Midnight Blue (album)
Encyclopedia
Midnight Blue is a 1963 album by Jazz
guitarist Kenny Burrell
featuring Stanley Turrentine
on tenor saxophone
, Major Holley
on double bass
, Bill English on drums
and Ray Barretto
on conga
, and is one of Burrell's best-known works for Blue Note
. Jazz Improv Magazine lists the album among its top five recommended recordings for Burrell, indicating that "[i]f you need to know 'the Blue Note sound', here it is". In 2005, NPR included the album in its "Basic Jazz Library", describing it as "one of the great jazzy blues records". The album has been re-issued by Blue Note and the French
label Classics.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
guitarist Kenny Burrell
Kenny Burrell
Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...
featuring Stanley Turrentine
Stanley Turrentine
Stanley William Turrentine, also known as "Mr. T" or "The Sugar Man", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh's Hill District into a musical family...
on tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, Major Holley
Major Holley
Major Holley was an American jazz upright bassist.Holley attended the prestigious Cass Technical High School. Holley played violin and tuba when young and started playing bass while serving in the Navy...
on double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, Bill English on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
and Ray Barretto
Ray Barretto
Ray Barretto was a Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican jazz musician.-Early years:Barretto was born in New York City of Puerto Rican descent...
on conga
Conga
The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
, and is one of Burrell's best-known works for Blue Note
Blue note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone or less, but this varies among performers and genres. Country blues, in particular, features wide variations from the...
. Jazz Improv Magazine lists the album among its top five recommended recordings for Burrell, indicating that "[i]f you need to know 'the Blue Note sound', here it is". In 2005, NPR included the album in its "Basic Jazz Library", describing it as "one of the great jazzy blues records". The album has been re-issued by Blue Note and the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
label Classics.
Track listing
Except where otherwise noted, all songs composed by Kenny Burrell.- "Chitlins con CarneChitlins con Carne"Chitlins con Carne" is a jazz blues instrumental composed by guitarist Kenny Burrell and first released on his 1963 album Midnight Blue. The original version featured Burrell on guitar, Stanley Turrentine on tenor saxophone, Major Holley on bass, Billy Gene English on drums, and Ray Barretto on...
" – 5:30 - "Mule" (Burrell, Major Holley, Jr.) – 6:56
- "Soul Lament" – 2:43
- "Midnight Blue" – 4:02
- "Wavy Gravy" – 5:47
- "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You" (Andy Razaf, Don RedmanDon RedmanDonald Matthew Redman was an American jazz musician, arranger, bandleader and composer.Redman was announced as a member of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame on May 6, 2009....
) – 4:25 - "Saturday Night Blues" – 6:16
- "Kenny's Sound" (reissue bonus track) – 4:43
- "K Twist" (reissue bonus track)– 3:36
Performance
- Kenny BurrellKenny BurrellKenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Stanley TurrentineStanley TurrentineStanley William Turrentine, also known as "Mr. T" or "The Sugar Man", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh's Hill District into a musical family...
– tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble... - Major HolleyMajor HolleyMajor Holley was an American jazz upright bassist.Holley attended the prestigious Cass Technical High School. Holley played violin and tuba when young and started playing bass while serving in the Navy...
– bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2... - Billy Gene English – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Ray BarrettoRay BarrettoRay Barretto was a Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican jazz musician.-Early years:Barretto was born in New York City of Puerto Rican descent...
– congaCongaThe conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
Production
- Eric Bernhardi – graphic designGraphic designGraphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
- Bob Blumenthal – liner notesLiner notesLiner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
- Micaela Boland – design
- Michael Cuscuna – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, reissue producer - Leonard FeatherLeonard FeatherLeonard Geoffrey Feather was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer who was best known for his music journalism and other writing.-Biography:...
– original liner notes - Gordon Jee – creative director
- Alfred LionAlfred LionAlfred Lion was a Jewish German-born American record executive who co-founded Blue Note Records in 1939 Blue Note recorded many of the biggest names in jazz throughout the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.-Biography:...
– producer - Reid MilesReid Milesand Reid Miles was an American graphic designer and photographer.Reid Miles was born in Chicago on 4 July 1927 but, following the Stock Market Crash and the separation of his parents, moved with his mother to Long Beach, California in 1929.After high school Miles joined the Navy and, following...
– cover design, typography - Rudy Van GelderRudy Van GelderRudy Van Gelder is an American recording engineer specializing in jazz.Often regarded as one of the most important recording engineers in music history, Van Gelder has recorded several thousand jazz sessions, including many widely recognized as classics, in a career spanning more than half a century...
– engineerEngineerAn engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, remasteringRemasterRemaster is a word marketed mostly in the digital audio age, although the remastering process has existed since recording began... - Tom Vasatka – Producer
- Francis WolffFrancis WolffFrancis Wolff was a record company executive, photographer and record producer....
– photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, cover photo