VA - The Blue Note 7 Mosaic A Celebration Of Blue Note Records - Special Edition - 2CD (2009)

Blue Note 70th Anniversary
From the jump in 1939 jazz aficionados Alfred Lion and Frank Wolff, emigres from Berlin, followed their instincts by recording great artists playing pure
jazz. The 50s and 60s were, and still are, considered the classic Blue Note period in relation to not only what they recorded but the engineering of Rudy
Van Gelder, the photography of Frank Wolff, and, eventually, the art direction of Reid Miles.

The so-called hard bop of the mid- 50s in New York essentially began with a Blue Note album, Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers. What hard bop did was to draw on rural blues and gospel music in finding a whole new audience for jazz.

The idea for a group to carry forth the tribute during Blue Note's 70th year originated with booking agent Jack Randall, and was formed by musical director

Bill Charlap, Randall, and Danny Melnick. When plans for the extensive tour reached more than 50 American cities, the idea of a recording was inevitable.

The Blue Note 7 was not conceived as an all-star group but it is stellar in stature. It is more than a tribute band, a cadre with a cohesive compatibility,

dealing with powerful music and reinterpreting it through their new arrangements and individual solos.

Nicholas Payton- trumpet
Steve Wilson - alto saxophone, flute
Ravi Coltrane - tenor saxophone
Peter Bernstein - guitar
Bill Charlap - piano
Peter Washington - bass
Lewis Nash - drums