VA - Blue Note Re:imagined II (2022) Hi-Res

The young British jazz scene is on the rise, and Don Was, the president of the legendary Blue Note label, has clearly noticed this. He’s dived into his rich catalogue in search of material for covers intended to pay tribute to the jazz tradition whilst shaking things up with some contemporary rhythms and energy. After the international success of the first compilation featuring musicians such as Shabaka Hutchings, Jordan Rakei and Jorja Smith, the second volume of the Blue Note Re:imagined series is now here (with a brand-new cast, of course). If you can get on board with the overarching concept that sees everything unite under the standard song format, with vocals on the majority of tracks (most of which are predominantly female), the record is a joy to listen to and even contains some veritable successes.

With original tracks borrowed from Donald Byrd, Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea, as well as Norah Jones, Neil Young, Grant Green and Chico Hamilton, this is a very coherent and ultimately very ‘uniform’ album (underneath the surface-level differences) presented by this collection of musicians who represent the richness and diversity of the British jazz (from the singer Ego Ella May to the London duo Venna & Marco and Conor Albert from Ninja Tune). Depending on your taste, you might enjoy the seductive lo-fi vocals or the arrangers' skilful mixing of styles (the beautiful orchestral version of Donald Byrd's 'Miss Kane' by Swindle is particularly striking). However, there are a selection of covers that recreate the original material with such talent and imagination that they almost single handedly give the album its sense of depth and dimension: trumpeter Yazz Ahmed (Chick Corea's ‘It’), tuba player Theon Cross (Thelonious Monk's ‘Epistrophy’) and Nubiyan Twist (Donald Byrd's ‘Through the Noise (Chant 2)’). © Stéphane Ollivier


Tracks:

1. Yazz Ahmed - It
2. Conor Albert - You Make Me Feel So Good
3. Parthenope - Don't Know Why
4. Swindle - Miss Kane
5. Nubiyan Twist - Through The Noise (Chant No. 2)
6. Ego Ella May - The Morning Side of Love
7. Oscar Jerome - (Why You So) Green With Envy
8. Daniel Casimir - Lost
9. Theon Cross - Epistrophy
10. Maya Delilah - Harvest Moon
11. Kay Young - Feel Like Making Love
12. Venna - Where Are We Going?
13. Reuben James - Infant Eyes
14. Binker Golding - Fort Worth
15. Cherise - Sunrise
16. Franc Moody - Cristo Redentor
17. YellowStraps - This Ain't Loving Without You
18. BIGYUKI - The Creators