Out of & Deep Into Blue Note History

By Ashley Kahn I Dec. 3, 2024

Out of/Into was initiated by Don Was as a tribute to Blue Note’s 85th anniversary.
(Photo: Ryan McNurney)

EastWest Studios is a state-of-the-art, multi-roomed recording facility on Sunset Boulevard in the heart of Hollywood with a history that reaches back to the early 1960s and before. Back then it was known as United Western Recorders and hosted era-defining sessions by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys and — befitting its location — recording The Flintstones theme. On a Monday evening after the rain-drenched Grammy weekend in February, Blue Note chief Don Was sat in the control room of Studio 1, taking notes as the all-star, Blue Note ensemble Out of/Into — consisting of Immanuel Wilkins, Joel Ross, Gerald Clayton, Matt Brewer and Kendrick Scott — recorded the music for what may well be the group’s sole recording, Motion 1, to be released on Dec. 6. Qmillion (Keith Lewis) engineered.

The Blue Note-focused group Out of/Into was initiated by Was as a tribute to the label’s 85th anniversary, to both record and tour. The members had been tasked with composing tunes for the project, and with more than two weeks on the road preceding the two-day session, the music was honed and ready. The only music recorded for the album were originals; no Blue Note covers as might be expected. Titles like “Aspiring To Normalcy,” “Synchrony,” “Nacho Supreme” and “Brothers In Arms” were listed on Was’ iPad. “I think people are going to be blown away by this album — this is a real jazz album,” Was stated, a sly comment that the label under his guidance was touting a wider range of music styles and sounds than ever. “This record will be around for a while.”

Most tunes required no more than one or two takes. After each, the group collected in the control room to hear playbacks, discussing if corrective measures were needed. “Did we get the form right?” someone asks after “Nacho Supreme.” The tempo on another track sagged noticeably and the decision was made to paste the alto saxophone solo and out-theme of one take on another, a digital fix that would have required razor-blade precision in earlier days of tape recording. Scott mentions hearing such an edit coming out of the piano solo on the tune “Chico-San.” from Donald Byrd’s 1967 album The Creeper. Fixes of this sort were part of the Blue Note tradition.

“Too bad Rudy [Van Gelder] didn’t have Ableton,” someone else mentions, referring to a modern-day digital audio workstation.

“An analogue Ableton!” chuckled Was at the thought.

Out of/Into represents an ongoing label tradition, another chapter to the label’s ongoing saga. This group is the latest in a succession of groups assembled by the label. The collectives have all been temporary all-star affairs, often linked to a significant anniversary, with recordings released and a support tour. Some focused on reinterpreting classic tracks from the label’s enduring catalogue. Others — like the current lineup — are primarily about introducing new music. For many participants, the brief side project served as career boosters.

In 1985 when Bruce Lundvall revived Blue Note after the label’s brief mothballing from 1981 to ’84 (the sole dormant period in the label’s history), the band OTB (Out of the Blue) was created, featuring future headliners like Kenny Garrett, Steve Wilson, Michael Philip Mossman, Renee Rosnes, Ralph Bowen, Harry Pickens, Robert Hurst, Ralph Peterson and Billy Drummond. In 2000, Greg Osby led New Directions, which helped introduce new arrivals like Jason Moran, Stefon Harris, Mark Shim, Tarus Mateen and Nasheet Waits. The Blue Note 7, marking the label’s 70th year in 2009, featured more established names (Bill Charlap, Nicholas Peyton, Ravi Coltrane, Peter Bernstein, Peter Washington and Lewis Nash), while 2014’s Blue Note Allstars commemorated the 75th with a newer breed: Robert Glasper, Ambrose Akinmusire, Marcus Strickland, Lionel Loueke, Derrick Hodge and Kendrick Scott.

Ten years later, the label is celebrating its 85th, and Scott responded to the call again. He serves as a link to this ritual: the rhythmic foundation in Out of/Into and its reigning elder. In a hangout room adjacent to the recording studio, he spoke first when the group is asked how they approached traveling down this road again when the ruts have been cut so deep by past tributes. How best to deal with this challenge?

“I think you have to have courage enough to be yourself and not think of a tribute band as only doing what all the masters have done, but by showing how we learned to be ourselves, being ‘downstream of the masters,’ as Gerald said.” Scott notes that what makes it easier is an abiding sense of connection the label historically fostered. “In an interview, Billy Higgins talked about how Blue Note is a family. It was true then and it still is now.”

“Yeah, we already call each other in ‘real’ life,” Wilkins added, laughing. “We’re all honestly invested because we have pretty deep ties to one another outside of being the guys in a tribute band.”

Ross echoed the idea that in this iteration of revisiting Blue Note, the priority is clearly originality. “I don’t think Don put us together with the purpose of nostalgia. No, he put us together to be ourselves because that’s the best thing that we can do and I think that’s what we’ve been doing.”

Clayton suggested a view of the group as a means of measuring change and forward movement in the music.

“If you take a tribute band from a certain generation and if they’re honestly expressing themselves and not thinking about doing the best impression of what came before them, you can check out the way the language has morphed. Every 10 years or so, it’s guaranteed you see another group of family members come along, start exploring new ideas — honoring certain values but also abandoning others in service of that exploration. It’s not always so black-and-white that way but I like being able to check out how the music has evolved.”

On the road, Clayton assumes the role of emcee for Out of/Into, making onstage announcements and triggering interview snippets of Blue Note heroes like Billy Higgins, Wayne Shorter, Duke Pearson, Lee Morgan and Sonny Rollins, who can be heard commenting on the label and general musical philosophy.

It’s impossible to avoid mentioning classic recordings and specific tunes when speaking of Blue Note. In concert, the quintet performs only a few covers — like Thelonious Monk’s “Evidence” and Wayne Shorter’s “Infant Eyes” (the latter as a soul-stilling encore to their New York concert in February.) As Brewer notes, “If I think about paying tribute to those cats, the challenge really is those records. It’s already so beautiful. Some of my favorite Blue Note records really changed my life — like Wayne Shorter, Andrew Hill, I mean it’s an enormous list of music that was ahead of its time. So, no, we can’t just recreate that. What we need to do is live up to that example.”

A discussion ensued of what Blue Note recording should be the gateway for a young listener, rather than just a personal favorite. “That’s hard,” said Scott, who pondered the question silently.

Ross offered: “My 12-year-old self wasn’t hip to Bobby Hutcherson. The first Blue Note record I was privy to was Bags and Monk. I didn’t have really any other vibraphone perspective. Now I’ve fallen in love with Bobby.”

“Andrew Hill, Point Of Departure,” was Wilkins choice. “The writing is ridiculous. Andrew’s playing is really crazy and the interactions amazing. I definitely learned a lot about composing from that record.”

Clayton nodded, adding: “Andrew Hill’s Black Fire. I didn’t know that music when I was a kid. I listened to a ton of Blue Note records, but that part of the catalogue I didn’t really get to until much later, like in college.”

“If I was giving myself like a baby-step encouragement,” Brewer noted, “I would say check out Sonny Clark and some of the cats who were coming a little bit more from the New York ‘edge’ kind of a sound. I think it would have been hip to expose my ears to that earlier.”

Kendrick?

“Come on, man. It’s got to be Maiden Voyage. It’s always in my head: I hear the sound of the drums, the sound of Van Gelder Studio, and of course each of those musicians. Freddie Hubbard changed the way I thought about trumpet. Each one of them changed the way I thought about things.” DB