Music venues are finally starting to reopen across the continent which is an encouraging sign, but the saving grace for the music industry over the past 18 months were the labels who released a lot of interesting new records and reissues over the past year. Blue Note have been overwhelmed with orders for its Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissues and Tone Poet Series, which includes more than 73 releases. I waited more than 6 months for one record to be shipped.
Blue Note has also been busy with new music from Julian Lage, Tony Allen, Charles Lloyd, Bill Frisell, Ron Miles, Joel Ross, Norah Jones, and Nels Cline.
The label has done its best (with a few hiccups caused by supply chain problems) to keep music shipping with minimal delays and they are putting out some great records right now. Blue Note has also kept its prices stable; a rather welcome development at a time when a lot of jazz lovers may be on a tighter budget due to the economy.
Too many records to buy – and not enough money to order them all.
More in-depth reviews are forthcoming, but we’ve been listening to the following Blue Note releases which we can already recommend.
Art Taylor – A.T.’s Delight (Blue Note 80 Vinyl Edition, 33 RPM, 180 gram)
Herbie Hancock – Inventions & Dimensions (Blue Note 80 Vinyl Edition, 33 RPM, 180 gram)
Freddie Hubbard – Hub-Tones (Blue Note 80 Vinyl Edition, 33 RPM, 180 gram)
Kenny Dorham – Una Mas (Blue Note 80 Vinyl Edition, 33 RPM, 180 gram)
Johnny Griffin – Introducing Johnny Griffin (Blue Note 80 Vinyl Edition, 33 RPM, 180 gram)
Stanley Turrentine – Hustlin’ (Blue Note Tone Poet Series, 33 RPM, 180 gram)
Colemine Records (not to be confused with Coalmine records) started as a branding exercise for a new album release by its founder at a Subway in Oxford, Ohio in 2007. When retailers in the United States and Japan liked the quality of their first release, the decision was made to become a legit record label and help other artists have their music pressed and sold direct.
Terry and Bob Cole have been running Colemine out of Ohio since 2014 and their line-up of artists has certainly evolved over the years. With almost 140 albums available on their website; music lovers can select from multiple formats including records, CDs, and cassettes.
Aside from the Colemine label, they also operate Karma Chief which includes the Grammy-nominated Black Pumas and an ever-growing and ever-diverse roster which also includes Ghost Funk Orchestra, Neal Francis, Rudy De Anda, GA-20, The Gabbard Brothers, Michael Nau, Andrew Gabbard, and Kendra Morris.
Colemine’s focus is on soul music and many of the releases are already available to stream on Bandcamp, Spotify, and Deezer.
The label produces a quality product with a number of emerging artists who deserve greater exposure. If you love soul music and have a thing for bands like Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Colemine will be right up your alley.
I’ve been listening to the following Colemine releases which we can already recommend.
Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio – Live At KEXP! (Colemine Records, 33 RPM, CLMN 12020)
Ikebe Shakedown – Kings Left Behind (Colemine Records, 33 RPM, CLMN 12034)
Durand Jones & The Indications – American Love Call (Colemine Records, 33 RPM, DOC177)
Black Pumas – Black Pumas (ATO0500, 33 RPM)
Kelly Finnigan – The Tales People Tell (Colemine Records, 33 RPM, CLMN 12025)
