I’m starting to notice that the Blue Note record label overproduces and sterilizes the artists it records. And I’m so annoyed that their CDs and albums cost twice as much as everyone else’s, FOR NO REASON.
One of my favorite jazz groups is Irakere, from Cuba. I have a few of their albums and absolutely love their rawness, the mistakes, the mindblowing rhythms, tempos and syncopation, the blaring horn and drum solos, the shouts, etc. They are extremely consistent this way on several albums.
Yesterday I bought their Blue Note recording. Sterile. Boring. Clean. No wild solos. No grunts or yelps. Only one song has what could be called a Latin beat to it. And I paid $20 for this monstrosity!
I thought it might be a fluke so I re-listened to my Lee Morgan Blue Note album. Sucked. Didn’t have any heart to it, he didn’t explode, it just wasn’t interesting.
The mental image I have of the people behind Blue Note is a bunch of stuffy, crusty old people who listen to Bing Crosby between taking all the fun out of their jazz recordings. Oh, and I’m sure they spend their nights counting the piles of money in front of them.
What record labels do you like/dislike?