It found him in the company of a quintet that included pianist Herbie Hancock – who was still riding high from the success of his debut platter, Takin’ Off – and saxophonist/flutist, James Spaulding. Recorded four years later, Hub-Tones was Hubbard’s fifth Blue Note album. Indianapolis-bred Hubbard set the New York jazz scene on fire with his virtuosic trumpet playing when he moved there aged 20 in 1958. The musical alchemy they summon is spellbinding.
Cherry and his cohorts improvise – both as individuals and collectively – on several different musical themes that flow into one another in a free and organic way. Featuring Argentine saxophonist Gato Barbieri, bassist Henry Grimes, and drummer Ed Blackwell, the album consists of two extended suites. Having appeared in the late 50s and early 60s on significant envelope-pushing LPs by jazz iconoclasts Ornette Coltrane, John Coltrane, and Albert Ayler, Cherry presented his unique personal musical manifesto on Complete Communion, his debut as a leader. Oklahoma-born trumpeter Cherry was 29 when he recorded this groundbreaking album, the first of three long-players for Blue Note. Let us know in the comments, below, which ones you think we may have missed. This list of 50 albums is a mere fraction of the LPs that Blue Note has put over the years. It is a mission that he never wavered from, nor have the Blue Note albums that have followed in his illustrious footsteps. But when Alfred Lion started the label in 1939 with a recording of boogie-woogie pianists Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons, his intention was simple: To release music that he felt was important.
Blue Note is unquestionably the most iconic jazz label there’s ever been.