2019: Blue Note's 80th Anniversary

[Shrdlu]

Yes, it is.

[felser]

13 minutes ago, sidewinder said:

Stanley T.’s ‘In Memory Of’ is also on the Turrentine Mosaic I think.

Correct, hoping for a decently priced single of it so I can sell the box (I have singles of the other material on that box).

17 minutes ago, Shrdlu said:

Felser, I assume that the Lou Donaldson albums you are referring to are the mid-60s ones recorded for the Argo company. 

Actually, some of the 50's titles contained in the Mosaic box, and I would then sell off the box.  Though I've never heard the Argo's, and would love to have those also.

[Shrdlu]

I agree with Lon that it would be nice to see some reissues of the pre-bop Blue Note material. Those "swingtets", in particular, are delightful.

Not long ago, I found a mint condition copy of the Mosaic Hall/Johnson/De Paris/Dickenson set (vinyl) for a very low price. Considering how old that set is, I was surprised. I hope this encourages others. That set has the superb Ed Hall material and some superb piano solos by James Johnson.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

On ‎7‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 8:55 AM, Shrdlu said:

I agree with Lon that it would be nice to see some reissues of the pre-bop Blue Note material. Those "swingtets", in particular, are delightful.

Not long ago, I found a mint condition copy of the Mosaic Hall/Johnson/De Paris/Dickenson set (vinyl) for a very low price. Considering how old that set is, I was surprised. I hope this encourages others. That set has the superb Ed Hall material and some superb piano solos by James Johnson.

Your recent find of an older Mosaic set at a very low price is an indicator as to why Blue Note doesn't reissue that material too often. It just doesn't sell well enough for the bean counters. It really hasn't. Blue Note's core buyer doesn't buy it, similarly, they don't often buy the more outside dates. Hence these swing sessions as well as the more adventurous dates getting limited reissue opportunities while sessions like "Blue Train" get reissued again and again and again and again...

Edited July 29, 2019 by bresna

[Bluesnik]

5 hours ago, Shrdlu said:

That set has the superb Ed Hall material and some superb piano solos by James Johnson.

I have a theoretically wonderful boxset called Hot Jazz on Blue Note that covers the first years. With Art Hodes, James P. Johnson, Max Kaminsky, Sidney de Paris, Edmond Hall and others. But I say theoretically because it won't play. I've never heard it. The cd player doesn't recognize the CDs because they're damaged. I got a refund from the seller and will have to wait to find another one with a good price. Mastering by Malcolm Addey, notes by Dan Morgenstern. From 1996.

[Brad]

1 hour ago, Bluesnik said:

I have a theoretically wonderful boxset called Hot Jazz on Blue Note that covers the first years. With Art Hodes, James P. Johnson, Max Kaminsky, Sidney de Paris, Edmond Hall and others. But I say theoretically because it won't play. I've never heard it. The cd player doesn't recognize the CDs because they're damaged. I got a refund from the seller and will have to wait to find another one with a good price. Mastering by Malcolm Addey, notes by Dan Morgenstern. From 1996.

That’s a bummer. With the way the weather in Spain is, maybe you need some cool jazz. 

[ghost of miles]

1 hour ago, Bluesnik said:

I have a theoretically wonderful boxset called Hot Jazz on Blue Note that covers the first years. With Art Hodes, James P. Johnson, Max Kaminsky, Sidney de Paris, Edmond Hall and others. But I say theoretically because it won't play. I've never heard it. The cd player doesn't recognize the CDs because they're damaged. I got a refund from the seller and will have to wait to find another one with a good price. Mastering by Malcolm Addey, notes by Dan Morgenstern. From 1996.

It's an excellent set--I hope you're able to find one that actually plays!  Great notes by Morgenstern, as usual.

[Brad]

I see several auctions on eBay for the Hot Jazz set. 

[Bluesnik]

44 minutes ago, Brad said:

I see several auctions on eBay for the Hot Jazz set. 

I've only ever checked on Amazon but maybe I'll have to change because the copies I see there now are crazily priced. The one I got was from an Amazon marketplace seller, and it was a sealed copy and the problem was on all four dics (not scratches, but something that looked more like acid or chemical etch. Probably a fabrication defect). Its OOP, but maybe there're more around.

Just saw this from a thread here in 2006 where a user points out that flaw:

One note though, make sure to check each of the CDs. There was some sort of production flaw. And several of the sets had CDs with a "film" on the music side that looked faintly like the cover art - as if the CDs were stacked before the graphics were "dry". Anyway, the CDs wouldn't play all the way through. They skipped around like they were scratched.

I bought this set new shortly after it had gone OOP first from B&N... and then from Amazon. I returned about 5 copies - a couple to each vendor - before I got a good one.

From blake

Edited July 28, 2019 by Bluesnik
credit added

[Kevin Bresnahan]

If it's truly a film on the disc, you should be able to buff that off and get it to play. I have a local record shop, Bull Moose Music, that has a buffer. I think they charge about $1 per disc to buff them.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

So I've picked up a few of these "BN80" LPs (Hubbard's "Open Sesame", Gordon's "Doin' Alright" & "Introducing Johnny Griffin") that have been coming out these past few months and they are a great bang for the buck but I think "audiophile" is a bit of a stretch. First off. they are cut at Kevin Gray's Cohearant Audio (good) but I still have to wonder if Gray hasn't gotten the hang of cutting LPs as many of these have very large dead wax area which is not optimal. I haven't seen dead wax this large since the dark days of the mid-70's, when any Joe Blow was sat down in front of a cutting lathe. Secondly, they are pressed at Optimal in Germany (good) but they 're slid into paper sleeves that you have to tear off of the record to get it out cleanly. I almost wonder if they're sliding them in when they're still hot because they're stuck in there so tightly. This sucks. Also, the covers are pretty poor. Yes, they are a budget line, but these covers are often washed out and oddly shaded to the point where they look cheap.

Then there's the music. I have a lot of these on old (but not original) LPs, mostly cut by Van Gelder and I'm not hearing huge differences between the two pressings. A bit more bass maybe but not "wow" levels. Of course, it could be me. Maybe at my age with my aging ears i should just stop buying these things?  

[sidewinder]

The crappy covers have completely put me off that series. Very cheap looking.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

46 minutes ago, sidewinder said:

The crappy covers have completely put me off that series. Very cheap looking.

Freddie Hubbard's "Open Sesame" is pretty bad. It almost looks like a bootleg.  

[sidewinder]

I’ve got an ‘80s pressing of that one - Manhattan Records I think - so that will do. 

Oh hang on - I’ve also got that one on a MM 45rpm. Sorted !

Edited August 30, 2019 by sidewinder

[porcy62]

I've got Classic Records reissue of it and it sounds ok, BTW I have lots of Classics, and I think they are good, and correctly priced at times.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

16 hours ago, porcy62 said:

I've got Classic Records reissue of it and it sounds ok, BTW I have lots of Classics, and I think they are good, and correctly priced at times.

Of the few Classic pressings I've listened to, I thought that there was a bit of a high end boost. They sell for close to $25 in my area and I don't think they're worth that,

I also think their fetish with mono is a bit foolish. If there is a nice stereo tape, it should be used, especially if the mono master tape is a fold down. That's what the mono button does.

[porcy62]

1 minute ago, bresna said:

Of the few Classic pressings I've listened to, I thought that there was a bit of a high end boost. They sell for close to $25 in my area and I don't think they're worth that,

May you clear the high end boost concept?

[Kevin Bresnahan]

They seem to have a treble boost. It brings out the horns, which may be why they did it, but on the few I heard, I didn't think it made them better, just different. And don't get me wrong, they sound fine. But if I have the choice between a $15-20 mid-70s RVG stereo pressing or a $25-30 Classic Records mono pressing, I'll choose the stereo RVG every time.

And they were the best sounding Blue Note reissue series in quite a few years. They are miles ahead of these new Rainbo pressings, that's for sure.

And BTW - Classic Records version of Brubeck's "Time Out" is my play copy. I kept it over many other pressings, including an original mono.

[porcy62]

2 minutes ago, bresna said:

They seem to have a treble boost. It brings out the horns, which may be why they did it, but on the few I heard, I didn't think it made them better, just different. And don't get me wrong, they sound fine. But if I have the choice between a $15-20 mid-70s RVG stereo pressing or a $25-30 Classic Records mono pressing, I'll choose the stereo RVG every time.

And they were the best sounding Blue Note reissue series in quite a few years. They are miles ahead of these new Rainbo pressings, that's for sure.

And BTW - Classic Records version of Brubeck's "Time Out" is my play copy. I kept it over many other pressings, including an original mono.

Ok, I think exactly the same. I bought lots of Classics new when they came out, the times the euro/dollar rate was very very convenient, sweet times, and I have to say the I never had to ship back a single record for a flaw. FWIW I think that the Japanese pressing has a "vacum tube" taste in the mastering that in some hifi systems might sound "dull", as the Classics might sound "harsh" in others. The early Music Matters 45 were IMO the best reissues of BN, BUT I already pay the fee at the gym, I didn't listen to them at all for the hassle of rising from the sofa and turning LP after 10 minute. Mosaic Sets are a mixed batch. Anyway I'd buy the Liberty too, if I could find them at that price.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

38 minutes ago, porcy62 said:

Anyway I'd buy the Liberty too, if I could find them at that price.

I'm very lucky to live near Stereo Jack's in Cambridge. Jack keeps his prices very reasonable. If I didn't have that store, I'd probably have to pay a lot more myself and this conversation might have shifted in a different direction.

[sidewinder]

18 hours ago, porcy62 said:

I've got Classic Records reissue of it and it sounds ok, BTW I have lots of Classics, and I think they are good, and correctly priced at times.

The only one I’ve got I think is the Tina Brooks ‘True Blue’ (which some idiots have paid $$ for on the internet thinking they got an original ). It sounded OK but I do recall thinking that it sounded a bit boosted at the top end and not as punchy as would be expected of an original of that era.

[porcy62]

16 minutes ago, sidewinder said:

The only one I’ve got I think is the Tina Brooks ‘True Blue’ (which some idiots have paid $$ for on the internet thinking they got an original ). It sounded OK but I do recall thinking that it sounded a bit boosted at the top end and not as punchy as would be expected of an original of that era.

I really wish I could confirm your thinking about True Blue.

[Clunky]

I’ve not been disappointed with the four .  BN80 releases I’ve picked up . Sleeves are unnecessarily poor I grant you but the pressings survive the static and sound pretty terrific. Alligator Boogaloo and Ethiopian Knights both sound very nice. I’ve no physical copy in any format to make comparisons with. Just sayin.... ....mind you I wasn’t upset by the Black Fire TP edition....

[Kevin Bresnahan]

3 hours ago, Clunky said:

I’ve not been disappointed with the four .  BN80 releases I’ve picked up . Sleeves are unnecessarily poor I grant you but the pressings survive the static and sound pretty terrific. Alligator Boogaloo and Ethiopian Knights both sound very nice. I’ve no physical copy in any format to make comparisons with. Just sayin.... ....mind you I wasn’t upset by the Black Fire TP edition....

As I said, if you don't have the material, these are great bang for the buck. I've listened to a couple again and they sound pretty good. If I didn't have older RVG pressings as a comparison, I'd be very happy with these and at these prices, why not buy a few?

[soulpope]

Even japanese reissue programs seems to be out of gas in this anniversary year ....