Blue Note Records discography

7000 series
The "traditional series" of 10" LPs consisted of new recordings and reissues of material from the 78 era. Some of this material was repackaged in the short-lived 1200 series of 12" LPs.

Modern Jazz 5000 series
The Blue Note Modern Jazz Series began late in 1951 with the following 10" monaural LPs. Some of these LPs were later reissued as part of the Blue Note 1500 Series of 12" LPs. At first, recordings were made in various studios in New York (Reeves Sound Studio, WOR Studios, Apex Studios, Audio Video Studios). Beginning in October 1953, however, most Blue Note sessions took place in Rudy Van Gelder's home studio in Hackensack, New Jersey. The sessions were produced by Alfred Lion and engineered by Van Gelder, and many LP covers featured photographs by Lion's partner in Blue Note Francis Wolff.

Modern Jazz 1500 series
Blue Note made the switch to 12" albums late in 1955. The Modern Jazz Series (see the 5000 series below) continued with the following 12" LPs. Many of these were issued in both monaural versions (BLP series) and stereo versions (BST 81500 series), sometimes in electronically rechanneled stereo. In certain cases, the stereo versions of recordings from 1957 onwards only appeared many years later. Beginning in 1956 with BLP 1509, Reid Miles designed most of the Blue Note LP covers. The 1500 series has been systematically reissued by Toshiba-EMI in Japan ("Blue Note Works 1500" series, 20-bit 88.2 kHz CDs); the catalog numbers are TOCJ-1501, etc. In addition, originally unissued material from these dates was made available of Toshiba's 1600 series (20-bit 88.2 kHz CDs).

Modern Jazz 4000 series
The Modern Jazz Series continued into the 1970s with the LPs listed below. Many were issued in both monaural versions (BLP series) and stereo versions (BST 84000 series). Beginning with 4258 all subsequent LPs (with three exceptions: 4263, 4264, and 4265) were issued only in stereo. Most of the first 300 numbers of the 4000 series have been reissued by Toshiba-EMI in Japan ("Blue Note Works 4000" series); the catalog numbers are TOCJ-4###.

BN-LA series
12" LP's issued during the 1970s using the numbering sequence of parent company United Artists Records with an extra prefix. The suffix is a code for the list price of the album and whether it is a two-disc set. In this series there are many reissues from earlier series, "Best of" albums, live albums and compilations, as well as new studio albums.

LT series
After EMI acquired United Artists Records, Blue Note LPs continued to appear with catalog numbers taken from the main numbering sequence of UA and its successor, the revived Liberty Records. This is effectively a continuation of the BN-LA series without UA's letter codes. Albums in this series appeared in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Manhattan 85100 series
Series of new studio albums as well as a few reissues released c. 1985–87, following Blue Note's reestablishment.

1600 series
These CDs make available originally unissued material from the sessions from the 1500 series. They were manufactured by Toshiba-EMI and use 20-bit, 88.2 kHz recording technology.

9000 series
An experimental and short-lived vocal jazz series; only two albums were released in this series: