The Complete Blue Note 45 Sessions

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The Complete Blue Note 45 Sessions is a compilation album by American saxophonist Ike Quebec. The album focuses on Quebec's 45 RPMs recorded throughout his short career between 1959 and 1962. It was first issued on Mosaic MR3/MD2-121 in 1988, then re-released on a now out-of-print Blue Note CD in 2005. Despite the fact this is a compilation, all the pieces couldn't be found anywhere else at the time of the release, and still remain so, not counting From Hackensack to Englewood Cliffs which, however, includes only a part of this collection.

The July 1 session marks the last day of recording at the original Van Gelder Studio, based in Hackensack. Van Gelder would move the studio to Englewood Cliffs soon after.

Background

In the early 1950s, jukebox was becoming a fundamental way to foster jazz, and companies were aware of that. Blue Note had just experienced an amazing success thanks to Horace Silver's hit "The Preacher/Doodlin'" (BN 1630). Producer Alfred Lion, astonished by the popularity the 45 had gained, decided to invest more in 45 RPMs. At some point, he chose to issue Quebec's "Blue Harlem", a piece recorded in 1944. It became an unexpected hit, "the sort of record that any bar in a black neighborhood wanted on its jukebox". That hit marked the point of departure for Ike Quebec's career at Blue Note.

Track listing

All compositions by Ike Quebec, unless otherwise noted.

CD 1

1. "A Light Reprieve" - 4:39
2. "Buzzard Lope" - 6:17
3. "Blue Monday" (Fisher, Sharp, Singleton) - 5:05
4. "Zonky" (Edwin Swanston) - 4:34
5. "Later for the Rock" - 4:37
6. "Sweet and Lovely" (Gus Arnheim, Harry Tobias, Jules LeMare) - 4:19
7. "Dear John" - 6:53
8. "Blue Friday" (Swanston) 5:05
9. "Everything Happens to Me" [Short Version] (Adair, Dennis) - 4:32
10. "Mardi Gras" - 6:13
11. "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" (Grever) - 4:07
12. "For All We Know" (Coots, Lewis) - 4:12
13. "Ill Wind" (Arlen, Koehler - 6:13

CD 2

1. "If I Could Be with You" (Creamer, Johnson) - 6:03
2. "I've Got the World on a String" (Arlen, Koehler) - 5:34
3. "Me 'N' Mabe" - 5:12
4. "Everything Happens to Me" [Long Version] (Adair, Dennis) - 6:38
5. "All of Me" (Marks, Simons) - 2:58
6. "Intermezzo" (Henning, Provost) - 3:45
7. "But Not for Me" (Gershwin, Gershwin) - 3:45
8. "All the Way" (Cahn, Van Heusen) - 3:55
9. "How Long Has This Been Going On" (Gershwin, Gershwin) - 5:59
10. "With a Song in My Heart" (Hart, Rodgers) - 3:56
11. "Imagination" (Burke, Van Heusen) - 5:09
12. "What Is There to Say" (Duke, Harburg) - 4:33
13. "There Is No Greater Love" (Jones, Symes) - 4:45

Personnel

CD 1 tracks 1-8

• Ike Quebec - tenor saxophone
• Edwin Swanston - organ
• Clifton "Skeeter" Best - guitar
• Charles "Sonny" Wellesley - bass
• Les Jenkins - drums

CD 1 tracks 9-13; CD 2 tracks 1-4

• Ike Quebec - tenor saxophone
• Milt Hinton - bass
• Sir Charles Thompson - organ
• J.C. Heard - drums

CD 2 tracks 5-8

• Ike Quebec - tenor saxophone
• Earl Van Dyke - organ
• Willie Jones - guitar
• Wilbert Hogan - drums

CD 2 tracks 9-13

• Ike Quebec - tenor saxophone
• Earl Van Dyke - organ
• Willie Jones - guitar
• Sam Jones - bass
• Wilbert Hogan - drums