Blue Mitchell Boss Horn

[bertrand]

Just got the Boss Horn RVG from yourmusic.

There's some serious distortion on the first five seconds of 'Millie', the opening track. Kinda like in the beginning of 'The Rock' on the Patton Mosaic, but even louder.

Is it just me? Was it in the Blue Mitchell Mosaic box as well?

Thanks,

Bertrand.

[Daniel A]

Probably this distortion is now present at the master tape. I checked my copy of 'Boss Horn', it's from the Spanish Blue Note Collection with blue covers, and the distortion you mention is there, too.

Now, what kind of remastering this Spanish version really is beats me - most of the other releases in this series are in fact the same as the Japanese TOCJ releases of the 1990s, but Boss Horn was to my knowledge never released on CD in Japan. I checked another CD from this series (Tina Brooks' 'True Blue'), which has ©(p)1993 Capitol Records, Inc. on it, which I believe is the year of the Japanese release. 'Boss' horn has ©(p)19xx... A secret remaster?

Just to be thorough, I also checked my vinyl copy, a black label Liberty pressing, where - of course - there was no distortion...

[bertrand]

Thanks, I figured the distortion was in the tape. I'm still curious if it's in the Mosaic as well.

I'm not surprised you should own this record . I was put off at first on my first listen, but I'm on my second go-round and I'm liking it more and more!

Once again, I confirm that you can't judge music after one superficial listen. This is one of Wayne Shorter's pet peeves.

Bertrand.

[bertrand]

Man, Jumior Cook sure sounds like Joe Henderson on his solo on the last track, 'Straight Up And Down'!

Maybe Joe is really the tenor on the two last tunes (where the pianists are also switched); let's start a poll

Bertrand.

Edited November 28, 2005 by bertrand

[Daniel A]

I'm not surprised you should own this record . I was put off at first on my first listen, but I'm on my second go-round and I'm liking it more and more!

Yes, Bertrand, it grows on you! One of the high points is Chick Corea's solo on 'Tones for Joan's Bones', which I think is one of his earliest significant solos (recorded just a few weeks before the first album under his own name, IIRC. Incidentally, an album which also has that tune, but with a rather more cautious solo from Corea).

Pearson's arrangements are - what do you call them - functional? But it amazes me that they do not sound worn out after a couple of listens; behind the simplicity there's something which holds your attention.

[Daniel A]

Man, Junior Cook sure sounds like Joe Henderson on his solo on the last track, 'Straight Up And Down'!

I just listened to that cut, and I agree that the tenor sound is very similar to Joe Henderson's. Sometimes I think the timing is just slightly less perfect than Joe's, though. But this is not how I thought Junior Cook sounded like, and I'm surprised in a positive way; I must dig out some more of his recordings... He sounds good on the other tracks as well, where he plays like "himself"!

[connoisseur series500]

Thanks, I figured the distortion was in the tape. I'm still curious if it's in the Mosaic as well.

I have the JRVG version and the Mosaic version. Both have the distortion you mention. I just listened to them both.

[Daniel A]

So, therefore I'd suggest...

[pasta]

AMEN ON THE VINYL BROTHER!

[bertrand]

Wow, the distortion has been there for a while. It's odd because it's not like 'Millie' has been compiled ad nauseam, unlike say 'Song For My Father', for which we know the tape is now permanently damaged

So, what Blue Note tracks (or entire sessions) have unfixable sonic issues? Time to back up the master tapes!

These are the ones I know of off-hand:

1. Millie

2. Song For My Father

3. The Rock

4. Plaza De Toros (mentioned in the Mosaic Larry Young booklet) - this one is fairly minor

I'm sure there are others.

There are also entire sessions where Rudy effed up (The Witch Doctor, Grant Green's Standards), but these are a bit different - even the vinyl was distorted (and neither of these sessions came out right away, perhaps for this very reason). Are there any Blue Note sessions that were released at the time that had sonic problems? Did anyone notice at the time?

Bertrand.

Edited November 28, 2005 by bertrand

[brownie]

So, therefore I'd suggest...

It's distorsion free, indeed

Just checked...

[sidewinder]

I want one !

[bertrand]

It's only half an album though!

Bertrand.

[JohnS]

So, therefore I'd suggest...

It's distorsion free, indeed

Just checked...

Yup, I can confirm the the vinyl is distortion free and my blue cover Spanish Time Life cd is distortion infected.

[montg]

Why doesn't Blue note remaster from the vinyl on this track rather than from the damaged tape?

I agree this is fine music--the arrangements sound a bit dated at first, but they hold up OK after repeated listening and they certainly don't get in the way of some fine playing by Blue and Junior Cook (or is it Junior Henderson, or Joe Cook).

Edited December 1, 2005 by montg

[bertrand]

Blue Note didn't think of using the vinyl because ... no one seems to have noticed this (fairly minor) problem before.

I probably would have missed it if it were not right in the beginning.

Bertrand.

[Daniel A]

Aren't there similar problems on Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge"? On the McMaster the cymbals sound bad right in the beginning of Joe's solo.

[CJ Shearn]

is it really that much of a big deal? the distortion on "The Rock" doesn't bother me..... tapes get old and wrinkly soooo...........

Edited December 3, 2005 by CJ Shearn

[Rosco]

Aren't there similar problems on Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge"? On the McMaster the cymbals sound bad right in the beginning of Joe's solo.

Yep, but not on the RVG version if I recall...

IIRC, there's a similar distortion at the beginning of the 1993 version of John Patton's Let 'Em Roll, too

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I'm not sure I know what you're all on about.

I just compared my vinyl version of "Into Somethin'" with the Connoisseur version and can't tell the difference. I haven't got the Mosaic.

I also compared the vinyl version of "The way I feel" with the TOCJ version and the Mosaic Select. On the mosaic, there's a duff bit a few bars in, lasting a couple of seconds maybe, as if there's a bit of muck on the tape. Is that what it's about?

MG