Classic Blue Notes on SHM-CD

[RPF1990]

Hi,

HMV Japan states the following: Blue Note The Master Works Stage 5. Smash hit series! 2014, Blue Note, which celebrated its 75th anniversary. Appeared as a new series from October 2013, finally the final chapter in this! (According to Google translate.)

Although, this could mean that the 75th anniversary SHM reissues have run their course, rather than Bluenote SHM CDs in general, I suppose. I hope there will be more.

Andy

[dougcrates]

HMV Japan has listed approx. 100 new Blue Notes with the UCCQ catalog # to be issued early June and early July but none of them are SHM reissues as they are all at a lower price point and there is no mention of SHM in the listings (it's the same at Amazon Japan so I'm afraid the party is over.)

http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/search/advanced_1/barcodecatnum_uccq/category_1%2C2%2C3%2C4%2C5%2C7%2C9%2C10%2C23%2C24%2C50/formattype_1/sort_datedesc/target_BARCODECATNUM/

[xybert]

HMV Japan has listed approx. 100 new Blue Notes with the UCCQ catalog # to be issued early June and early July but none of them are SHM reissues as they are all at a lower price point and there is no mention of SHM in the listings (it's the same at Amazon Japan so I'm afraid the party is over.)

http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/search/advanced_1/barcodecatnum_uccq/category_1%2C2%2C3%2C4%2C5%2C7%2C9%2C10%2C23%2C24%2C50/formattype_1/sort_datedesc/target_BARCODECATNUM/

Song of Singing! Yes!

[monkboughtlunch]

HMV Japan has listed approx. 100 new Blue Notes with the UCCQ catalog # to be issued early June and early July but none of them are SHM reissues as they are all at a lower price point and there is no mention of SHM in the listings (it's the same at Amazon Japan so I'm afraid the party is over.)

http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/search/advanced_1/barcodecatnum_uccq/category_1%2C2%2C3%2C4%2C5%2C7%2C9%2C10%2C23%2C24%2C50/formattype_1/sort_datedesc/target_BARCODECATNUM/

So what masterings are these if not new transfers?

[jazzbo]

They could be RVGs.

[erwbol]

As long as they have the new transfers and masterings, I don't care if these aren't SHMs. Cheaper is better. Just don't lower the quality of booklets like Sony Japan does for their budget reissues.

Edited April 14, 2015 by erwbol

[RPF1990]

I don't think these are RVGs, as I'm not sure whether Schizophrenia or Moon Rappin' have been released in this series, at lease outside Japan. I'm not bothered about the SHM aspect, but can see six or seven titles I would be interested in buying if they are the new masters (and a few others if not - I'm not anti RVG). Some of the new titles are still available as RVGs. Anyway, some other titles are out of print (in the UK at least); bringing titles back to market is always a good thing.

[dougcrates]

Schizophrenia and Moon Rappin' were both released as Mini-LP RVG's in Japan back in 2003.

[RPF1990]

Oh, cool. Thanks for the info. These title are now showing at CD Japan also. They'll be available until the end of December.

[jazzbo]

I'm listening to the "Electric Byrd" SHM-CD and it sounds REALLY good.

[Homefromtheforest]

I'm listening to the "Electric Byrd" SHM-CD and it sounds REALLY good.

I'm sure it does! I have a pristine Liberty vinyl pressing that sounds amazing...

[Dan Gould]

Question:

The reissue of The Three Sounds Hey There! apparently has ten bonus tracks but from the partial list I've seen they appear to be from the Babe's Blues session. Can anyone confirm if there is truly unissued material on this SHMCD release?

[David Ayers]

Question:

The reissue of The Three Sounds Hey There! apparently has ten bonus tracks but from the partial list I've seen they appear to be from the Babe's Blues session. Can anyone confirm if there is truly unissued material on this SHMCD release?

We're waiting for you. You're the expert!

[romualdo]

Question:

The reissue of The Three Sounds Hey There! apparently has ten bonus tracks but from the partial list I've seen they appear to be from the Babe's Blues session. Can anyone confirm if there is truly unissued material on this SHMCD release?

Tracks 1-9 are from the original LP (Hey There!) while 11-19 are from Babe's Blues

Only track 10 (Billy Boy) appears to be previously unissued

All tracks are from one session (Aug 13, 1961) - two titles remain unissued ("In A Mellow Tone" & "Here We Come")

[Dan Gould]

Yeah but like Huck Finn (or was that Tom Sawyer?) I like to let other people do the work for me.

I found a track listing on eBay and compared it to Babe's Blues. Babe's Blues had ten tracks, there are ten "bonus" cuts.

What makes little sense is that the tracks listed are the same except that "Babe's Blues" doesn't appear and "Billy Boy," which is listed in the BN discography online as 'rejected,' does. What I don't know is if there was more than one take of any of the tracks on Babe's Blues.

So basically this release almost is a two-fer, with one track missing on the bonus CD and replaced by a previously unissued tune.

So I guess now my question (unanswerable by me) is whether or not this series is oh so special sounding that I should shell out for 19 tracks, only one of which is new to me.

[jazzbo]

Well, actually. . . I think only you can decide whether a sonic upgrade is worth it to you Dan! Though I haven't bought any of the 3 Sounds releases in the series, I feel the sound is a real upgrade on those I have purchased.

And as a collector. . . buying a cd for one tune. . . don't you have that t-shirt?

Edited April 21, 2015 by jazzbo

[Dan Gould]

I liked the t-shirt so much, I bought the company!

Actually if this really is an unissued/rejected tune I should probably buy it just to encourage them to keep issuing more of the same.

(Then there's the nagging voice in my head saying, "what if this is really "Babe's Blues" and they just mislabeled the track?"

[jazzbo]

Oh boy, that nagging voice. . . we've been collectors too long.

[Dan Gould]

Oh I don't hear nothing ... Da Bastards won out.

[jazzbo]

[David Ayers]

Yeah but like Huck Finn (or was that Tom Sawyer?) I like to let other people do the work for me.

I found a track listing on eBay and compared it to Babe's Blues. Babe's Blues had ten tracks, there are ten "bonus" cuts.

What makes little sense is that the tracks listed are the same except that "Babe's Blues" doesn't appear and "Billy Boy," which is listed in the BN discography online as 'rejected,' does. What I don't know is if there was more than one take of any of the tracks on Babe's Blues.

So basically this release almost is a two-fer, with one track missing on the bonus CD and replaced by a previously unissued tune.

So I guess now my question (unanswerable by me) is whether or not this series is oh so special sounding that I should shell out for 19 tracks, only one of which is new to me.

The reason for the choice of tracks is that Babe's Blues is the *only* track which was not recorded at the August 13, 1961 session, while Billy Boy is the only track from that session marked as 'unissued' - not 'rejected' - which was not included on the Babe's Blues CD.

What this probably means is that these new issues will tidy up some of the extra tracks that are lying around. Or maybe not.

[monkboughtlunch]

How do the Freddie Roach and John Patton SHM CD remasterings compare to the old 1990s Japanese TOCJ CDs? I have the 90s era Japanese CDs and am curious if these new remasterings are a significant upgrade, especially since the SHMCDs were apparently sourced from the master tapes (can anyone confirm?) and the 90s Japanese CDs may have been transferred from Japanese 2nd generation analog copy tapes.

Edited April 24, 2015 by monkboughtlunch

[jazzbo]

I have a Patton and a Roach that I did a brief comparison on when they arrived. The new cds have a crisper, more detailed sound, and a more spacious sound stage presentation. They lack that warm presentation many like in the early Japanese series (and that I find a bit dull). I think if you in general enjoy the kind of qualities that recent Japanese remasterings bring to Blue Note and other labels you would consider the new ones a small step up. If you particularly like the TOCJ sound as many do there probably isn't a real need to buy the new ones.

[monkboughtlunch]

Just received Byrd's "A New Perspective" SHMCD. It blows away the late 1990s RVG CD remaster. I compared both closely on headphones. The RVG employs excessive compression. In addition, Rudy apparently used something like an Aphex Aural Exciter as the drum cymbal and high hat on the RVG CD remaster splashes artificially across the stereo image. In the SHM, which sounds unprocessed, the cymbal and high hat are confined to the right channel. It's ironic that RVG marred his beautiful recordings with horrid CD remastering techniques. The SHM CD series, along with the XRCDs and Analogue Productions SACDs reveal how wonderful these recordings are -- and the extent that the RVG CD masters underserved the tapes. It's sad that we had to suffer through 10 years of RVG remasters.

Edited April 25, 2015 by monkboughtlunch

[monkboughtlunch]

HMV Japan has listed approx. 100 new Blue Notes with the UCCQ catalog # to be issued early June and early July but none of them are SHM reissues as they are all at a lower price point and there is no mention of SHM in the listings (it's the same at Amazon Japan so I'm afraid the party is over.)

http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/search/advanced_1/barcodecatnum_uccq/category_1%2C2%2C3%2C4%2C5%2C7%2C9%2C10%2C23%2C24%2C50/formattype_1/sort_datedesc/target_BARCODECATNUM/

Has it been revealed if these are new transfers from the Blue Note 75th series? Or are they old remasterings (such as RVGs) being recycled?