Blue Note Records has announced the 2027 selections for its Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series, with albums by Donald Byrd, Pepper Adams and Grant Green among the first titles set for release. The opening batch is due January 8, 2027, and is available to pre-order through the Blue Note Store.
The first two releases are Byrd’s Free Form (1961) and Adams’ Pepper Adams Plays The Compositions Of Charles Mingus (1963). The same date brings a quarterly Tone Poet Society exclusive: Green’s Am I Blue (1963). Am I Blue is limited to 1,000 individually numbered copies and includes a gold foil Tone Poet Society stamp and a lithographic print of a photograph by Francis Wolff.
Produced by Joe Harley, the series presents all-analog vinyl editions mastered from original master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. The records are pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Record Technology Inc. and packaged in tip-on jackets. Harley’s 2027 selections draw from Blue Note’s catalog and other labels under its umbrella, including Capitol, Pacific Jazz, United Artists and Motown’s Jazz Workshop imprint. Blue Note says the program will include both familiar albums and lesser-known catalog titles.
The Tone Poet Society subscription offers four membership tiers, with each tier providing different savings and benefits. All members receive two Tone Poet titles per month, along with access to limited releases, behind-the-scenes material and free shipping before retail release. Details are available at TonePoetSociety.com.
Harley said the selections reflect the variety of music he wants to share, pointing to the adventurous work of Andrew Hill and Wayne Shorter and the collaboration between Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderley. “Next year’s selections celebrate the remarkable breadth of music we love and are privileged to bring back to vinyl, including some special surprises still to be announced!”
2027 Blue Note Tone Poet series releases
January 8, 2027
Donald Byrd – Free Form (Blue Note, 1961)
Pepper Adams – Pepper Adams Plays The Compositions Of Charles Mingus (Workshop Jazz, 1963)
February 5, 2027
Lee Morgan – Charisma (Blue Note, 1966)
Carmell Jones – Business Meetin’ (Pacific Jazz, 1962)
March 5, 2027
Bobby Hutcherson – Spiral (Blue Note, 1968)
Art Farmer – Modern Art (United Artists, 1958)
April 2, 2027
Andrew Hill – Ocho Rios (Blue Note, 1969-70)
Clifford Jordan & John Gilmore – Blowing In From Chicago (Blue Note, 1957)
May 7, 2027
Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderley – Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley (Capitol, 1961)
Sonny Clark – Cool Struttin’, Vol. 2 (Blue Note, 1957-58)
June 4, 2027
Hank Mobley – Hank Mobley And His All-Stars (Blue Note, 1957)
Wayne Shorter – Super Nova (Blue Note, 1969)
July 2, 2027
Clifford Brown & Zoot Sims – Jazz Immortal (Pacific Jazz, 1954)
Grant Green – Grantstand (Blue Note, 1961)
August 6, 2027
The Three Sounds – Moods (Blue Note, 1960)
Benny Golson – Benny Golson and the Philadelphians (United Artists, 1958)
September 3, 2027
Chet Baker & Russ Freeman – Chet Baker Quartet Featuring Russ Freeman (Pacific Jazz, 1953)
Art Blakey – The Freedom Rider (Blue Note, 1961)
October 1, 2027
Herbie Nichols – Herbie Nichols Trio, Vol. 2 (Blue Note 1955-56)
Bud Shank & Carmell Jones – New Groove (Pacific Jazz, 1961)
November 5, 2027
Duke Ellington – The Duke Plays Ellington (Capitol, 1953)
Bobby Hutcherson – Cirrus (Blue Note, 1974)
December 3, 2027
Curtis Fuller – Bone & Bari (Blue Note, 1957)
Elvin Jones – The Ultimate (Blue Note, 1968)
Browse Blue Note’s Tone Poet vinyl series here.
