Blue Note by Groovebug Review
Price: FREE
Version: 1.1.2
App Reviewed on: iPad 2
iOS Integration Rating:





User Interface Rating:





Re-use / Replay Value Rating:





[rating:overall]
While the app functions as a free stand-alone product, in order to enjoy full tracks users must subscribe for $1.99/month. While the catalog is finite, it’s not all there yet and EMI promises new featured albums and artists along with new playlists from experts in various related fields each month to keep thing from getting stale. The upgrade also gets users higher-quality audio and access to extended photo galleries.
The app pays homage to one of the most venerable historic jazz labels and has sounds from the likes of Thelonious Monk and Jazz Messenger drummer Art Blakely in signature Hard Bop style, Modal Jazz with Andrew Hill and Sonny Clark along with other sub-genres like trios, tenors and post-Bop and recordings by giants including Baby Face Willette, Miles Davis and John Coltrane - all musical pioneers in their time.
There is even artist backstory and discovery - those who want to learn more about the early avante-garde jazz scene can tap on a familiar name and get all their recordings, a fairly extensive bio, YouTube videos, news, photos, even original newspaper clippings. The last tab – Similar – toggles a neat turntable-like control, which users spin to see related artists.
Blue Note by Groovebug is a sweet package, worth the subscription if one loves jazz or wants to learn more. It’s not a comprehensive history of this uniquely American art form, but it digs into one label that helped shape the genre with enough depth and breadth to give it replay value. I’m eager to see what EMI and third parties do next with commercial OpenEMI apps on iOS, Spotify, and beyond.