Jazz is an art form that can be examined any number of ways — historically, racially, structurally, even philosophically — but choosing one of those runs the risk of ignoring the equally-important rest. Sophie Huber’s thoughtful but unfocused documentary “Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes” falls short primarily because it tries too much, examining history, modern-day impact and legacy all in one.
Nevertheless an engaging thumbnail overview of the record label’s heyday, its key players, and the descendants and disciples committed to carrying on its name and vision, “Beyond the Notes” succeeds better as an introduction to Blue Note and jazz in general than as an expert or in-depth examination of the musical genre or one of its most iconic distributors.
Part of the challenge is deciding where to start: With the musicians who pioneered the genre, or the earliest fans-turned visionaries who helped get them heard? Huber begins with Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff,...
Nevertheless an engaging thumbnail overview of the record label’s heyday, its key players, and the descendants and disciples committed to carrying on its name and vision, “Beyond the Notes” succeeds better as an introduction to Blue Note and jazz in general than as an expert or in-depth examination of the musical genre or one of its most iconic distributors.
Part of the challenge is deciding where to start: With the musicians who pioneered the genre, or the earliest fans-turned visionaries who helped get them heard? Huber begins with Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff,...
- 6/12/2019
- by Todd Gilchrist
- The Wrap
Musicians young and old drop a lot of heavy-duty jazz wisdom throughout Beyond the Notes, a new documentary about Blue Note Records that features commentary from the label’s Sixties stars such as Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter and new-school trailblazers like Robert Glasper and Ambrose Akinmusire. But the film’s single most eloquent statement might come from A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad who, reflecting on how Blue Note’s output fueled his own art through sampling, says that improvisation is akin to “finding a portal that...
- 6/12/2019
- by Hank Shteamer
- Rollingstone.com
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