VA [2022] - Blue Note Re:imagined II [Blue Note]

Blue Note Re:imagined returns in 2022 with a new 16-track compilation featuring fresh takes on music from the illustrious Blue Note vaults recorded by a heavyweight line-up of the UK jazz, soul and R&B scene's most hotly-tipped rising stars. 

Following the success of the first volume in 2020, which topped jazz charts around the world, "Blue Note Re:imagined II" once again infuses the spirit of the new UK jazz generation into the legendary label's catalogue, balancing tradition with its future and reflecting the diversity  of talent within the current scene.

The first track to be released was from South London vocalist Ego Ella May's on 8 Jun reimagining Chico Hamilton's "The Morning Side Of Love", which first appeared on Hamilton's 1975 Blue Note album Peregrinations". 

It was followed on 5 Aug by 9-piece afro-jazz outfit Nubiyan Twist's fresh spin on Donald Byrd's "Through The Noise (Chant 2)".

Several other tracks (eight now in total - see playlist below) have been released over recent weeks prior to the full album release which is due on 30 Sep 2022. The differential between digital and CD is marginal (£10.29 v £11.92)  so why wouldn't you just buy the CD?

Tracks include funk-pop duo Franc Moody's version of Donald Byrd's "Cristo Redentor", fast-emerging vocalist Cherise's take on Norah Jones "Sunrise", Maya Delilah covering Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" (which was recorded by Cassandra Wilson on her 1995 Blue Note album "New Moon Daughter"), Birmingham-born pianist "Reuben James' reimagining of Wayne Shorter's ballad "Infant Eyes", London tuba player and Sons of Kemet member Theon Cross with a version of the Thelonious Monk/Kenny Clarke composition "Epistrophy".

The highlights, for me, from the tracks still to be released would include Conor Albert "You Make Me Feel So Good",  Cherise "Sunrise" and Daniel Cashmir "Lost".

It came as a bit of a surprise for me to learn that Don Was (Donald Fagenson), a member of 80s mutant disco band Was (Not Was), became president of Blue Note in 2012. This what he says about the compilation:

"For more than eight decades the artists of Blue Note Records have continually pushed the envelope of contemporary music, and Blue Note Re:imagined II once again honors that legacy by letting the UK's most creative young artists reinvent the treasures of the Blue Note catalog through their own lens."

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Track Listing

NOTE: A bespoke playlist already exists on Spotify of all eight tracks already released along with the original versions.

01 - Yazz Ahmed - I 

       (From Chick Corea Is (1969))

02 - Conor Albert - You Make Me Feel So Good 

       (From Bobbi Humphrey Fancy Dancer (1975))

03 - Parthenope - Don’t Know Why 

       (From Norah Jones Come Away With Me (2002))

04 - Swindle - Miss Kane

       (From Donald Byrd Street Lady (1973))

05 - Nubiyan Twist - Through The Noise (Chant No.2)

       (From Donald Byrd A New Perspective (1963))

06 - Ego Ella May - The Morning Side Of Love

       (From Chico Hamilton Pereginations (1975))

07 - Oscar Jerome & Oscar #Worldpeace - (Why You So) Green With 

       Envy (From Grant Green Green Street (1961))

08 - Daniel Casimir ft. Ria Moran - Lost

       (From Wayne Shorter The Soothsayer (1965))

09 - Theon Cross - Epistrophy

       (From Thelonious Monk Genius Of Modern Music, Vol.1 (1948))

10 - Maya Delilah -  Harvest Moon

       (From Cassandra Wilson New Moon Daughter (1995))

11 - Kay Young - Feel Like Making Love

       (From Marlena Shaw Who is this Bitch, Anyway? (1974))

12 - Venna & Marco Bernardis - Where Are We Going

       (From Donald Byrd Black Byrd (1972))

13 - Reuben James - Infant Eyes

       (From Wayne Shorter Speak No Evil (1964))

14 - Binker Golding - Fort Worth

       (From Joe Lovano From The Soul (1991))

15 - Cherise - Sunrise

       (From Norah Jones Feels Like Home (2004))

16 - Franc Moody - Cristo Redentor

       (From Donald Byrd A New Perspective (1963))

Details

Rating:	8.4
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Nu Jazz / Cover Versions / Reimaginings
Format:	Album / Compilation
Media:	Digital / CD / Vinyl
Label:	Self Released
Cat No:	None
Date:	30/09/2022
Price:	£10.29 / £11.92 / £34.99

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