The 10 most-wanted Blue Note originals

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#1 · Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers

Moanin'

BLP 4003 · 1959 · mono

3,420 in wantlist · want/have 1.97

Recorded on 30 October 1958 at Rudy Van Gelder's Hackensack studio, Moanin' is the Jazz Messengers' defining statement and a cornerstone of hard bop's soulful, gospel-steeped wing. Art Blakey drives the band from the drums; Lee Morgan's trumpet and Benny Golson's writing give it "Along Came Betty" and "Blues March," while Bobby Timmons's title tune became a genre anthem. This is the Messengers at their most irresistible.

My copy A 2009 US reissue.

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#2 · John Coltrane

Blue Train

BLP 1577 · 1958 · mono · «NYC» variant on both sides

3,354 in wantlist · want/have 3.82

The only album John Coltrane made as a leader for Blue Note, recorded in 1957 at Van Gelder's Hackensack studio while he was under contract elsewhere. With Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones, it catches Coltrane mid-ascent — the title track a hard-bop benchmark, the whole session a portrait of a giant in the moment just before he changed everything.

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#3 · Cannonball Adderley

Somethin' Else

BLP 1595 · 1958 · mono

3,126 in wantlist · want/have 1.50

Nominally Cannonball Adderley's date, recorded on 9 March 1958, but it plays like a Miles Davis session: Miles appears by permission of Columbia and sets the whole mood, from the famous, unhurried reading of "Autumn Leaves" onward. With Hank Jones, Sam Jones and Art Blakey rounding out the group, it's one of the last times Davis worked as a sideman — and one of the loveliest.

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#4 · Wayne Shorter

Speak No Evil

BST 84194 · 1966 · stereo

2,570 in wantlist · want/have 4.66 Hard to find

Recorded in December 1964 at Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs studio, Wayne Shorter's finest date gathers a cast at its peak: Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Elvin Jones. Shorter's writing — modal, mysterious, half folk-tale and half incantation — bridges hard bop and the new freedom of the sixties. One of the most quietly perfect records Blue Note ever issued.

My copy A 1997 UK reissue, 180 g.

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#5 · Hank Mobley

Soul Station

BLP 4031 · 1960 · mono

2,425 in wantlist · want/have 4.39 Hard to find

Recorded on 7 February 1960, Soul Station is Hank Mobley's finest hour, the album that earned his reputation as the "middleweight champion" of the tenor. Backed by Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers (both on loan from Vee-Jay) and Art Blakey, Mobley plays with a warm, unhurried authority that rewards every replay. The quiet high point of Blue Note's tenor hard bop.

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#6 · Herbie Hancock

Empyrean Isles

BLP 4175 · 1964 · mono

2,264 in wantlist · want/have 5.82 Hard to find

Recorded in June 1964 at Englewood Cliffs, this is Herbie Hancock's great quartet date — just piano, Freddie Hubbard's cornet, Ron Carter's bass and the teenage Tony Williams on drums. It holds "Cantaloupe Island," later sampled into a pop hit, and balances funk, freedom and lyricism with a young band already rewriting the rules.

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#7 · Herbie Hancock

Maiden Voyage

BLP 4195 · 1965 · mono

2,103 in wantlist · want/have 3.10

Recorded on 17 March 1965 at Englewood Cliffs, Maiden Voyage is Hancock's oceanic concept album, its modal calm unlike anything else in the catalogue. With Freddie Hubbard, George Coleman, Ron Carter and Tony Williams, the title track and "Dolphin Dance" became standards. It remains among the most beloved — and most serene — records Blue Note ever made.

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#8 · Lee Morgan

The Sidewinder

BLP 4157 · 1964 · mono · variant without deep groove

1,943 in wantlist · want/have 0.88

Recorded on 21 December 1963 at Englewood Cliffs, Lee Morgan's boogaloo smash was Blue Note's best-selling record of the era — so successful the label chased its groove for years afterward. With Joe Henderson, Barry Harris, Bob Cranshaw and Billy Higgins, the title track is pure forward motion: a hard-bop hit that crossed over to a wider audience.

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#9 · Eric Dolphy

Out to Lunch!

BLP 4163 · 1964 · mono · deep groove on side 1 only

1,841 in wantlist · want/have 3.05

Recorded on 25 February 1964 at Englewood Cliffs, Eric Dolphy's boldest, most radical album is Blue Note's deepest step into the avant-garde — angular, teetering, exhilarating. With Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson's vibraphone, Richard Davis and Tony Williams, Dolphy reimagines group improvisation. He died that June, only months after the session, which makes it a summit and a farewell at once.

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#10 · Eddie Gale

Ghetto Music

BST 84294 · 1968 · stereo

1,840 in wantlist · want/have 2.91

Recorded on 20 September 1968 at Englewood Cliffs, trumpeter Eddie Gale's Ghetto Music fuses free jazz, gospel and a communal choir into one of Blue Note's great spiritual-jazz statements. A veteran of Sun Ra's and Cecil Taylor's circles, Gale made music as collective ritual — raw, exalted, and unlike anything else on the label.