Blue Note Mode, by Jeanfrançois Prins

Blue Note Mode

by Jeanfrançois Prins

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Comes in a lovely, low environmental impact triptych digisleeve, with a great cover photo by Charly Thibaut, and a 16-page booklet featuring recording session photos by the wonderful Kasia Idźkowska and the complete liner notes by Bill Milkowski, plus a QR code linking to more info about the album on the GAM website.

Includes unlimited streaming of Blue Note Mode via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Blue Note Mode 05:56	info	buy track
2.	I'm Movin' On 06:02	info	buy track
3.	Our Prayer for Peace 08:40	info	buy track
4.	H and C's Dance 09:17	info	buy track
5.	Blues Sea 06:53	info	buy track
6.	Ornette-Lee 06:51	info	buy track
7.	Diana 08:49	info	buy track
8.	J Mood 05:30	info	buy track
9.	Daahoud 05:24	info	buy track
10.	Round Midnight 08:46	info	buy track
11.	Move or Be Moved 04:10	info	buy track
12.	Too Late Now 02:57	lyrics	buy track
Too late now to forget your smile The way we cling when we dance a while Too late now to forget and go on to someone new Too late now to forget your voice The way one word makes my heart rejoice Too late now to imagine myself away from you All the things we've done together I relive when we're apart All the tender fun together Stays on in my heart How could I ever close the door And be the same as I was before? Darling, no, no, I can't anymore It's too late now

about

Jeanfrançois Prins has often recorded in Rudy Van Gelder's legendary studio in Englewood Cliffs, and knew Rudy well. He wanted to re-connect with his New York scene after the pandemics, and return to that studio with musicians who are friends and/or people he admires and with whom he’d wanted to share music for a long time. All the artists featured on “Blue Note Mode” have strong personalities, combined with a deep knowledge of, and love for tradition. A real dream team: a quartet with himself on guitar (and vocals on one song), Danny Grissett on piano, Jay Anderson on bass, and E.J. Strickland on drums, plus two guests: Jaleel Shaw on alto sax and Jeremy Pelt on trumpet.
Jeanfrançois’ purpose was not to try and recreate the masterpieces of the past, but rather to pay tribute to so many of his heroes, and to present music as a 21st century jazz musician, who grew up to love modern jazz which grooves deeply, and is food for the body and soul, as well as for the brain. A large majority of those legendary recordings of the 60s and beyond were created in the Van Gelder studio. Having grown up in his mother’s record store, and with a three-generation veneration for (and production of) jazz, Prins felt like making a public love declaration for those countless masterpieces which keep on giving.

The album, entitled “Blue Note Mode”, whose release date in 2024 coincides with the 85th anniversary of the legendary Blue Note label, the centennial of Rudy Van Gelder, and the 65th anniversary of his mythical studio, is a celebration of modern jazz with a heart.

Jeanfrançois Prins penned four of the compositions recorded: the title track “Blue Note Mode” which exudes powerful positive energy, “Our Prayer for Peace” - a heartfelt appeal to all humanity to come to a culture of care and empathy, as love is the answer to all suffering, “Ornette-Lee” - a homage to the two alto sax giants who, after Charlie Parker, changed our music several times, Ornette Coleman and Prins’ second mentor, Lee Konitz, and “Move or Be Moved”, his personal take on New York City’s unique buzzing energy.

Other tunes featured on the album include music composed by such masters as Julian Priester, Wynton Marsalis, Clifford Brown, Wayne Shorter, Thelonious Monk, … As always, Prins plays melodies which were not originally meant for the guitar, and he breathes a new life into them with his own personal warmth and lyricism.

Although several connections already existed, this recording was the first time the band played together, but from the first moments the chemistry was magical, and the joy of sharing and interacting in music is evident all along the album. Deep, bluesy, spirited, lush, ebullient or embracing, let the “Blue Note Mode” take you on a luminous journey.

credits

released March 1, 2024

Jeanfrançois Prins guitar, vocals (on track 12), Danny Grissett piano, Jay Anderson bass, E.J. Strickland drums
+ guests: Jeremy Pelt trumpet, and Jaleel Shaw alto sax

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Jeanfrançois Prins Brussels, Belgium

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