2019: Blue Note's 80th Anniversary

[Big Beat Steve]

1 hour ago, Late said:

I love the first decade of Blue Note as well. The last time the music from this decade was reissued in Japan was 1998. I wonder if bringing back the original (and beautiful) cover art would help sales. (The U.S. of course didn't use the original covers for their reissues.)

The 1939-49 cover artwork is mostly pre-Reid Miles, but just as hip. I can't find a website that features this earlier artwork. Anyone?

There you go ...

http://www.gokudo.co.jp/Record/BlueNote1/index.htm

 

And yes, i'd second your reissue suggestions.

 

[jazzbo]

2 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

And it's about time for that unreleased TW session, finally, with all four alternates. Oh please, oh please, oh please.

I don't think we'll ever see it until Michael Cuscuna severs all ties with EMI/Universal. That description of Bob Belden and Michael listening to it and laughing will damn and prevent its release til then.

4 hours ago, king ubu said:

Still missing Tyrone W. ... and was quite shocked recently when I realized "Unit Structures" had its last "big" reissue in ... 1988?

We got "Natural Essence" twice on cd from Japan so there's at least that.

[Son Of Ice Bag]

Waiting and hoping for Ashley Kahns "Somthin' Else".

It's about time !

[Late]

3 hours ago, Big Beat Steve said:

There you go ...

Early Blue Note Covers

 

D'oh! How could I forget about Gokudo?! I used to visit those pages all the time until they were strangely color-corrected and touched-up.

This one would be nice to hear. Not sure if it's been out in the U.S. in some capacity.

[Chuck Nessa]

2 hours ago, Late said:

D'oh! How could I forget about Gokudo?! I used to visit those pages all the time until they were strangely color-corrected and touched-up.

This one would be nice to hear. Not sure if it's been out in the U.S. in some capacity.

It has been out twice - Mosaic Johnson/DeParis/Dickenson box and in the Hot Jazz on Blue Note box.

 

Edited May 9, 2018 by Chuck Nessa

[mjzee]

1 hour ago, Chuck Nessa said:

It has been out twice - Mosaic Johnson/DeParis/Dickenson box and in the Hot Jazz on Blue Note box.

 

I see only the following De Paris tracks on Hot Jazz On Blue Note:  Moose March, Everybody Loves My Baby, Please Don't Talk About Me, Ballin' The Jack, Who's Sorry Now (alt.), The Call Of The Blues.

[medjuck]

On 5/8/2018 at 2:08 PM, Clunky said:

I’d agree but I’d broaden that to the first decade. Other than the Monk material there is a fair amount of material that has been reissued once sometimes in piece meal fashion. I’d love to see the earliest (late 40s) Jazz Messengers remastered. 

What are the late 40s Jazz Messenger sessions? 

[ghost of miles]

32 minutes ago, medjuck said:

What are the late 40s Jazz Messenger sessions? 

Probably referring to the "Art Blakey's Messengers" session that was collected along with two James Moody's Modernist dates on this CD:

Art Blakey and James Moody New Sounds

[Chuck Nessa]

 

-New sounds- : Kenny Dorham (tp) Howard Bowe (tb) Sahib Shihab (as) Musa Kaliem (Orlando Wright) (ts) Ernie

Thompson (bar) Walter Bishop (p) Laverne Baker (b) Art Blakey (d)

New York, December 22, 1947

322-3 The thin man 

323-1 Bop alley Blue Note 

323-2 Bop alley (alt take)

324-2 Groove Street 

325-1 Musa's vision 

 

Edited May 10, 2018 by Chuck Nessa

[Late]

1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

Art Blakey and James Moody New Sounds

That's a fine CD. I'm still a little blown away that it was even reissued.

[felser]

1 hour ago, Late said:

That's a fine CD. I'm still a little blown away that it was even reissued.

That all of those early CD's were issued, like the Julius Watkins, etc.  I bought them all, but doubt too many people did.  

[Late]

2 hours ago, felser said:

... like the Julius Watkins, etc.  I bought them all, but doubt too many people did.  

Indeed. Cuscuna knew what he was doing, and the time was right. That 10" series was great.

[Brad]

6 hours ago, felser said:

That all of those early CD's were issued, like the Julius Watkins, etc.  I bought them all, but doubt too many people did.  

I think I purchased them all. 

[jazzbo]

18 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

And it's about time for that unreleased TW session, finally, with all four alternates. Oh please, oh please, oh please.

I don't think we'll ever see it until Michael Cuscuna severs all ties with EMI/Universal. That description of Bob Belden and Michael listening to it and laughing will damn and prevent its release til then.

7 hours ago, felser said:

That all of those early CD's were issued, like the Julius Watkins, etc.  I bought them all, but doubt too many people did.  

I did. I think you'd be surprised how many did.

[sidewinder]

34 minutes ago, Brad said:

I think I purchased them all. 

Same here. On the principle of ‘it will be 30+ years before they will be back’ (as well as being damn good quality releases).

Like the Verve Elites, some of them were quite hard to track down here in the UK (outside of the big London Tower store) and I picked up quite a few on trips to the US. Price was $ for £ as well, added bonus.

Spun the Julius Watkins this morning. First rate and the mastering holds up very well.

Edited May 10, 2018 by sidewinder

[Stefan Wood]

On 5/8/2018 at 10:57 AM, erwbol said:

I do. Is it too much to ask for a US Blue Note CD reissue series to offer near audiophile sound quality for once?

The SHM Japan reissue series of the past few years have been really affordable and have the best sound quality of all.  They could just cut and paste those for the US pressings.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

8 hours ago, Late said:

Indeed. Cuscuna knew what he was doing, and the time was right. That 10" series was great.

I was told that they didn't sell well at all. I got the impression from talking to Cuscuna that they were historically poor sellers. In the end, I doubt that he was given any "atta boys" for reissuing these titles.

Personally, I think they got caught up in that pressing plant theft where tons of certain titles showed up in all the stores with saw cuts. I remember when they were issued, there were more copies on store shelves with saw cuts than ones without saw cuts. It's hard to get good sales on a new CD title when the market is flooded with cheap saw-cut promos.

[jlhoots]

9 hours ago, Late said:

Indeed. Cuscuna knew what he was doing, and the time was right. That 10" series was great.

Great cover & great music!

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

12 hours ago, Late said:

Indeed. Cuscuna knew what he was doing, and the time was right. That 10" series was great.

 

dog i found an original on amazon for $30 bucks last year. 

 

I have a feeling the 80th anniv of blue note, will go much the same way as the 40th anniversary of Van Halen this year.........  [crickets......crickets.......]

[clifford_thornton]

On 5/9/2018 at 10:26 AM, king ubu said:

and was quite shocked recently when I realized "Unit Structures" had its last "big" reissue in ... 1988?

Multiple Japanese CD reissues since, as well as a 75th Anniversary LP in the US and an EU LP edition as well (maybe legit, maybe not). 

Edited May 10, 2018 by clifford_thornton

[king ubu]

On ‎09‎.‎05‎.‎2018 at 8:38 PM, jazzbo said:

I don't think we'll ever see it until Michael Cuscuna severs all ties with EMI/Universal. That description of Bob Belden and Michael listening to it and laughing will damn and prevent its release til then.

We got "Natural Essence" twice on cd from Japan so there's at least that.

I know, but *I* don't have it ... and I don't think there are offers for sane prices (US offers are not game, with the crazy shipping costs added), hardly any offer under 100€ that I can see ... is the TOJC okay or should the later one be hunted (which seems a pretty impossible mission anyways).

[jazzbo]

They are both TOCJ, and they both sound very good to me. 

[king ubu]

12 minutes ago, jazzbo said:

They are both TOCJ, and they both sound very good to me. 

Thanks ... but great: the only sane offer on discogs (30$ sans shipping) is unavailable for me in Switzerland ...

Edited May 14, 2018 by king ubu

[jlhoots]

Bob Belden: Turandot - I believe was only issued in Japan.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

20 minutes ago, jlhoots said:

Bob Belden: Turandot - I believe was only issued in Japan.

Because Puccini died in 1924, Belden believed that Turandot was out of copyright. Unfortunately for Belden and Blue Note Japan, it was completed by Franco Alfono, who died in 1954, so it is still under copyright until 2024. The Puccini estate did not give Belden permission to issue his Jazz version of Turandot, so until 2024, it will remain out of print.