2019: Blue Note's 80th Anniversary

[bertrand]

Good. I think there is a list of what Naima had since she tried to sell it at auction. But this is the first I am hearing that Alice had tapes, although I always assumed it.

Edited March 24, 2020 by bertrand

[danasgoodstuff]

On 3/22/2020 at 7:42 AM, bertrand said:

There are a lot of 70s Blue Note sessions that should never have seen the light of day.

Not too many clunkers in the Lion/Wolff era though. There are a few that have a bad reputation, but that is subjective.

I think ultimately, the issue is that this is the first, extreme, example of a decision that the old guard (Lion, then Cuscuna/Lundvall) felt strongly about that the new guard (Don Was/Zev Feldman) reversed. How much the new guard took the old guard's opinion into consideration is something we will never be privy to.

I don't think this will happen a lot. This was probably the 'Lost' session with the most 'commercial potential'. The Train Wreck will remain in the vaults although it is a 'better' record. I don't want to speculate about the Shorter session. I will never clamor for it, but I am a bit curious, as I am curious about the Kenny Dorham one.

Bertrand.

PS: The bonus tracks to Sixth Sense were an interesting turn of events. I can't remember how they decided to reverse Cuscuna's decision to burn the session, maybe releasing only three tracks was the compromise.

I've heard the rest of the session from which 3 tracks were added to 6th Sense as a bonus (they are on YouTube, or at least were) - IMHO the're fine and if they put the session out on its own i'd buy it, YMMV.  At this point I'm close enuff to having everything from the Alfred & Francis years that I'd actually kinda like to have it all, especially for time like these...

[Son Of Ice Bag]

34 minutes ago, bertrand said:

Good. I think there is a list of what Nails had since she tried to sell it at auction. But this is the first I am hearing that Alice had tapes, although I always assumed it.

If you want to pay:

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/pop/gespraech-mit-ravi-coltrane-ueber-seinen-vater-15662494.html

 

13 minutes ago, danasgoodstuff said:

I've heard the rest of the session from which 3 tracks were added to 6th Sense as a bonus (they are on YouTube, or at least were) - IMHO the're fine and if they put the session out on its own i'd buy it, YMMV.  At this point I'm close enuff to having everything from the Alfred & Francis years that I'd actually kinda like to have it all, especially for time like these...

In 2014, Cuscuna wrote new liner-notes:"That session was plagued by some problems with the audio an with Lee Morgan's lip. Only three of the six tunes were worthy of release ..."

[danasgoodstuff]

5 minutes ago, Son Of Ice Bag said:

If you want to pay:

https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/pop/gespraech-mit-ravi-coltrane-ueber-seinen-vater-15662494.html

 

In 2014, Cuscuna wrote new liner-notes:"That session was plagued by some problems with the audio an with Lee Morgan's lip. Only three of the six tunes were worthy of release ..."

Maybe I need to listen more carefully, but I didn't hear that.  At this point Lee Morgan's reputation is secure, folks know if they like him or not.

Edited March 24, 2020 by danasgoodstuff

[Kevin Bresnahan]

1 hour ago, danasgoodstuff said:

I've heard the rest of the session from which 3 tracks were added to 6th Sense as a bonus (they are on YouTube, or at least were) - IMHO the're fine and if they put the session out on its own i'd buy it, YMMV.  At this point I'm close enuff to having everything from the Alfred & Francis years that I'd actually kinda like to have it all, especially for time like these...

I thought I had Michael Cuscuna convinced to add all 6 tracks to "The Sixth Sense" but he decided only 3 met the cut. I was glad that he at least added those three.

[JSngry]

I really don't hear a major difference in quality between the three he added and the three he didn't.

[danasgoodstuff]

Sometimes I really think someone must have made fun of Cuscuna's dancing...

 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

To be honest, Cuscuna didn't even pick the 3 tracks I thought were the best of 'em.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I picked up a couple more of these LPs today and they continue to make me wonder why Kevin Gray can't seem to get the cutting speed right. I opened Pete LaRoca's "Basra" and saw that side1 looked "normal" i.e a normal amount of dead wax. About a half inch. Played nicely too. I thought that he finally figured it out. Then I flipped it over and saw that side 2 had about an inch and a quarter of dead wax. Both sides run ~20 minutes. Dude - whatever angular velocity you used on side 1, use on side 2!

Even worse - the tighter cut on side 2 resulted in underfill on track 1. Great.

[Pim]

Why would you buy these if you dislike them so much Bresna? You didn’t like the packaging and you don’t like the sound. Isn’t that a waste of money then? 

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

I need Bobby Hutcherson- Happenings- is the tone poet not to bad an option.  how many here have ok ones?

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, bresna said:

I picked up a couple more of these LPs today and they continue to make me wonder why Kevin Gray can't seem to get the cutting speed right. I opened Pete LaRoca's "Basra" and saw that side1 looked "normal" i.e a normal amount of dead wax. About a half inch. Played nicely too. I thought that he finally figured it out. Then I flipped it over and saw that side 2 had about an inch and a quarter of dead wax. Both sides run ~20 minutes. Dude - whatever angular velocity you used on side 1, use on side 2!

Even worse - the tighter cut on side 2 resulted in underfill on track 1. Great.

Let me begin with admitting that I like a small amount of dead wax, even if only for unscientific reasons - it just feels to me as if the available space has been used as much as possible. Especially some old RVG cut albums seem to succeed in this regard. 

But there could be a downside to that, I suppose. Groove speed is lower close to the label, and depending on the source material on the very last track (or last part of the last track) you might want to avoid that. Also, tracking error is greater towards the end of the side. 

As for the groove width "settings", aren't they using "variable pitch" these days, so that it depends on the input signal? So using the same settings - to get the same objective sound quality across the entire album - could generate rounouts of different size if there are differences in loundness/amount of bass. But if the difference could be as great as in the "Basra" case, I wouldn't know. 

Edited December 27, 2020 by Daniel A

[Pim]

8 hours ago, chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez said:

I need Bobby Hutcherson- Happenings- is the tone poet not to bad an option.  how many here have ok ones?

Happenings was not releases as a Tone Poet. It was released in the 75th birthday series and my copy sucks. Loud pops and it sounds damaged although there is nothing to be seen on the vinyl.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

16 hours ago, Pim said:

Happenings was not releases as a Tone Poet. It was released in the 75th birthday series and my copy sucks. Loud pops and it sounds damaged although there is nothing to be seen on the vinyl.

I believe that "Happenings" is scheduled for release in the Tone Poet series in 2021.

[Dub Modal]

On 12/28/2020 at 0:14 AM, Pim said:

Happenings was not releases as a Tone Poet. It was released in the 75th birthday series and my copy sucks. Loud pops and it sounds damaged although there is nothing to be seen on the vinyl.

 

On 12/27/2020 at 4:00 PM, chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez said:

I need Bobby Hutcherson- Happenings- is the tone poet not to bad an option.  how many here have ok ones?

I was able to find one of those Italian Blue Note pressings of Happenings not too long ago. Good pressing, very heavy vinyl. They don't seem to be over-valued like a lot of other BNs right now so if you come across them for a reasonable price, they're a good option. 

[Bluesnik]

On 6/4/2018 at 4:38 PM, king ubu said:

There's a new film on the label as well ... my parents asked me to join them for the Sunday matinee next weekend - not expecting all that much but am curious.

https://bluenoterecords-film.com/en/film/

I think I saw that film. I'm unsure though if it's the same. And I saw it in late 2018 or 2019 (before the pandemic anyway.. and I'm quite sure it was 2018). So the dates fit. The film I saw was great (maybe the greatest story of the BN label I've seen or read so far) and it was composed of archival images and animation (for the undocumented parts). And it was produced by Wim Wenders. But it was more a music docu than a movie.

[Bluesnik]

No, I just saw it isn't the same movie. It was called It must schwing: The BN story, and it's also from 2018. "It must schwing", a typical Alfred Lion phrase.

[mjzee]

Has anyone seen the DVD?

[felser]

Looks great, but $37 on amazon, more on  ebay, and you need the blu-ray for t=it to play if in USA. 

 

https://www.imdb.com/video/vi1228128025?playlistId=tt8661880&ref_=tt_pr_ov_vi

[Dan Gould]

16 hours ago, felser said:

Looks great, but $37 on amazon, more on  ebay, and you need the blu-ray for t=it to play if in USA. 

 

https://www.imdb.com/video/vi1228128025?playlistId=tt8661880&ref_=tt_pr_ov_vi

There are universal players available (I picked up one for $24, Amazon Prime - and if your PC has good speakers, audio/video software VLC should have no trouble playing it.

[RiRiIII]

On 5/8/2021 at 9:38 PM, mjzee said:

Has anyone seen the DVD?

Amazing production. Get the special edition for 28 eur: 

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/movie/detail/-/art/it-must-schwing-the-blue-note-story/hnum/9131861

2DVDs plus 2bds and photo prints. 

 

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by RiRiIII

[mjzee]

I bought the JPC edition (thanks for the tip, RiRilll).  4 discs: the movie and the "director's cut," in both BD and DVD.  The entire package is in German, so very little guidance for English speakers.  I started with the movie disc.  Stunning graphics, but all the interviews are dubbed into German, so, for example, you'll hear Cuscuna start to talk in English, and then hear a gruff German speaker drowning out Cuscuna's English words (there are no English subtitles).  Based on where you are in the BN chronology, you'll then guess what the interviewees are saying.  Then I checked out the "director's cut" disc.  There, the interviews are in English!  (Except for a few interviewees who spoke German.)

It's always fun to be immersed in the BN universe.  The movie itself is a straight history of Lion, Wolff and BN, told in mostly strict chronological order.  It takes a hagiographical and reverential approach to Alfred and Frank.  The movie makes it seem like they were motivated by the civil rights struggle (as opposed to just trying to make a living).  For example, it paints their choice of using Rudy's studio in New Jersey as heroic, because they were bringing black musicians to a white suburb to record; however, no mention is made of Prestige, Savoy, and other jazz labels that were doing the same.  Very little is said about Rudy (though the movie does contain his last interview), and only one short scene is devoted to Reid Miles.

The graphics are wonderful.  There are animated sequences that really add to the movie (especially the ones set in Germany and Rudy's studios) and must be seen.  For anyone getting this JPC package, I would advocate seeing the movie the way I did: first the dubbed German version and then the director's cut.  While the dubbing was frustrating, it forced me to focus on the visuals and the overall presentation.  The director's cut reveals it to be a straightforward, almost pedestrian presentation of the BN story.  For a more enjoyable, fun (and, in some surprising ways, a more in-depth) presentation of the BN story, I'd recommend seeing Blue Note: A Story Of Modern Jazz.  Some of the interviews in Schwing are taken from that earlier movie.  The new interviews are great.  There's Cuscuna of course, and also Herbie, Ron Carter, Sheila Jordan, and many others.  Lou Donaldson tells a great story about the Night At Birdland recording.

[Brad]

 

[Late]

After the recent batch of Lee Morgan SHM-CDs, I wonder if this series (loosely construed as a "series") will now proceed artist-by-artist. 

[Brad]

I purchased It Must Schwing and received it today. I purchased the 2 disk DVD version and it only plays in my Laptop. Probably should have purchased the Blu Ray but the result would probably be the same.

At any rate, the Directors Cut is very good and I like the animation that fills in the gaps in actual documentation. The $37, in my opinion, is well worth it.