Don Was Celebrates 75 Years Of Blue Note

On January 6, 1939, a day-long recording session in New York City by a pair of boogie-woogie pianists would mark the beginning of the most storied record label in jazz music: Blue Note Records. Since that first day's output by Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis, Blue Note has been home to many of the giants of jazz, including legends like Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, and hundreds of others.

In an interview with Soundcheck host John Schaefer, Blue Note President Don Was -- a formidable producer and musician in his own right -- reflects on the illustrious history and the sound of Blue Note at 75.

Was also reflects about his own multi-decade career playing with iconoclastic band Was (Not Was) and producing hit records for a dazzling array of artists, including the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, John Mayer, Lyle Lovett, Bob Dylan, and many more. 

Interview Highlights

Don Was, on his first experience of Blue Note music:

It's still pretty enigmatic and mysterious, isn't it, how people do that? I think it has to do with being in touch with your feelings and knowing how to transform them into notes on a saxophone. That's pretty amazing. It's charisma, it's just a kind of internal artistic power.

On "the look" of Blue Note Records:

The sociological impact of Blue Note was as great for me [growing up] as Bob Dylan's, or The Beatles, or the Stones. I wanted to be one of those guys. I had my mom go out and get me a top hat and a trench coat so I could look like Ornette Coleman on the cover of Live At The Golden Circle. I didn't achieve the look, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

On the relevance of Blue Note in the 21st century:

I think it's important for a record label to stand for something. I used to buy Blue Note records regardless of who the artist was. If something new came out, I'd buy it. I used to buy Motown, I used to buy Stax records, I used to buy Chess records. Those labels all meant something, and I think people need that. There's so much information, it's very hard to choose. So, we've tried very hard to maintain the aesthetic that was the foundation of these records. 

On working with legendary artists:

I had a moment once, in 1990, when David [Was] and I were producing Bob Dylan. And George Harrison came in to play a guitar solo on a song called "Under The Red Sky." Bob stepped in to be the engineer and was running the tape machine and he was messing with George a little, so he fast-forwarded to where the solo was, and George had never even heard the song -- didn't know what key it was.

And Bob said, "Okay, solo goes right... HERE! Play!" and hit record. George played a reasonable solo, considering he didn't know what key the song was in, and Bob said "Yeah that's great." But George wanted to do it again, and so they both turned to me and said, "What do you think, Don?" And it was like time slowed way down! Ultimately, I thought, he's not paying you to be a gushing fan. So: diplomatic truth. That's how I want to be treated.

Watch Elvis Costello & The Roots perform "Walk Us Uptown" from their 2013 Blue Note release "Wise Up Ghost."