who had the best run on blue note?

[Guest akanalog]

inspired by the recent jackie mclean thread-i was curious which artist people thought had the best run of albums on blue note. i think i would probably go for herbie hancock even though he had less albums than many other artists just because to me, every one of his albums is a real winner and taken as a whole, they show a very interesting artistic evolution happening and they are all different enough that they can be listened to the whole way through. that was a criteria for me. as much as i like blakey's (or lee morgan or horace silver) blue notes, i think there is a sameness to them and they might get boring taken as a whole. i would also heavily consider wayne shorter for best run though he sort of loses me at the end with super nova and moto feo grosso. so anyway, silly question, but what do others think? i also think donald byrd would have to be considered because his albums really do shown an interesting musical evolution (though personally i am a big fan of the mizells and many people probably are not). also someone like andrew hill might be a good candidate but i have not heard the albums which are only on the mosaic. same with sam rivers.

[Guest akanalog]

wow. i see the mclean thread has grown a bit to include a discussion similar to this. sorry for the redundancy.

[jazzbo]

I think there's room for a more specific discussion.

It would be interesting to hear opinions. I like your choice of Hancock, definitely a good answere. In some ways I myself want to say Monk: it was an intense and fruitful period, it produced music that was unique and vibrant and long-lasting and very fresh.

[Guest akanalog]

yes, i think my answer reflects my preference for mid to late 60's jazz.

there was certainly a lot of progressive music being made in the 50's on blue note too.

[jazzbo]

Yes. . . I think my answer reflects my love of the first few decades of Blue Note, the music seems more exciting to me than much of what followed! (Though I love a lot of that as well).

Edited July 9, 2004 by jazzbo

[Free For All]

I can't decide between Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson. Both had exceptional Blue Notes, one after another. Are we talking leader dates only or including sideman appearances?

[reg]

horace silver's run of blue note albums takes some beating.

[brownie]

Art Blakey is the quintessential Blue Note musician. He led and took part in an amazing number of vital BN albums. The BN catalogue would not be the same without Bu!

[Dmitry]

It's not a silly question.

Imo, Stanley Turrentine had his best run on BN. His name was the first that came to mind when I read your post.

[Jazzmoose]

Blakey was the name that came to mind for me as well, Brownie. However, I honestly don't feel qualified to respond as there are some GLARING holes in my Blue Note representation...very little Turrentine or Silver, to name two artists mentioned here. Hey, I can't afford it all! (But really, there's no excuse for just having two Silver discs, is there? )

[JohnS]

It's Wayne Shorter for me. A superb body of work.

[JSngry]

horace silver's run of blue note albums takes some beating.

Considering that Horace stayed with the label until the VERY end, and continuously released albums that were never less than "interesting" during that span, I'd think this is quite the good point.

[Sundog]

I can't decide between Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson. Both had exceptional Blue Notes, one after another. Are we talking leader dates only or including sideman appearances?

If you include sideman dates, based on sheer volume and quality of output, it's got to be Joe. That guy was everywhere. Of course the same could be said about Wayne, Herbie, and Jackie. These are all guy that epitomize the Blue Note sound in one way or another.

[sidewinder]

In terms of leader dates, my initial shortlist would be Blakey, Shorter, Hancock and Silver. In terms of musical development, it would be a close run thing for me between Shorter and Hancock, possibly Shorter by a whisker thanks to that superlative run from 'Night Dreamer' through to 'Schizophrenia', an incredible artistic achievement. In terms of overall 'best run' it has to be Horace - with the exception of a couple of his 70s sessions (and even these have high interest factor) I'm a sucker for anything this guy ever comitted to wax. It all swings like the clappers and has really stood the test of time.

Edited July 10, 2004 by sidewinder

[JSngry]

In terms of musical development, it would be a close run thing for me between Shorter and Hancock, possibly Shorter by a whisker thanks to that superlative run from 'Night Dreamer' through to 'Schizophrenia'...

Ah, but the musical development continued with SUPER NOVA and ODYSSEY OF ISKA (I'm not counting MOTTO GROSSO FEIO, because it was a "vault" session).

I can understand why ODYSSEY continuously gets overlooked, since it's CD availability has been less than optimum. But SUPER NOVA? Geez, that puppy's stayed in print for quite a while now.

No matter - Wayne's run at BN covered perhaps the greatest/broadest stylistic evolution of anybody's, from hardbop to free to electric to pastoral proto-ECM. I don't think that anybody else evolved so much on the label.

Although - Bobby Hutcherson had quite a diverse (in a different way) stay, a fact which is obscured today by the seemingly total disavowal of his 1970s work by the label.

[sidewinder]

Yes, not to overlook Bobby. Again, there's a superlative run of 60s sessions from 'Dialogue' (with 'The Kicker' not to be discounted either) through to 'Total Eclipse'. From then on for me it falters a bit (with 'Natural Illusions' hitting a bit of a low note) but nevertheless, another incredible run of sessions. 'Dialogue', 'Happenings', 'Components' and 'Oblique' for sure set an incredible standard.

[GA Russell]

Great question! It's fun to think about.

I like all the answers. My inclination is to say Shorter, but there is plenty I still haven't heard of so many people.

[kulu se mama]

for consistency (granted not necessarily the best measuring stick), i would have to take dexter gordon.

no great, great highs, but also no lows what-so-ever.

[J Larsen]

I'd probably go with Wayne Shorter, but I think McCoy Tyner and Andrew Hill deserve to be in the discussion, too.

[undergroundagent]

I'd go with either Horace Silver or Lee Morgan.

[Leeway]

Silver, Blakey, Morgan, Mobley, Jimmy Smith.

With the possible near exception of Mobley, all these were consistent money-makers for the label, while turning out musically excellent LPs. I don't know how well Mobley's stuff relative to the others- -- but I have no doubts as to the musical value of Mobley's albums.

Edited July 11, 2004 by Leeway

[connoisseur series500]

Not easy to answer. I'd give it to Horace Silvery by a hair. He was so productive.

Honorable mentions go to Blakey, Morgan, Shorter, Mobley, Jackie Mac, Joe Henderson, Jimmy Smith and Grant Green.

[jazzbo]

Okay, anyone vote for Art Hodes? B)

I almost did. . . .

Edited July 11, 2004 by jazzbo

[Guy Berger]

I'd probably go with Wayne Shorter, but I think McCoy Tyner and Andrew Hill deserve to be in the discussion, too.

Yeah, I was thinking of McCoy in the context of this thread -- all six (7?) of his albums for the label are at least excellent, with two or three of them in "classic" range.

Guy

[BruceH]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Dexter Gordon. I'd vote for him because though there are many names that recorded more albums for BN, few can claim his consistancy, and there's a virtual consensus that Dex's Blue Note stuff is his creative apex.

Having said that, I'll quickly and freely admit that a very good case can be made for Horace Silver on similar grounds, and Sonny Clark did most of his best albums for Blue Note, then there's Herbie Nichols and Sidney Bechet. ...And God knows, anyone who wants to say Morgan, Mobley, Turrentine, Henderson, Hill or several others, I'm not going to argue.

Edited July 11, 2004 by BruceH