met Lion and joined Blue Note
Records as a sound engineer in 1953. Van Gelder only used his parents living room to set up a
studio and record the musicians, yet the quality of his recordings were amazing
6
. The balance
that he created between the loud and soft instruments in the ensemble is so exceptional and
defined, that a listener could actually hear the bass and drum set clearly without having the
instruments all compete for attention
7
.
Van Gelders living room Hackensack Studio studio could very well be a staple in
recording history. The studio had plenty of microphones available, a control room, and even
sound barriers to create special effects; but it was also his attentiveness to the musicians needs
and thoughts that also made him a great sound engineer. He thought of microphone placement,
and had even tried his own hand at creating his own recording equipment
8
. Together with Alfred
5
Timeline: Blue Note Records, Blue Note Records, November 19, 2013, accessed November 19, 2013, http://
www.bluenote.com/timeline.
6
IBID.
7
Blue Note Records, the Biography, NPR Music, July 20, 2003, accessed November 19, 2013, http://
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1339880.
8
Kyle Kelly-Yahner, Miles Davis, Rudy van Gelder, and a Living Room Recording Studio, Smithsonian National
Museum of American History Blog, September 15, 2011, accessed November 19, 2013, http://
blog.americanhistory.si.edu/osaycanyousee/2011/09/miles-davis-rudy-van-gelder-and-a-living-room-recording-
studio-part-2-of-2-.html.
Lion, Van Gelder created the signature Blue Note Sound, where the tracks have warmth,
clarity, and precision...whereas earlier...recordings seemed to come at the listener from a
distance, Van Gelder found ways to...capture the music at closer range...[and] convey jazzs
characteristic sense of immediacy
9
.
Van Gelders innovation in sound engineering is vital to both the history of Blue Note
Records and jazz recording as a whole. Besides his work ethic and inventions, Van Gelder
engineered Herbie Hancocks A Maidens Voyage and John Coltranes A Love Supreme in a
New Jersey studio, which are two incredibly pivotal albums in jazz
10
. His recordings are
completely his own and are extremely difficult if not impossible to duplicate by other engineers.
In the case that a listener is looking for his work, his signature stamp RVP appears on the run-
out of his records from 50s to the 60s (as well as in later resubmissions in later years, but the
recordings may not be exactly duplicated)
11
.
The time from 1953 to 1954 is one of the most pivotal and flourishing periods in Blue
Note Records history. The company grew from having six recording sessions a year, to having
fifteen in 1953
12
. Besides having Van Gelder engineer the recording along with Lion, musicians
like Bud Powell, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Sidney Bechet, and Clifford Brown had all recorded
9
Dan Skea, Rudy van Gelder in Hackensack: Defining the Jazz Sound in the 1950s (New York: Trustees of
Columbia University in the City of New York, 2002), 54-55.
10
Kyle Kelly-Yahner, Miles Davis, Rudy van Gelder, and a Living Room Recording Studio, Smithsonian
National Museum of American History Blog, September 15, 2011, accessed November 19, 2013, http://
blog.americanhistory.si.edu/osaycanyousee/2011/09/miles-davis-rudy-van-gelder-and-a-living-room-recording-
studio-part-2-of-2-.html.
11
The Blue Note Labels, London Jazz Collector (blog), Wordpress.com, n.d., accessed November 19, 2013, http://
londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/record-labels-guide/labelography-2/the-blue-note-labels/.
12
during this time. One influential album, A Night At Birdland With the Art Blakey Quintet Vol.
1, was a collaboration between Clifford Browns and Art Blakey
13
.
Clifford Browns style of playing is essential to Bebop: he had a slow and even vibrato,
and accentuated the curvatures of long flowing phrases. Most of all, he could swing. The Night
At Birdland album was recorded in Birdland, a club situated on 52nd Street and 1678 Broadway.
It was the perfect setting for a recording
14
. The audience, musicians, and engineers all combined
framed the perfect atmosphere of a jazz club in New York. By the end of the evening five sets
were recorded, leaving everyone participating with the knowledge that they had documented a
part of history. As Pee Wee Marquette plainly stated, as you know we have something special
down here at Birdland this evening...a recording for Blue Note records...when you applaud for
the different passages, your hands go right out over the records there, so when they play them
over and over, throughout over the country, you may be some place and say, well, uh, thats my
hand on those records there, that I dug down at Birdland
15
.
After the central period from 1953-1954, Blue Note Records began to experience changes
in the company. In the year of 1966, the label was sold to Liberty Records. Alfred Lion had now
been retired since 1967
16
, however Liberty Records remained true to Blue Notes purpose and
continued to record new albums as well release albums that had been recorded prior to the
13
IBID.
14
IBID.
15
16
778.
merging of companies
17
. Albums that were recorded during this time include Bobby
Hutchersons Happenings (1966) and Dextor Gordons The Squirrel (1967)
18
.
Blue Note Records once again sold its label to another company in 1970, to The United
Artists. This company took a different approach in which they began to reissue pre-recorded
albums to consumers. The graphic labels seen on records were replaced with the United Artists
logo and sound engineers remastered recordings, which ultimately took away Van Gelders
signature RVG mark from the discs. Francis Wolff also had continued to produce photography
until his passing in 1971
19
. Although some recordings were of good quality, in this period we
begin to see signs of over edited masters. Dynamic range was certainly lost with some
recordings, and although the recordings began to lose their value, consumers would not have
noticed the difference between the original and remastered albums, as the listening technology
available during that time could not replicate the sounds produced in the studio
20
. New artists did
emerge and flourished with the company even more however, such as trumpeter Donald Byrd.
Byrd began to establish new sub genres of jazz, such as his jazz-fusion album Blackbird
21
.
In 1979, Blue Note Records transitioned through its last phase (until the present). United
Artists made the decision to sell the company to EMI records, giving EMI complete access to the
17
18
19
778
20
21
Blue Note vault of recordings
22
. Vocalist Diane Reeves, Bobbi McFerrin and guitarist Stanley
Jordan all joined the labels roster, which gave the record label a enormous crossover success.
This year in November 2013, a compilation Thelonious Monks recordings will be dispersed,
including video footage of a concert that has never been released (Paris 1969)
23
.
Although Blue Note Records has developed from many changes through the decades, like
all record labels it strives to survive and flourish in the consumer world. The company has had
many iconic albums produced and cross over success in its later years, which is certainly a vital
trait in order to have a successful label and studio. Yet, it cannot be denied that without the
influence and entrepreneur skills of Alfred Lion, Francis Wolff, and Rudy Van Gelder, the
company would not carry as much importance as it does today. The founders are truly what made
Blue Note Records legendary. Thus, it is my conclusion that referring to the past in many cases
can ultimately be the best influence in music. Its not every day that we come across a genius in
the making of history.

22
23

Bibliography
Blue Note Records History. London Jazz Collector (blog). Wordpress.com, n.d. Accessed
November 19, 2013. http://londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/record-labels-guide/
labelography-2/blue-note-records-history/.
The Blue Note Labels. London Jazz Collector (blog). Wordpress.com, n.d. Accessed November
19, 2013. http://londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/record-labels-guide/labelography-2/
the-blue-note-labels/.
Blue Note Records, the Biography. NPR Music. July 20, 2003. Accessed November 19, 2013.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1339880.
Whitmire, Margo. Monk-Coltrane Rarity Goes to Blue Note. Billboard, July 9, 2005. Accessed
November 19, 2013. http://encore.utep.edu:50080/ebsco-web/ehost/detail?sid=51a68a74-
e75c-4906-b41d-6b8f67eeb03d
%40sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=128&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1
zaXRl#db=bth&AN=17547864.
Morris, Chris. Swingin' at 60. Billboard, January 16, 1999. Accessed November 20, 2013.
http://encore.utep.edu:50080/ebsco-web/ehost/detail?sid=1585588c-
aadf-4c3c-8db3-72a5d2e2c5ef
%40sessionmgr113&vid=1&hid=128&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1
zaXRl#db=bth&AN=1428778.
Kelly-Yahner, Kyle. Miles Davis, Rudy van Gelder, and a Living Room Recording Studio.
Smithsonian National Museum of American History Blog. September 15, 2011. Accessed
November 19, 2013. http://blog.americanhistory.si.edu/osaycanyousee/2011/09/miles-
davis-rudy-van-gelder-and-a-living-room-recording-studio-part-2-of-2-.html.
Skea, Dan. Rudy van Gelder in Hackensack: Defining the Jazz Sound in the 1950s. New York:
Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 2002.
Timeline: Blue Note Records. Blue Note Records. November 19, 2013. Accessed November
19, 2013. http://www.bluenote.com/timeline.
Williamson, Don. Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff. All About Jazz. March 8, 2004.
Accessed November 19, 2013. http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?
id=1373&pg=2#.UozmCKU7Ts8.

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