Shades of Blue: Madlib Invades Blue Note

Stones Throw says Peanut Butter Wolf and Blue Note conceived the project, inspired by Madlib's Yesterdays New Quintet, and that it is a re-imagination of Blue Note's culture, not just a cover album. UDiscover says Blue Note invited him in 2002 to explore its archive and make whatever he wanted. He told the Baltimore Sun in 2003 that he took whatever he wanted out of each song he chose, spent about half a year thinking about it, but that it just took a week to do, adding live vibraphone, turntable scratches, lyrics and beats. He said of his approach, I do the music I want to hear.

The source records include Donald Byrd's "Stepping into Tomorrow", Bobbi Humphrey's "Please Set Me at Ease", Horace Silver's "Song for My Father", Wayne Shorter's "Footprints", Herbie Hancock's "Dolphin Dance" and music by Gene Harris, Ronnie Foster and Bobby Hutcherson; "Funky Blue Note" is new. It reached number 13 on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums and number 8 on Top Contemporary Jazz Albums. AllMusic's Sam Samuelson gave it four stars, Pitchfork gave it 8.6, and The A.V. Club's Nathan Rabin called it a remarkable collaboration between Madlib and the Blue Note catalog. Blue Note reissued it on 180-gram vinyl in 2023.