Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label, owned by Universal Music Group and currently operates in conjunction with Decca Records. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. Originally dedicated to recording traditional jazz and small group swing, from 1947 the label began to switch its attention to modern jazz. While the original company did not itself record many of the pioneers of bebop, significant exceptions are Thelonious Monk, Fats Navarro and Bud Powell.
In 1979, EMI purchased United Artists Records, which had absorbed Liberty Records in 1969, and phased out the Blue Note label, which lay dormant until 1985, when it was relaunched as part of EMI Manhattan Records, both for re-issues and new recordings. In 2006, EMI expanded Blue Note to create the Blue Note Label Group by moving its Narada group of labels to New York to join with Blue Note. Following the acquisition of EMI by Universal, Decca Records took over distribution of Blue Note.
