Blue Note Classic Vinyl Reissue Series All-Analog 180g Vinyl LP Mastered by Kevin Gray Directly from the Original Master Tapes and Manufactured at Optimal in Germany

The Classic Vinyl Reissue Series is the continuation of Blue Note's acclaimed Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series, which was created in celebration of the 80th anniversary of Blue Note Records in 2019. The series presents affordable, high-quality reissues in standard packaging that are mastered by Kevin Gray of Cohearent Audio and manufactured on 180g vinyl at Optimal Media in Germany. The pressings are all-analog whenever an analog source is available, with Gray mastering directly from the original master tapes.

Blue Note Records has recorded the legends of Jazz and has traced the entire evolution of the music from the early days of Boogie Woogie, Hot Jazz and Swing, through the innovations of Bebop, Hard Bop, Post-Bop, Soul Jazz, Avant-Garde, and 70s Fusion, and into the vibrant sounds of Jazz's many modern-day incarnations. The Classic Vinyl Series is curated by Don Was and Cem Kurosman and is broad in its scope. The series reissues the best-known Blue Note classics from the 1950s and 60s, but also goes deeper, exploring the many different eras and styles of the legendary label's eight-decade history with the aim of telling their story and fully representing the Blue Note motto: The Finest In Jazz Since 1939.

Alto saxophonist Jackie McLean was already a veteran of the NYC jazz scene by the time he began recording as a leader for Blue Note in 1959. In his first few years with the label McLean recorded frequently, churning out hard bop classics in quick succession. The culmination of this period is undoubtedly Bluesnik, a vibrant 1961 session that brims with immediacy. McLean had the blues on his mind when he entered Rudy Van Gelder's studio that January with a formidable quintet featuring Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Kenny Drew on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Pete La Roca on drums. Over the course of six original blues pieces the band goes from strength to strength, blazing out of the gate on McLean's title tune and moving through every hue of blue from the leader's shuffling "Goin' Way Blues" to the pianist's bright theme "Drew's Blues" and Hubbard's no-nonsense "Blues Function."

Musicians:
Jackie McLean, alto saxophone
Freddie Hubbard, trumpet
Kenny Drew, piano
Doug Watkins, bass
Pete La Roca, drums

Features:
• Blue Note Classic Vinyl Reissue Series
• All analog 180g vinyl LP
• Mastered by Kevin Gray directly from the original master tapes
• Manufactured at Optimal in Germany
• Standard packaging