Blue Note Review - By Subscription Only

[JSngry]

[Ken Dryden]

I just received the email the other day and I'll pass. It's horribly overpriced with a lot of non musical fluff to justify its hefty price tag. I doubt that I will regret missing out on this limited edition, there are plenty of jazz releases more deserving of my cash.

[Rooster_Ties]

On 11/8/2017 at 10:59 AM, Kevin Bresnahan said:

My guess if if they made this a box with Tyrone Washington's "train wreck" session or that unissued Jazz Messengers session, a lot of us would be opening our wallets.

I'd gladly contribute $200 towards a Kickstarter campaign to get Tyrone's "train wreck" released legitimately by Blue Note (or by any legit reissue label), in a heartbeat.  Where do I click, I'll sign up now!  (And if I knew I could get 20 copies on CD too, included, I'd probably kick in $300.)  And that NOT cuz I'm dying to hear the thing, but simply because I'm (still) rather fond of the idea of this complete session getting some legitimacy.

I'm marginally curious about the 'new' material in the 2CD set unique to each "Blue Note Review" -- but nowhere near enough to plunk down $200 just to get that (not terribly interested in anything on vinyl, or the scarf, or any of the rest either).  "Marginally" at best.

Wonder what their sales targets are for this thing?  50 subscriptions? - at $200 a pop, that's $10K.  Or do they need 100 subscriptions to really make this fly?  Or 250?  Thing is, 250 seems like a LOT, for something this big/pricy.  Would I pay $100 for each one of these? - perhaps, but I'd only be doing so out of "charity" and my personal love of the label.  (But certainly not $200, no way could I afford that for long.)

Edited November 9, 2017 by Rooster_Ties

[JSngry]

A corporate entity is essentially asking you to come to a rent party on their behalf.

Ask them will they return the favor if/when it's time, and proceed accordingly.

[felser]

2 hours ago, JSngry said:

A corporate entity is essentially asking you to come to a rent party on their behalf.

Ask them will they return the favor if/when it's time, and proceed accordingly.

For a lot of years, Norah Jones was their rent party.  One of my favorite albums of all-time, not because I like the music (I don't particularly, though it's non-offensive), but because it funded many a miraculous Blue Note reissue.

[CJ Shearn]

No thanks.  If this funded hard copy reissues from the 80's-2000's then maybe but no.

[Dmitry]

That Grand Opening.

 

[Daniel A]

Has anybody told Mr Was that he looks ridiculous always wearing a hat and sunglasses indoors. 

[Dmitry]

From the FB comments by BN: Yes, the Blue Mitchell vinyl reissue that's included was remastered from the original master tapes by Ron McMaster, and was pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI.

For me THIS IS a positive factor. $200 is just a bit steep, though...

[disaac]

     I agree that $200 seems steep (heck, it IS steep) for what's being offered but here's my counterargument (despite not being ready to take the plunge) - 1) How many labels besides Blue Note are still out there trying to find young jazz talent and record that talent in a way that does the utmost credit to the music?  You may not love some of the most recent signings to the label but I recently heard the "new" Blue Note Jazz All-Stars album (Glasper, Loueke, Akinmusire, et al.) and really dug it.  2) How many labels are still making a genuine attempt (which may very well be in vain but) to bring jazz to a wider audience? 

    I could see someone rationalizing this purchase as a way to essentially support the label that is trying to do all of the above with the bonus of getting a nice gift in return (think NPR).  That said, I think that using this mechanism to bring MORE music (especially unheard music) and less "product" to the true jazz believers while simultaneously including material that reflects what is happening at the label right now (which seems to be the basic idea given the inclusion of the Blue Mitchell lp) to help the music reach a wider audience that hasn't yet embraced it is an extremely worthy cause and, my guess is that someone like Don Was (who is clearly so enamored of jazz) would have open ears to the suggestions of jazz fans who would love nothing better than to see jazz, one of America's original art forms, begin to make strides in reaching the kind of audience it once did.

[bertrand]

What music is on this set exactly?

[kh1958]

4 hours ago, bertrand said:

What music is on this set exactly?

An LP of Blue Mitchell's Step Lightly, and a double LP of new music (plus a duplicate CD of the music) with the following contents:

PEACE, LOVE & FISHING

A double LP containing 80 minutes of new and unreleased recordings.

Side A

1. Lady Gabor (Live from Royce Hall) – Charles Lloyd & The Marvels

Charles Lloyd (flute), Bill Frisell (guitar), Greg Leisz (pedal steel guitar), Reuben Rogers (bass), Eric Harland (drums)

2. Footprints – Dr. Lonnie Smith

Dr. Lonnie Smith (Hammond B-3 organ), Jonathan Kreisberg (guitar), Johnathan Blake (drums), Joe Dyson (drums)

Side B

1. Take Me To The Alley (Live From Blue Note Jazz at Sea) – Gregory Porter & Blue Note All-Stars

Gregory Porter (vocals), Keyon Harrold (trumpet), Lionel Loueke (guitar), Robert Glasper (piano), Derrick Hodge (bass), Kendrick Scott (drums)

2. Turnaround – Blue Note All-Stars

Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet), Marcus Strickland (tenor saxophone), Lionel Loueke (guitar), Robert Glasper (piano), Derrick Hodge (bass), Kendrick Scott (drums)

Side C

1. Memory of a Flame – Terence Blanchard

Terence Blanchard (trumpet), Brice Winston (tenor saxophone), Lionel Loueke (guitar), Aaron Parks (piano), Derrick Hodge (bass), Kendrick Scott (drums)

2. To Be Fair – Derrick Hodge

Derrick Hodge (all instruments)

3. Daydream – Kandace Springs

Kandace Springs (vocals, piano), Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet)

Side D

1. Zero Gravity #913 – Wayne Shorter Quartet

Wayne Shorter (soprano saxophone), Danilo Perez (piano), John Patitucci (bass), Brian Blade (drums)

 

[Ken Dryden]

$200 for so little music and a lot of add ons make this set of no value to me.

[bertrand]

Man, it has been 4 years since Wayne has released any new music, and this is how it is offered to us

[Rooster_Ties]

For some reason I thought this series was being issued twice a year, but I'm just now seeing "quarterly" on the cover-art for the whole package -- ??.

If it really is quartely, $800 per year is a lot to expect people to drop, imho.

[Ed S]

3 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

For some reason I thought this series was being issued twice a year, but I'm just now seeing "quarterly" on the cover-art for the whole package -- ??.

If it really is quartely, $800 per year is a lot to expect people to drop, imho.

It is a bi-annual release schedule according to the website.  The actual cover of the box features Wayne Shorter and has the words Blue Note Review on it exactly where the Blue Note Quarterly is written on the image above.  However - the actual double album I've seen  also says Blue Note Review.  Not sure what happened.  Must have been some sort of error that was corrected.

Edited November 22, 2017 by Ed Swinnich

[Dmitry]

Would've been nice if they followed through on the Fishing bit. Not to mention the peace and love... What does the phrase mean in the context of the box graphic art? What's the connection? 

[JSngry]

It means that fishing is chillaxification set to water. I'd not argue against that.

[jcam_44]

Fishing for dollars...

[mjzee]

On 11/10/2017 at 6:11 PM, felser said:

For a lot of years, Norah Jones was their rent party.  One of my favorite albums of all-time, not because I like the music (I don't particularly, though it's non-offensive), but because it funded many a miraculous Blue Note reissue.

That, and also this:

[felser]

1 hour ago, mjzee said:

That, and also this:

I actually like that one, especially the Marlena Shaw cop on Rose Rouge.  That one sold 4 million copies (I had no idea,  thanks), the Norah Jones sold 27 million copies.  For reference, Thriller has sold 66 million copies.

[greggery peccary]

"As always, please feel free to reach out to us with suggestions, comments and feedback at suggestions@bluenotereview.com.
 
Dig you soon,

Don Was / Publisher, Blue Note Review"

 

"Dig you soon"? That alone could be a deal breaker for me. I wonder how long it took come up with that.

[paul secor]

He could have opened the letter with "Greetings, suckers".

[Brad]

1 hour ago, greggery peccary said:

"As always, please feel free to reach out to us with suggestions, comments and feedback at suggestions@bluenotereview.com.
 
Dig you soon,

Don Was / Publisher, Blue Note Review"

 

"Dig you soon"? That alone could be a deal breaker for me. I wonder how long it took come up with that.

Probably done by some corporate type. 

[JSngry]

Dig me now. Later might not ever get here.