Blue Note Deletion email from True Blue/Mosaic

[blake]

Ubu inspired me to search my old emails and I found this one sent 7-30-03:

Dear Music Lover,

We regret to inform you that the following CD titles are being discontinued in

late August 2003. If you have been contemplating any of these titles for your

collection, we suggest that you purchase them by August 15 through your local

retailer or the Blue Note Web Site at www.bluenote.com.

STEFANO DI BATTISTA - Stefano Di Battista featuring Jacky Terrasson and Elvin

Jones

ORNETTE COLEMAN - Love Call

MILES DAVIS - Jazz Profile

TANIA MARIA - The Best Of Tania Maria

CHARLIE PARKER - Bird At The Hi-Hat

BUD POWELL - The Best Of The Blue Note Years

SONNY ROLLINS - The Best Of The Blue Note Years

DINAH WASHINGTON - In Love

A small quantity of the following deleted titles are still available on the web

site while supplies last.

MADREDEUS - Os Dias Da Madredeus

LEE MORGAN - Infinity

JACK SHELDON - Quartet & Quintet

THE THREE SOUNDS - Live At The Lighthouse

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Jump N Jive

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I still regret though that the CDs have never done justice to the Blue Note LP sound or to the original masters.

Analogue Productions and Music Matters are trying to rectify that. Analogue Productions is releasing select classic Blue Note titles on hybrid SACDs (SACD & CD combined). Music Matters is releasing select classic Blue Notes that are not part of AP's program on XRCDs. I have heard several of both and to my ears, they are doing justice to the original masters.

[David Ayers]

I still regret though that the CDs have never done justice to the Blue Note LP sound or to the original masters.

Analogue Productions and Music Matters are trying to rectify that. Analogue Productions is releasing select classic Blue Note titles on hybrid SACDs (SACD & CD combined). Music Matters is releasing select classic Blue Notes that are not part of AP's program on XRCDs. I have heard several of both and to my ears, they are doing justice to the original masters.

yes, and these are very welcome, I agree - I just wanted to say that it is a pity that not many of the RVGs etc really hit the mark.

[J.A.W.]

I still regret though that the CDs have never done justice to the Blue Note LP sound or to the original masters.

Analogue Productions and Music Matters are trying to rectify that. Analogue Productions is releasing select classic Blue Note titles on hybrid SACDs (SACD & CD combined). Music Matters is releasing select classic Blue Notes that are not part of AP's program on XRCDs. I have heard several of both and to my ears, they are doing justice to the original masters.

The XRCDs are released by Audio Wave. Music Matters released Blue Note titles on vinyl. Joe Harley is involved in both projects, which makes me wonder if Audio Wave is the CD division of Music Matters or if Music Matters is the LP division of Audio Wave

Anyway, to my ears the Audio Wave XRCDs (mastered by Alan Yoshida) and the CD layers of the AP hybrid SACDs (mastered by Steve Hoffman) that I've heard sound remarkably similar to my Toshiba "Blue Note Works" CDs.

[Claude]

I still regret though that the CDs have never done justice to the Blue Note LP sound or to the original masters. The RVG series, in particular, was a huge missed opportunity to do it properly, or at least as well as could be done for CD.

Of course I don't know how Blue Note master tapes sound. But after having heard many LP and SACD reissues of Blue Note albums mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, which supposedly come closest to the sound of the original tapes (I'm personally not interested in hearing sonic recreations of the original LPs), I must say that Ron McMaster did quite a good job on the first CD reissues and the Connoisseur series. He did not try to compensate the "dullness" of many RVG recordings by boosting treble as RVG did with his remasterings.

I think Rudy Van Gelder's Blue Note recordings are somewhat overrated as far as the technical quality goes. After 1963, the recording quality degraded quite a lot, with a muddy bass, indistinct piano and reduced dynamics. Other labels - Verve or Columbia - did a better job. Albums such as "Juju" are sonically disappointing even with the best mastering.

[J.A.W.]

Of course I don't know how Blue Note master tapes sound. But after having heard many LP and SACD reissues of Blue Note albums mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, which supposedly come closest to the sound of the original tapes (I'm personally not interested in hearing sonic recreations of the original LPs), I must say that Ron McMaster did quite a good job on the first CD reissues and the Connoisseur series. He did not try to compensate the "dullness" of many RVG recordings by boosting treble as RVG did with his remasterings.

I agree, those early McMasters are not as bad as some people say they are.

[mikeweil]

Thanks Ubu re the King Cole Box - I will try to find a reasonably priced copy.

----------------------------

Don't remember if the Gil Fuller was on the list, but got it anyway, and it turned out to be another gem of West Coast Big band Jazz:

[jazzbo]

Of course I don't know how Blue Note master tapes sound. But after having heard many LP and SACD reissues of Blue Note albums mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, which supposedly come closest to the sound of the original tapes (I'm personally not interested in hearing sonic recreations of the original LPs), I must say that Ron McMaster did quite a good job on the first CD reissues and the Connoisseur series. He did not try to compensate the "dullness" of many RVG recordings by boosting treble as RVG did with his remasterings.

I agree, those early McMasters are not as bad as some people say they are.

Yeah. But I personally prefer RVGs to most 20 and 24 bit McMasters. Those just are thin and brittle sounding to me.

Anyway, teh glory days of lots of these titles "in print" seem to have ended. Sigh.

[David Ayers]

Agreed on the McMasters. I said years ago that one day we'd look back favorably on the RMMs!

By the way, I don't know what the original masters sound like, but I do know what instruments sound like and I do know what a good two track tape *can* sound like, and these are my reference points.

On the subject of creating the sound of the original LPs, it is worth bearing in mind that these recordings were always intended for LP, so recording decisions are closely related to the technology of reproduction. I'd hesitate over the issue of separating the two, without nostalgia.

Anyway I don't want to get into a thing, I'm not that audio-minded. My basic thought is that we have been lucky to have so many titles around, but it's a pity we always have to work around the commonly available issues to get more plausible sound (anyone got a complete run of TOCJ 4000s yet? ).

[Bluerein]

anyone got a complete run of TOCJ 4000s yet? uhh....yes!

[king ubu]

Thanks Ubu re the King Cole Box - I will try to find a reasonably priced copy.

----------------------------

Don't remember if the Gil Fuller was on the list, but got it anyway, and it turned out to be another gem of West Coast Big band Jazz:

Glad you caught it!

And yes on the Gillespie/Fuller/Moody twofer!

[David Ayers]

anyone got a complete run of TOCJ 4000s yet? uhh....yes!

So.. apart from Reinier, has anyone *else* got a complete run of TOCJ 4000s yet?

[Bluerein]

Come on Kevin admit it.........

[J.A.W.]

Come on Kevin admit it.........

If you mean Kevin B., I don't think he has a complete run of TOCJ-4000s.

anyone got a complete run of TOCJ 4000s yet? uhh....yes!

So.. apart from Reinier, has anyone *else* got a complete run of TOCJ 4000s yet?

I don't, there are several titles that I don't like

[David Ayers]

Oh there are *many* I don't like but why should that stop me?

[J.A.W.]

Oh there are *many* I don't like but why should that stop me?

[Bluerein]

amateur collectors!!!!

[J.A.W.]

amateur collectors!!!!

I'm not a collector

[Dan Gould]

amateur collectors!!!!

I'm not a collector

I think anyone who has more than 100 CDs is a collector.

But if you insist you are not a collector, if I foot the bill to come visit, can I take any CD or LP I want? Yeah, I thought so.

[J.A.W.]

amateur collectors!!!!

I'm not a collector

I think anyone who has more than 100 CDs is a collector.

What's that criterion based on?

[Dan Gould]

Because its far more CDs than someone who listens but isn't remotely serious about music. They've got their Supertramp CDs and whatever else they grew up with, and that's it. They aren't music lovers who spend seven or ten or whatever hours a week listening, as people here do.

That number might very well be a lot lower, say 50 CDs. 50 CDs covers whatever genres interest you, ya got KoB, ya got a couple of Classical CDs plus the music of your youth. But if you shop for music once a year, you ain't a collector. If you shop like we do, yeah, you're a collector.

And one other thing: You don't have to be a completist to be a collector.

[J.A.W.]

Because its far more CDs than someone who listens but isn't remotely serious about music. They've got their Supertramp CDs and whatever else they grew up with, and that's it. They aren't music lovers who spend seven or ten or whatever hours a week listening, as people here do.

That number might very well be a lot lower, say 50 CDs. 50 CDs covers whatever genres interest you, ya got KoB, ya got a couple of Classical CDs plus the music of your youth. But if you shop for music once a year, you ain't a collector. If you shop like we do, yeah, you're a collector.

And one other thing: You don't have to be a completist to be a collector.

Interesting, though I do not necessarily agree. Put simply, I think a CD collector is someone whose main interest is to complete a particular CD series (like for example the "Blue Note Works" TOCJs) and/or to get as much music as they can by a particular artist/group, including all the various versions/mixes/masterings/etc. they can lay their hands on, no matter ìf it's any good or not. In other words, they are completists.

Next question: does a CD collector actually listen to music? For instance, there are many people on the Hoffman forum who are collectors in the sense I described above and who give me the impression that they're not in the least interested in the music they're buying; if there's anything they listen to, it's sound.

[Dan Gould]

Apply the terms to something such as antiques and you will see that anyone who spends a substantial amount of money collecting objects that interest them and give them pleasure is a collector.

And the less said about the psychoses rampant at the Hoffman forum, the better.

A collector must be a completist? You aren't a completist - then how do you refer to the music you own? Is it not a collection?

[Bluerein]

I believe Dan has some very valid points here. You don't have to be a completists (like I am in some way) to be a collector. There are various gradations of collecting imo. With Blue Note I might be a little over the top but that's only with Blue Note (the pre 80's period). And then only on CD because I don't like LP's!!!

But if Hans doesn't want to be called a collector he is free to have it his way too! Long live the Jazz Collectors lovers....

[jazzbo]

I agree, if you're actively seeking to buy music and buy and sell to add and enrich your holdings, you're a collector. If you're a completist. . . you're a collector who's a completist!

Hi, my name is Lon Armstrong, and I collect music.