Twilight Time at Blue Note

The 1970s weren’t very kind to the Blue Note label [says Koen]: jazz was under pressure by rock and pop, and talent like Grant Green, Ronnie Laws, Ronnie Foster, Bobby Hutcherson, Bobbi Humphrey and Donald Byrd were recorded in more commercial settings that were laced with wispy R&B, disco grooves and strings.

In the mid-’80s, however the arrival of Bruce Lundvall as CEO led to a proper reactivation of the label, and under him Blue Note thrived on creative and commerce-savvy fronts.

Lundvall brought on board newcomers like the pianistic guitarist Stanley Jordan and the one-man choir Bobby McFerrin; started a program for reissues and previously unreleased recordings; and recruited legacy Blue Note artists like Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw. 

He also invested in highly influential stylists like Cassandra Wilson, Don Pullen, John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Greg Osby and Jason Moran; and experienced unimaginable sales with Norah Jones’ debut.

During the late 1980s and early 90s, I spent considerable time browsing through cassette shops(!) in Penang, Malaysia, and Bangkok, Thailand, as I was in between vinyl and CDs. Among the tapes I bought were Bobby McFerrin’s first Blue Note solo album Spontaneous Inventions, the great Duke Ellington’s Money Jungle reissue with Charles Mingus and Max Roach, and Stevie Ray Vaughn’s first two solo albums.

You may wonder what the connection is between Blue Note and Stevie Ray Vaughn.  I had read about one particular Blue Note album which I couldn’t find anywhere. Only much, much later I finally managed to score a digital copy and was very pleased to be able to play it at last! I guess not many music fans are aware of this classic album at all.

Tenor saxophonist Bennie Wallace had only one album on Blue Note, 1985’s Twilight Time. The producer, of all people, was Dr. John (The Night Tripper!), who gave it a neat R&B and funk vibe!

The core musicians included Ray Anderson on trombone, Eddie Gomez on acoustic bass, Chris Parker and Jack DeJohnette on drums, John Scofield on guitar, and the good old doctor himself on piano & organ. Tracks 1 and 7 included Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitar, Bob Cranshaw on electric bass, and Bernard Purdie on drums.

With a lineup like this you hardly could go wrong, and Twilight Time doesn’t let you down.  It swings in all the right places!  [Leonard Feather called it "hectically eclectic" - jonder]

Bennie and Dr. John teamed up later once more, for the 1988 Bull Durham soundtrack, for two tracks in a similar vein (one with Bonnie Raitt on vocals!), and therefore I added these as bonus tracks (#10 & 11). As far as I know this classic record is only available second hand nowadays -- and certainly not in this slightly extended version only here on jonderblog, so enjoy!