In honor of Blue Note Records' 80th Anniversary, the legendary Jazz label is launching the Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series. Distinct from the Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series, this 2nd series curated by Don Was and Cem Kurosman features mid-priced 180g vinyl releases in standard packaging with albums spanning the many eras of the label's history presented by themes: Blue Note Debuts, Blue Grooves, Great Reid Miles Covers, Blue Note Live, and Blue Note Drummer Leaders.

For his third Blue Note album Inventions & Dimensions ( 1963 ), pianist Herbie Hancock began moving away from the modernist hard bop sound that defined his first two albums Takin' Off and My Point Of View. Inspired by explorers like Eric Dolphy and Tony Williams, Hancock went in search of greater musical freedom by composing a set of ingenious originals each with their own unique inner logic that did away with what he considered the established jazz "assumptions" of the time. Hancock also pared the instrumentation down to feature his piano with Paul Chambers' bass and a nuanced rhythmic bed laid down by percussionists Willie Bobo and Osvaldo "Chihuahau" Martinez. On the album's unforgettable cover the designer Reid Miles lets Francis Wolff's imposing photo of Hancock on a NYC street do all the talking.

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