"The look of Blue Note was almost as important as what was on it. It was the quintessential cool album to be seen carrying around when you were in the sixth form. Like a button-down shirt - a slice of hipness in suburban Britain."
- Deyan Sudjic, founder of Blueprint architectural magazine and director of Glasgow 99
"If you had to distil the sound of post-war jazz into the output of a single label it would have to be Blue Note: sizzling rhythms, solos drenched in the blues and aching with soul, all wrapped up in a visual style that endures as the classic definition of cool."
- Geoff Dyer, author of But Beautiful
"If it weren't for Blue Note, I would have some alarming spaces on my purpose-built shelves and we would not have learnt to look at and appreciate record sleeve covers. Blue Note revolutionised record-sleeve art and they kept faith with the music. They were the great pioneers of what was then cutting-edge in the Forties and Fifties."
- Alan Plater, writer
"Pioneering, influential, risk-taking. Defined not only that era but every era since. And still a source for tapped ideas and anyone looking for inspiration."
- Neville Brody, graphic designer
"Blue Note was recognised worldwide as the most important jazz label in modern history. It had the foresight to sign people like Herbie Hancock and the creation of the Blue Note sound gave presence to soloists. It was also the first record label to put black musicians on the cover. The sound and look expressed a whole feeling about jazz."
- Bruce Lundvall, director of Blue Note
"This was the first ever label identity - not just funky sleeves, but a whole look. It was this vision that Reid Miles created that forged the look of jazz music for decades. Even in the Nineties the Blue Note vibe is as strong as ever. It was this vision and attitude that I adopted back in 1990 when approached by Gilles Peterson who was setting up Talkin' Loud Records. I pitched Gilles with the idea - I will give you a Blue Note for the Nineties. The dream lasted for only a couple of years and I didn't produce 500 sleeves like Reid, but - hey - I had a good stab at it."
- Ian Swift, designer