Blue Note Records released Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note Records this week to commemorate the label’s 70th anniversary. The eight-song collection features classic Blue Note repertoire re-envisioned by The Blue Note 7, an all-start tribute band comprised of current jazz luminaries.
The all-star septet includes pianist, musical director and current Blue Note recording artist Bill Charlap with trumpeter Nicholas Payton, tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, alto saxophonist/flutist Steve Wilson, guitarist Peter Bernstein, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Lewis Nash.
Mosaic features new versions of jazz classics such as Thelonious Monk’s “Criss Cross,” Herbie Hancock’s “Dolphin Dance,” McCoy Tyner’s “Search For Peace” and Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers’ “Mosaic.” “We chose to record compositions that would honor the label and its key players, whittling it down to eight of our favorites from Blue Note’s wide-ranging and extensive catalog,” Charlap says.
More arrangements of songs from the Blue Note library will be created for The Blue Note 7 tour, which began on January 7 in Yakima, Washington, and continues with stops in over 50 cities across North America. The tour will culminate in a six-night run in mid-April at Birdland in New York.
JazzReview.com
