Search - Various Artists :: The Best of Blue Note, Vols. 1

Nice Sampler

Enrique Torres | San Diegotitlan, Califas | 01/31/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Over the last ten years this CD has had it's fair share of play, on the road, at home, walkman, computer, you name it and I've played this on it. Not a great CD in the classic sense but a good sampler of some excellent musicians, perfect when you're not in the mood for a full dose of vintage jazz. Some of the most well known songs in jazz circles are here for the aficionado as well as the beginner to explore further. This is real jazz, not elevator pop jazz, this is snap your fingers, bop your head stuff, circa civil rights era. Four songs in particular make this collection worth the bucks, "The Sidewinder," by Lee Morgan, "Blue Train" by John Coltrane, "Song for my Father" by Horace Silver and the unforgetable "Cristo Redentor" by Donald Byrd. One song is especially beautiful and haunting, that being "Cristo Reedentor." I'm not sure the story behind the song but it is spiritual. The introduction is slow and the music creates an image of Christ suffering. The perfect music for a civil rights movie, with flashes of Christ carrying his cross interspersed with images of Americans involved in marches, flogging of Christ countered with beatings of protestors. The song is slow and bluesy, a hymn with voices echoing a passion play as Donald Byrd wails melodically on trumpet. The use of voices was innovative at the time and this song is very different from the later Donald Byrd who would use voices and lively rhythmns to fuse a precursor to pop jazz. It was one of the most haunting songs and if some of my Latin is still lodged somewhere correctly means "Christ the Redeemer." This is a very good CD for that moment when you feel like playing a few classic jazz cuts to change the pace. The personnel featured on the various cuts are a who's who of jazz, sidemen who became frontmen, all playing straight ahead jazz at their improvisational best."

Well......

Michael J. Manning | INDIANAPOLIS, IN USA | 03/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While no one will admit to listening to jazz in such a format, what is produced here is really quite incredible. Each of these songs represents an awesome album (well all except Watermelon Man). Lets hope that those just begining to explore jazz will use this as a primer. Blue Note would appreciate the business."

70 minutes of varied but classic jazz instrumentals...

William E. Adams | Midland, Texas USA | 09/27/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This sampler from perhaps the most famous label in jazz has nine selections by creative giants, most of them laid down in the 50's or 60's. Coltrane's "Blue Train" and Art Blakey's "Moanin'" are here. Horace Silver's "Song for my Father" and Lee Morgan's "The Sidewinder" are within. Trumpeter Donald Byrd has one of the highlights, the reverent "Cristo Rendentor." This is a nice introduction to these giants of jazz. Veteran fans most likely will prefer to have the albums these selections come from, but this would be a nice gift for a newcomer to jazz. Pioneer producer Alfred Lion and gifted recording engineer Rudy van Gelder were on board for all these sessions. It's a great collection."