June 19 BN Japanese Reissues - uncommon titles

[felser]

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/products?term.prodkey=UCCQ-9491,UCCQ-9492,UCCQ-9493,UCCQ-9494,UCCQ-9495,UCCQ-9496,UCCQ-9497,UCCQ-9498,UCCQ-9499,UCCQ-9500,UCCQ-9501,UCCQ-9502,UCCQ-9503,UCCQ-9504,UCCQ-9505,UCCQ-9506,UCCQ-9507,UCCQ-9508,UCCQ-9509,UCCQ-9510,UCCQ-9511,UCCQ-9512,UCCQ-9513,UCCQ-9514,UCCQ-9515,UCCQ-9516,UCCQ-9517,UCCQ-9518,UCCQ-9519,UCCQ-9520

CDJapan showing some really interesting Blue Note reissues coming in June, including Larry Young - Heaven on Earth (wish I had been a little more patient on that one!), Elvin Jones - Merry Go Round, and others.

[mjzee]

A lot of great titles there.  I'm interested in the following, and would appreciate opinions:

Cliff Jordan, Sonny Red - Out Of The Blue, The 3 Sounds - Vibrations, Donald Byrd - Blackjack, McCoy Tyner - Tender Moments, Sheila Jordan - Portrait of Sheila.

[jazzbo]

Will be interesting to see what mastering is used on these. Some of the recent UHQCD releases have used earlier mastering including Connoisseur mastering.

[jlhoots]

Fortunately, I have all of the ones I want.

[felser]

1 hour ago, mjzee said:

A lot of great titles there.  I'm interested in the following, and would appreciate opinions:

Cliff Jordan, Sonny Red - Out Of The Blue, The 3 Sounds - Vibrations, Donald Byrd - Blackjack, McCoy Tyner - Tender Moments, Sheila Jordan - Portrait of Sheila.

My takes, YMMV - "Vibrations" is certainly not essential, even for 3 Sounds fans (and I'm not one particularly), has several cuts with Harris on organ rather than piano, and that flat-out doesn't work.  I like their earlier work better.  The Tyner is great, as are all of his Blue Note's.   The Byrd is solid 60's BN hard bop with a nice edge.  The Jordan is a highlight of her career, great for what it is.  Interesting g/b/d accompaniment. She is much younger on that album than on her other recordings, in her early 30's.  The Jordan and Red are solid 50's BN hard bop, though nothing special happens.  Jordan had not found his unique voice yet (that came during his time with Mingus).  

[Dan Gould]

1 hour ago, felser said:

My takes, YMMV - "Vibrations" is certainly not essential, even for 3 Sounds fans (and I'm not one particularly), has several cuts with Harris on organ rather than piano, and that flat-out doesn't work.  I like their earlier work better.  The Tyner is great, as are all of his Blue Note's.   The Byrd is solid 60's BN hard bop with a nice edge.  The Jordan is a highlight of her career, great for what it is.  Interesting g/b/d accompaniment. She is much younger on that album than on her other recordings, in her early 30's.  The Jordan and Red are solid 50's BN hard bop, though nothing special happens.  Jordan had not found his unique voice yet (that came during his time with Mingus).  

The Sounds recording with organ overdub that works is Live at the Lighthouse. Vibrations has its moments but isn't their best.

[Brad]

The only one I may want is Vibrations but based on John's and Dan's comments, I may pass. 

[sidewinder]

I have ‘Vibrations’ on a Liberty LP. A very mixed bag, years since I last played it. Quite like the cover art though !

[king ubu]

The Young is most welcome ... I guess I'll get the JOS and Poppa Lou as well (missed the Mosaic and it wasn't important enough to hunt down after it had pulled its disappearing act)

[king ubu]

7 hours ago, king ubu said:

The Young is most welcome ... I guess I'll get the JOS and Poppa Lou as well (missed the Mosaic and it wasn't important enough to hunt down after it had pulled its disappearing act)

just pre-ordered, and could throw in the Sheila Jordan, I guess it ought to be some kind of upgrade over the late 80s US reissue

Edited April 12, 2019 by king ubu

[Shrdlu]

Thanks for the news.

There are many outstanding albums here, too many for me to comment on. I'm glad that I already have the ones I like.

If they are using old U.S. masterings, then tut tut. For me, a sonic upgrade would be the only reason for purchasing.

[JSngry]

I like that Elvin record a lot, but producer George Butler let a clam stay in the head of "La Fiesta" that is unforgivable.

Other than that, though great record.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

I like that Elvin record a lot, but producer George Butler let a clam stay in the head of "La Fiesta" that is unforgivable.

Other than that, though great record.

 

[Daniel A]

Like I've said before: get 'Total Eclipse' if you don't have it already - all five musicians are at their best. It's such a great line-up. 

I also like the Elvin album; certainly one of his Blue Notes I return to the most. Good to hear Jan Hammer in this context. 

 

Edited April 12, 2019 by Daniel A

[JSngry]

 

or, if you don't like Rhodes...

But no Elvin there.

Yeah, THERE'S some commercial music for the masses. The masses should've paid more attention!

[felser]

I like Chick Corea on Rhodes for sure.  Another guy I liked on it was Cedar Walton on those Prestige Blakey albums from the early 70's.

[JSngry]

on that cut it's Chick & Jan Hammer, together!

Jan Hammer could play.

On those Butler Elvins (Genesis, this one, and Mr. Jones, and of course, Lighthouse - a different sort from the others, but still), it wasn't that it was a great band of seasoned vets that attracted attention, it was the core of Elvin's real band, and added guests that were NOT yet well-seasoned vets that made them "exciting" to younger audiences. People might forget, but Elvin was nudging up to the verge of crossover success right around this time, and Blue Note tried to help with Norman Seeff cover photos and such, but then Black Byrd happened and, oh well. But those records are their own "thing" in terms of Elvin's history, nothing really like them either before or after. And GREAT covers!

 

 

 

 

They were pretty to look at.

[felser]

Yeah, Grossman and Liebman were really young then, especially Grossman, who was like 20 when Lighthouse was recorded.  Yet they sound great.  I really like the run of Elvin albums on Blue Note, and that is probably my most prized Mosaic of all, as I have not been able to get some of the albums on individual CD.,

[Mark Stryker]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

on that cut it's Chick & Jan Hammer, together!

Jan Hammer could play.

On those Butler Elvins (Genesis, this one, and Mr. Jones, and of course, Lighthouse - a different sort from the others, but still), it wasn't that it was a great band of seasoned vets that attracted attention, it was the core of Elvin's real band, and added guests that were NOT yet well-seasoned vets that made them "exciting" to younger audiences. People might forget, but Elvin was nudging up to the verge of crossover success right around this time, and Blue Note tried to help with Norman Seeff cover photos and such, but then Black Byrd happened and, oh well. But those records are their own "thing" in terms of Elvin's history, nothing really like them either before or after. And GREAT covers!

 

 

 

 

They were pretty to look at.

If I had to pick just one Elvin record as a leader to live with for the rest of my life, it would be "Merry-Go-Round" -- it's got a little bit of everything and nothing sounds compromised; it's all on a high level. FWIW, my two favorite Elvin records as a leader are "Merry-Go-Round" and "Elvin Jones is on the Mountain." No. 3 is a tie between "Puttin it Together" and "Earth Jones" -- but several of the other Blue Notes are right in there and I might slide one of them in on another day. 

[JSngry]

Elvin for you car -

[felser]

11 hours ago, Mark Stryker said:

If I had to pick just one Elvin record as a leader to live with for the rest of my life, it would be "Merry-Go-Round" -- it's got a little bit of everything and nothing sounds compromised; it's all on a high level. FWIW, my two favorite Elvin records as a leader are "Merry-Go-Round" and "Elvin Jones is on the Mountain." No. 3 is a tie between "Puttin it Together" and "Earth Jones" -- but several of the other Blue Notes are right in there and I might slide one of them in on another day. 

I have a subjective fondness for 'Coalition' with those killer versions of "Simone" and "Yesterdays".  But the BN's are all pretty great.  Loved what Jones had the bass players, Wilbur Little and Gene Perla, doing on those BN records.

[soulpope]

3 minutes ago, felser said:

I have a subjective fondness for 'Coalition' with those killer versions of "Simone" and "Yesterdays".  But the BN's are all pretty great.  Loved what Jones had the bass players, Wilbur Little and Gene Perla, doing on those BN records.

Yep ....

[JSngry]

Yep again.

[Late]

On 4/11/2019 at 9:45 AM, jazzbo said:

Will be interesting to see what mastering is used on these. Some of the recent UHQCD releases have used earlier mastering including Connoisseur mastering.

Ditto that. I wonder if the Japanese market has access to Bernie Grundman's transfers. It seems like those would be a much better choice than Larry Walsh's 1994 work.

[jazzbo]

I think they used a lot of Grundman transfers in the 75th Anniversary SHM-CD if the whole series wasn't Grundman's archival transfers. These latest series seem to be deliberate reissues of previous issues however, perhaps that's a reaction to the local market feedback.