Blue Note's TONE POET series.

[Dub Modal]

They really love reissuing Byrd records. 

[sidewinder]

Yes, I think 'Action' is in the Mosaic.

9 minutes ago, Dub Modal said:

They really love reissuing Byrd records. 

And Stanley T. !

36 minutes ago, kh1958 said:

25% off sale on Tone Poets on the Blue Note site today.

Some awesome deals have been offered Stateside. That Halloween deal was almost a giveaway and sent the Hoffman Board into raptures. Sadly, across the Atlantic we only get Tone Poet scraps.

[adh1907]

13 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

To make things more tempting, Honest Jon's has just finally got more second hand stock in. 

This is most less popular styles of jazz (swing, cool, vocal, Atlantic dancey 60s stuff) but it's pretty much all killer, and priced sensibly, so if anyone wants to top up on that kind of stuff it's a good time to visit.

I think most of it comes from the boss's own record collection. I guess he's sold off all the AACM, free / spiritual and Tristano stuff now, and is clearing the rest of.

Visited this afternoon ( and the Blue Note shop nearby, no stars just Tony Higgins Brit jazz reissue supremo). Picked up Philly Joe Jones, PJs beat with Bill Barron on tenor. UK original issue, £10. Lots of West Coast jazz which they are finding hard to shift! There’s a Tubby Hayes Tubby’s Groove Tempo issue on the wall which they are open to offers at around £150. 

[kh1958]

5 hours ago, kh1958 said:

25% off sale on Tone Poets on the Blue Note site today.

My mistake, actually  it's 30%.

[Eric]

Interesting list, as always.  Something for everyone.  And some which seem better on paper, such as the Transition titles, the Dorham/McLean and the Booker Little.  All subjective, of course!

Even though it is late Byrd, I think Kofi is a very good one and perhaps not well known.

Glad to see the Hutcherson titles, Taru and the Silver title, which may be my favorite of his.

[danasgoodstuff]

I like Kofi at least as much as the stuff from that time that was issued initially, Kofi didn't come out til long after.

[Rabshakeh]

6 hours ago, Dub Modal said:

They really love reissuing Byrd records. 

They still go out the door, I guess. Never quite top of class from a hard bop or fusion perspective but the key artist for the rare groove revival. 

[sidewinder]

3 hours ago, adh1907 said:

There’s a Tubby Hayes Tubby’s Groove Tempo issue on the wall which they are open to offers at around £150. 

I must be going blind as I didn't even notice that !

The obvious question for Tony Higgins is - when is the next batch of the 'British Jazz Explosion' coming out, or has it gone the way of the Norwegian Blue?

1 hour ago, danasgoodstuff said:

I like Kofi at least as much as the stuff from that time that was issued initially, Kofi didn't come out til long after.

Presumably as a 'Rare Groove' back in the 90s.

Edited November 18, 2023 by sidewinder

[danasgoodstuff]

20 minutes ago, sidewinder said:

I must be going blind as I didn't even notice that !

The obvious question for Tony Higgins is - when is the next batch of the 'British Jazz Explosion' coming out, or has it gone the way of the Norwegian Blue?

Presumably as a 'Rare Groove' back in the 90s.

I think so...

[Clunky]

I'm still waiting on New Soil. I'll probably pick up two or three from this list.. Action, action / Medina/ Dialogue 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I'm glad I stopped buying these due to the numerous problems with hot cuts. There have been several cut too hot in the previous releases but at this point, I could care less. I've saved a lot of money.

[Pim]

On 11/18/2023 at 8:38 AM, Clunky said:

I'm still waiting on New Soil. I'll probably pick up two or three from this list.. Action, action / Medina/ Dialogue 

Exactly the ones I will get. I would have got Total Eclipse and Let Freedom Ring as well if I did not already have a copy. For me personally not the most interesting list but I understand that to some others it's great. I really don't see the point of two very average Byrd releases but that's me....

Was hoping for Matador and glad I did buy Hutcherson's Patterns and Lee Morgan's Tom Cat and The Gigolo last year. Is the 'I will not do any MMJ title again' philosophy still intact?

Edited November 19, 2023 by Pim

[Eric]

Interesting with this series, my sense is that these are records that Joe Harley holds in high regard.  So maybe I give the Byrd’s a chance.  Another view is they are putting some of this out there for the “collector” market, “oh my I get to own something on the AMAZING Transition label” 😊. But there are a few I will get, for sure.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

4 hours ago, Eric said:

Interesting with this series, my sense is that these are records that Joe Harley holds in high regard.  So maybe I give the Byrd’s a chance.  Another view is they are putting some of this out there for the “collector” market, “oh my I get to own something on the AMAZING Transition label” 😊. But there are a few I will get, for sure.

At this point, I don't think it's simply records held in high regard by Joe because the Tone Poet series specifically excludes titles that Music Matters Jazz already reissued ("Blue Train" being an exception). If that rule wasn't at play, I might believe that these are Joe's favorites but I'm sure this rule is forcing Joe to skip some records that he normally wouldn't.

[sidewinder]

That's correct, it's sessions not previously released under Music Matters (these are covered under the Classics series). Possibly then prioritised by Joe Harley preferences and/or wish lists.

[Brad]

On 11/18/2023 at 7:34 PM, bresna said:

I'm glad I stopped buying these due to the numerous problems with hot cuts. There have been several cut too hot in the previous releases but at this point, I could care less. I've saved a lot of money.

I stopped buying them because I have them in cd and just don’t want to duplicate them. 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

11 hours ago, Brad said:

I stopped buying them because I have them in cd and just don’t want to duplicate them. 

I have them all on CD as well... sometimes on multiple versions on CD... but I've been having fun playing records again and this series started out with some great-sounding LPs. I still think that "Introducing Kenny Burrell" is one of the best sounding LPs in my racks. But then there were several that would not play cleanly on my 2 turntables because they were cut too hot for them. For a while I waited to hear if new releases had problems before buying them. One thing led to another and I just sorta stopped buying them altogether.

[sidewinder]

Not had any trouble playing any of them on my deck. Don't have this version of the Carmell Jones though.

I will give Cornbread a spin for a 'warble check' tonight.

Edited November 20, 2023 by sidewinder

[Pim]

The only one I had problems with was the Pepper/Baker record. Blue Notes explanation that there was nothing wrong with it and people should adjust their equipment made me laugh. I sent it back and didn’t bother for a replacement. But all of the other TP’s I enjoy very much. My best sounding must be Bobby Hutchersons Oblique 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

4 hours ago, sidewinder said:

Not had any trouble playing any of them on my deck. Don't have this version of the Carmell Jones though.

I will give Cornbread a spin for a 'warble check' tonight.

I have a mid-70's RVG pressing of "Cornbread" so when I heard the warbling on the Tone Poet, I gave it away. But that warble was not from cutting too hot. No one seems to know what happened there. There were about 4 or 5 Tone Poet releases in a row that had some warble. Seems to have gone away though.

The hot cuts that I know about were Andrew Hill's "Passing Ships", Art Pepper/Chet Baker's "Picture of Heath" & Lou Donaldson's "Blues Walk" (Classic LP - not Tone Poet). There were a couple of others but I can't confirm them because I didn't buy them.

It's too bad for BN too as I'm sorta their target market.

[sidewinder]

I've given this 'new batch' Cornbread a listen with volume cranked up and it sounds lovely to me. Very clear and punchy.  No obvious warbling on 'Ceora' that I can hear. Maybe they have re-done the mastering?

At some stage I will run a check against my NY mono copy.

Edited November 21, 2023 by sidewinder

[B. Clugston]

21 hours ago, bresna said:

I have a mid-70's RVG pressing of "Cornbread" so when I heard the warbling on the Tone Poet, I gave it away. But that warble was not from cutting too hot. No one seems to know what happened there. There were about 4 or 5 Tone Poet releases in a row that had some warble. Seems to have gone away though.

The hot cuts that I know about were Andrew Hill's "Passing Ships", Art Pepper/Chet Baker's "Picture of Heath" & Lou Donaldson's "Blues Walk" (Classic LP - not Tone Poet). There were a couple of others but I can't confirm them because I didn't buy them.

It's too bad for BN too as I'm sorta their target market.

Andrew Hill's Black Fire had bad warbling to the point that it became unlistenable and sounded like Alvin Lucier remastered it. Passing Ships sounds fine on my setup, but I'm lo-fi. I did like the Blue Train reissue.

[Joe Harley]

On 11/19/2023 at 12:12 PM, bresna said:

At this point, I don't think it's simply records held in high regard by Joe because the Tone Poet series specifically excludes titles that Music Matters Jazz already reissued ("Blue Train" being an exception). If that rule wasn't at play, I might believe that these are Joe's favorites but I'm sure this rule is forcing Joe to skip some records that he normally wouldn't.

Nope. Wrong.

[Pim]

1 hour ago, Joe Harley said:

Nope. Wrong.

There is no MMJ rule?

[Joe Harley]

20 hours ago, Pim said:

There is no MMJ rule?

What was stated: "I might believe that these are Joe's favorites but I'm sure this rule is forcing Joe to skip some records that he normally wouldn't." My not wanting to endlessly repeat the same great titles we did at MMJ over and over again has nothing to do with my choice of titles for the Tone Poet program. I love all of those titles we did at MMJ. And I love what we are doing now.  There are SO many great titles that have yet to be reissued. And remember, we draw from the whole family of Blue Note labels, including Pacific Jazz, UA, World Pacific, Transition, Capitol and many more. Can we please everyone, all the time? No. But this is the most successful vinyl reissue program in the history of the label. We appear to be pleasing quite a few.