"Blue Note 100"

[hvbias]

im just kinda amazed and happy that theyre reissuing all this stuff at all, let alone on vinyl, in 2014.

today i saw a new lp reissue of donald byrd- KOFI, but it was manufactured in the EU, and i have a bad feeling its from a DAT source, so i passed. these us bn offical reissues will be better than whats already out there, perhaps.

i think a lot of it has to do w/ access to tapes. there is a reason why lee morgan- charisma or blue mitchell- heads up are not pulled from the vault as often, but i really dont know why. it is not easy to get certain tapes, when others have been checked out many times

That Kofi reissue is by Heavenly Sweetness. There was a thread on them in the vinyl forum here a while back.

[mjzee]

Just got Unity. The cover is a little on the thin side, but there's a nice color inner sleeve showing various BN releases (perhaps those that are part of this reissue series). I don't have a copy of the original cover, but it looks to me like they may have used new type for the musicians listed on the front cover. Can't wait to hear it; heard it when the CD first came out and wasn't thrilled with it, perhaps I'll like it better now.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

thank you for the name of the label, ill look it up

[David Ayers]

We haven't commented on it but I notice Don Was was also mentioning CD releases from these new transfers. Interesting. Or would be if I hadn't heard it all already .

[erwbol]

We haven't commented on it but I notice Don Was was also mentioning CD releases from these new transfers. Interesting. Or would be if I hadn't heard it all already .

You'd think RVGs would have saturated the US market, and most Amazon reviewers seem to think they are da bomb. They even sometimes attribute Concord Joe Tarantino re-masters to Van Gelder.

[mjzee]

Got Free For All today.

[Chuck Nessa]

The most disappointing thing about 75 years of Blue Note is there are no interesting CD releases planned for the US and EU markets. New recordings don't count. Don Was probably has nothing to do with the Japanese SHM releases, and even these are not as good as they could have been (compare the Prestige 7000 and New Jazz 8200 series SHMs).

I feel pretty much disgusted by the current Blue Note for almost as long as I collect jazz on CD. EMI Blue Note on physical digital media stands for inferior product.

And it was Blue Note that gave that geriatric clown Rudy Van Gelder the opportunity to dominate the CD re-issue market for a good decade.

I'm not going to get into a further discussion of RVG CDs - We've been there and done that.

However, if it weren't for that "geriatric clown", you'd have very few BN SMH releases to listen to. Or you might buy a decent turntable and pick up a few King, Music Matters, Analogue Productions, whatever LPs and hear what that "geritric clown" did in his younger days.

As someone who has done work with RVG, I find this revolting. Rudy deserves much better than this from "internet experts".

[Jay]

Totally agree with Chuck. I'm at a loss for words for such disrespect.

[erwbol]

The most disappointing thing about 75 years of Blue Note is there are no interesting CD releases planned for the US and EU markets. New recordings don't count. Don Was probably has nothing to do with the Japanese SHM releases, and even these are not as good as they could have been (compare the Prestige 7000 and New Jazz 8200 series SHMs).

I feel pretty much disgusted by the current Blue Note for almost as long as I collect jazz on CD. EMI Blue Note on physical digital media stands for inferior product.

And it was Blue Note that gave that geriatric clown Rudy Van Gelder the opportunity to dominate the CD re-issue market for a good decade.

I'm not going to get into a further discussion of RVG CDs - We've been there and done that.

However, if it weren't for that "geriatric clown", you'd have very few BN SMH releases to listen to. Or you might buy a decent turntable and pick up a few King, Music Matters, Analogue Productions, whatever LPs and hear what that "geritric clown" did in his younger days.

As someone who has done work with RVG, I find this revolting. Rudy deserves much better than this from "internet experts".

I see myself as a very unhappy Blue Note consumer with respect to the RVG series and the copy protection scheme for EU releases (which lasted several years).

And doesn't the Blue Note catalog deserve better treatment than it got the last decade and a half? From my perspective Rudy Van Gelder made a fool of himself by releasing so many subpar sounding CDs with his name on them.

Edited March 30, 2014 by erwbol

[Clunky]

I'd doubt the Copy protection had anything to do with RVG. I'm with Chuck here, RVG should be given more respect given his enormous contribution to the music. There is a risk of greatly exaggerating the defects of the RVG. A small number are less than ideal but should be seen in perspective to the vast number of sessions he's recorded or mastered.

[erwbol]

I'd doubt the Copy protection had anything to do with RVG. I'm with Chuck here, RVG should be given more respect given his enormous contribution to the music. There is a risk of greatly exaggerating the defects of the RVG. A small number are less than ideal but should be seen in perspective to the vast number of sessions he's recorded or mastered.

Nowhere was I saying Van Gelder had anything to do with that scheme. It is just one of the causes of my unhappiness with Blue Note. You're misrepresenting what I was saying.

And a large percentage of the RVG remasters are clearly not good.

PS I respect his original contribution, of course.

Edited March 30, 2014 by erwbol

[danasgoodstuff]

Given Don Was's neo-populist proclamations regarding current BN, it's a little surprsing that there's so little grease or otherwise overtly populist musics on this BN 100 list, less surprising that the A-G gets stiffed too, but equally sad. More to the point, I think the're misjudging youngish hipster tastes with this list/reissue campaign...

[David Ayers]

Given Don Was's neo-populist proclamations regarding current BN, it's a little surprsing that there's so little grease or otherwise overtly populist musics on this BN 100 list, less surprising that the A-G gets stiffed too, but equally sad. More to the point, I think the're misjudging youngish hipster tastes with this list/reissue campaign...

A-G gets stiffed? BN had little that you could call AG, but all the CT is there, two Ornettes, one Cherry, and a few other things that are or are not A-G according to where you draw the line (Mclean, Hill, Moncur, Dolphy).

Not sure how you would see a selection of 100 as working out....

[mjzee]

Listening now to Unity. Vinyl is heavy and very quiet but, disappointingly, a little off-center. Sound quality is nice and smooth. Music still doesn't thrill me, but I'm glad to have the album.

[WD45]

Listening now to Unity. Vinyl is heavy and very quiet but, disappointingly, a little off-center. Sound quality is nice and smooth. Music still doesn't thrill me, but I'm glad to have the album.

That's the worst. Just took a moment to remove all of them from my Amazon wish list. How could they let that get past quality control? It's a shame, really.

Funny thing is that I've bought a few of those grey-market Doxy reissues, and every single one is quiet, flat, and dead-center.

[bluesoul]

Don Was responds in the comments section of the NYT article.