Sonny Rollins: A Night at the Village Vanguard (Tone Poet -- 3 LPs)

[hbbfam]

Can someone post the link for the CD?  I assume this means it will also be available as a HD download as well?

[jcam_44]

1 hour ago, hbbfam said:

Can someone post the link for the CD?  I assume this means it will also be available as a HD download as well?

https://store.bluenote.com/products/sonny-rollins-a-night-at-the-village-vanguard-the-complete-masters-blue-note-tone-poet-series?utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=SonnyRollins20240205&utm_medium=email&utm_referrer=direct&utm_board=bluenote&utm_country=US&utm_linkurl=bluenote.lnk.to%2FSonnyRollins-ANightAtTheVillageVanguard&lf=a56af77584bf028155d7739f8ee573bc&dm_i=4YWU%2C9X58%2CPTUC7%2C1F7UG%2C1&variant=42801382850751

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I'll be picking up the CDs. It turns out that they found the original 7.5 ips tapes and that's what they're going to be using for this reissue. Apparently, Rudy dubs these 7.5 ips reels over to 15 ips reels and those are what they've been calling the master tapes. These 7.5 ips tapes are straight off the soundboard, with no plate reverb added, so that alone has me thinking this is going to sound incredible.

[mjzee]

6 hours ago, clifford_thornton said:

What do we know, if anything, about the bassist Donald Bailey? 

From Aidan Levy's Rollins bio, pp. 272-3: 

Sonny had to find a new rhythm section, fast.  He had arranged with Blue Note to record a live album at the Vanguard on November 3, his first live album and the first to be recorded there.  He called Donald Bailey - the bassist, not the drummer - who was available.  It was likely at the Tijuana in Baltimore, where Bailey was in the house rhythm section, that he met Sonny and Miles. Bailey was a first-call bassist in Baltimore, having performed with Parker, Monk, and Roach. He "played like he's singing," as his children remembered it.

Bailey was a family man, with five children, and life on the road was not conducive to his responsibilities. He worked for the US Postal Service in Baltimore for thirty-three years, but his daughter said, "His real job was music.  Every night, he would get home at two o'clock in the morning, and get up at six to be at the post office.  He did that every day."

[clifford_thornton]

Interesting. Thanks!

[mikeweil]

1 hour ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

I'll be picking up the CDs. It turns out that they found the original 7.5 ips tapes and that's what they're going to be using for this reissue. Apparently, Rudy dubs these 7.5 ips reels over to 15 ips reels and those are what they've been calling the master tapes. These 7.5 ips tapes are straight off the soundboard, with no plate reverb added, so that alone has me thinking this is going to sound incredible.

That sounds tempting!

[felser]

2 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

I'll be picking up the CDs. It turns out that they found the original 7.5 ips tapes and that's what they're going to be using for this reissue. Apparently, Rudy dubs these 7.5 ips reels over to 15 ips reels and those are what they've been calling the master tapes. These 7.5 ips tapes are straight off the soundboard, with no plate reverb added, so that alone has me thinking this is going to sound incredible.

I'll also get the CD's, sounds like quite a sonic upgrade.

[soulpope]

3 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

I'll be picking up the CDs. It turns out that they found the original 7.5 ips tapes and that's what they're going to be using for this reissue. Apparently, Rudy dubs these 7.5 ips reels over to 15 ips reels and those are what they've been calling the master tapes. These 7.5 ips tapes are straight off the soundboard, with no plate reverb added, so that alone has me thinking this is going to sound incredible.

Sounds seductive 🧐 ....

[Dub Modal]

11 hours ago, mjzee said:

From Aidan Levy's Rollins bio, pp. 272-3: 

Sonny had to find a new rhythm section, fast.  He had arranged with Blue Note to record a live album at the Vanguard on November 3, his first live album and the first to be recorded there.  He called Donald Bailey - the bassist, not the drummer - who was available.  It was likely at the Tijuana in Baltimore, where Bailey was in the house rhythm section, that he met Sonny and Miles. Bailey was a first-call bassist in Baltimore, having performed with Parker, Monk, and Roach. He "played like he's singing," as his children remembered it.

Bailey was a family man, with five children, and life on the road was not conducive to his responsibilities. He worked for the US Postal Service in Baltimore for thirty-three years, but his daughter said, "His real job was music.  Every night, he would get home at two o'clock in the morning, and get up at six to be at the post office.  He did that every day."

Wow. Similar to Wes Montgomery and probably a whole lot of musicians as well. 

[JSngry]

Normally, 7.5 ips tapes would not excite me, but in this case, if they're really (almost) virgin, them yes, I am interested!

[mjzee]

1 hour ago, Dub Modal said:

Wow. Similar to Wes Montgomery and probably a whole lot of musicians as well. 

Buck Hill.

[soulpope]

15 minutes ago, mjzee said:

Buck Hill.

Was also my first thought ....

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Michael Cuscuna tells me that he actually found these 7.5 ips masters about 15 years ago and had Rudy Van Gelder use them for his CDs except for the LP master takes. He said the reason they used the 15 ips tape for the original LP tracks was too long to go into but from something Joe Harley said about this new reissue, it sounds like they didn't want to cut up those 7.5 ips tapes to reconstruct the original LP track order.

So this new release will be the first time we hear the original LP tracks from these 7.5 ips tapes. It will also be the first time we hear all of them without RVG's mastering, which in itself may be a good thing.

[Rooster_Ties]

On 2/8/2024 at 8:55 AM, Dub Modal said:

Wow. Similar to Wes Montgomery and probably a whole lot of musicians as well. 

I know Buck Hill’s story, now that I live in DC and literally have a 5-story reminder that I walk by several times a week…

https://dcist.com/story/19/08/28/theres-a-new-tallest-mural-in-town-honoring-local-jazz-legend-buck-hill/

(And for the record, I did learn about Hill’s story before the mural, but only because Hill became part of my education about “DC” musicians, which I felt obligated to learn more of when I moved here a dozen+ years ago.)

THAT SAID, what was Wes Montgomery’s similar story? Had he specially been a postman? — or what other non-music job did he hold? — for what I gather from your post was a longer stretch.  (My Wes knowledge is pretty limited.)

[Dub Modal]

50 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

I know Buck Hill’s story, now that I live in DC and literally have a 5-story reminder that I walk by several times a week…

https://dcist.com/story/19/08/28/theres-a-new-tallest-mural-in-town-honoring-local-jazz-legend-buck-hill/

(And for the record, I did learn about Hill’s story before the mural, but only because Hill became part of my education about “DC” musicians, which I felt obligated to learn more of when I moved here a dozen+ years ago.)

THAT SAID, what was Wes Montgomery’s similar story? Had he specially been a postman? — or what other non-music job did he hold? — for what I gather from your post was a longer stretch.  (My Wes knowledge is pretty limited.)

Per the liner notes from Echoes of Indiana Avenue, for 6 straight years Wes worked at a radio parts factory from 7am-3pm every day, then had a gig from 9-2am, and then a late night gig from 2:30-5am. 

Appreciate the link for Buck Hill. He's someone I need to learn more about. 

[colinmce]

Glad they're doing a CD this go around. I suppose I get why they don't mirror the other Tone Poet releases with CDs but it sure would be nice since they've done a few titles that never got a domestic CD release. And it does just seem such a shame that the BN catalogue is now fully out of print on the medium. 

[soulpope]

44 minutes ago, colinmce said:

Glad they're doing a CD this go around. I suppose I get why they don't mirror the other Tone Poet releases with CDs but it sure would be nice since they've done a few titles that never got a domestic CD release. And it does just seem such a shame that the BN catalogue is now fully out of print on the medium. 

Probably one day a clever marketing strategist will discover CD's as new market for limited editions with inflated prices 🤓 ....

[HutchFan]

18 minutes ago, soulpope said:

Probably one day a clever marketing strategist will discover CD's as new market for limited editions with inflated prices 🤓 ....

Of course!  It's just a matter of time. 

 

[Niko]

21 minutes ago, soulpope said:

Probably one day a clever marketing strategist will discover CD's as new market for limited editions with inflated prices 🤓 ....

Shhh

[hbbfam]

4 hours ago, colinmce said:

Glad they're doing a CD this go around. I suppose I get why they don't mirror the other Tone Poet releases with CDs but it sure would be nice since they've done a few titles that never got a domestic CD release. And it does just seem such a shame that the BN catalogue is now fully out of print on the medium. A

Are there any other CD or download releases from this series?

[JSngry]

Is the BN shop the only place from which to preorder this? 

[HutchFan]

I think I'm gonna wait and throw my business Dusty's way.

They usually get the pre-order option up fairly early -- but there's nothing there yet.

 

Edited February 10 by HutchFan

[mjzee]

13 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

Michael Cuscuna tells me that he actually found these 7.5 ips masters about 15 years ago and had Rudy Van Gelder use them for his CDs

So if this is the source of the RVG 2-CD edition, it sounds like there's no reason to buy the upcoming rerelease.  I'll be curious if anyone compares them.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

11 minutes ago, mjzee said:

So if this is the source of the RVG 2-CD edition, it sounds like there's no reason to buy the upcoming rerelease.  I'll be curious if anyone compares them.

Rudy used these 7.5 ips master tapes for the additional material, not the stuff that was originally released on LP back in 1957 (and maybe 1983?). He didn't elaborate on which tracks were from what tape but did say that this new set should sound incredible. I'm still thinking I'm going to get this new set.

[JSngry]

I wonder what they used in 1975 for the paper bag first issue of the extras? Because whatever it was, those cuts sounded boxier than the OG 1957 LP.

That's neither good nor bad, because it's a boxy room. But now I'm curious, because there we no credits on that set other than originally recorded by RVG and produced for release by MC. And Rudy was certainly around then.

I also wonder what Rudy used to make the 7.5 ips reels, especially tape width.

And if these old OG tapes have already been used, just how "virgin" are they?

Questions aside, my curiosity has gotten the best of me and I'm in on this one.