Seventieth anniversaries are not usually considered a big deal — at least not compared to 75th or 50th ones — but if the folks at Blue Note Records want to treat the label’s 70th as a big deal, who’s going to complain?

There’s an additional hook to the Blue Note celebrations planned for next year: Not only is 2009 the 70th anniversary of the label’s founding by Alfred Lion; it is also the 25th anniversary of its rebirth as an active label under the direction of Bruce Lundvall, who has been in charge ever since. Considering that Blue Note remains a powerful force in the jazz record business at a time when the jazz record business isn’t exactly thriving (even if the label has been cheating a little bit in recent years by signing non-jazz artists like Al Green and Van Morrison), now seems as good a time as any for Blue Note to pay tribute to itself.  Read more »