poco a poco
I'm Jim
I thought I would start a new thread for this new Tone Poet series of Blue Note Jazz reissues. There are quite a few posts in the Music Matters 33 thread: https://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/music-matters-33rpm.224461/ so worth starting there, but I thought it would be easier to find comments that I expect to be ongoing in a dedicated thread.
Well I received my copies of the first two releases, Wayne Shorter - 'Etcetera' and Chick Corea - 'Now He Sings, Now He Sobs' on Sunday. Excellently double box packaged now from Amazon. The fold out covers are excellent nicely laminated on really heavy card. A bit thicker than Vintage Impulse covers. Downside is I don't have an outer that they will slip into. They are I am fairly sure imports rather than pressed by a European plant that are often different and inferior. My matrixs on both LP's are A2/B2 with the Kevin Gray KG@CA markings in the dead wax and the numerical code for the RTI pressing plant. Both very clean, flat shiny vinyl.
So how do they sound - excellent, top rate. Very CD quiet black backgrounds from which the music emerges. Even the dead wax has virtually no noise. It's hard to imagine the new premium vinyl (and premium price) that the latest Music Matters issues are being pressed on is much better. Are they as good as Music Matters previous issues? I'm no authority on these as I don't like the splitting of original albums into 2 x 45 rpm discs, but I have listened to some of the 33 rpm's and I would say these are at least as good. I usually find if I have early originals they are hard to beat, but I don't have originals of either of these. The Wayne Shorter was not issued until 1980 on Blue Note Classics despite being recorded in 1965 so I'm fairly sure from the ones I have that the vinyl won't be as quiet for a start.
'Etcetera' is a typical Van Gelder of recordings of the period, very left / right channel with Tenor Sax, Bass and Piano around the left channel and Drums spread over the right channel. Very little centre fill. I agree with Fremer on Analog Planet the recording is a little 'dry', but not in anyway hard or bright. Shorter's tone is excellent and he appears to be further forward than Hancock and McBee. Almost seems to be in my room in front of the left speaker. The detail and front to back depth and seperation of instruments is excellent. Chambers drum set seems to be back about 10 feet beyond my front wall spread over the right channel in his own acoustic space about 19 feet away from me, but still sounding like a life size kit with fast transients and explosive dynamics. The macro and micro dynamics are really excellent with fine non smeared detail way up into the high frequencies even towards the inner grooves. And the music? I had not heard this Shorter album before, but it and he are good. Hancock is outstandingly inventive in some of his solo's. Four compositions by Shorter, but so far it's the long Barracudas track by Gil Evans that is my favourite.
'Now He Sings, Now He Sobs' is also has excellent sound, but quite different. More conventional layout with Roy Haynes, drums left channel, Chick Corea, centre and Miroslav Vitous on Bass right channel. Much more forward recording with them in roughly the same plane around the speakers, but in no way stuck to them. Again great dynamics and detail. Life like close up recording of Vitous's acoustic bass. You can hear a little high frequency tape hiss on this recording, but it sounds soft and natural on this pressing. Again I had not heard this Corea recording, but much prefer his acoustic piano recordings to his electric efforts. I played an original of his 'Delphi 1, Solo Piano Recordings from 1979 following this which is an excellent recording, but not quite up to this and mine has picked up some noise. I'm glad I got this as well as Excetera as its very good. I was only going to risk buying that at first to see if the recordings were worth the premium price, but as the first issues looked liked quickly selling I brought both.
So are these reissues worth having? Definitely, I'll be continuing to buy this series as it progresses. Some of the future ones are must haves.
Well I received my copies of the first two releases, Wayne Shorter - 'Etcetera' and Chick Corea - 'Now He Sings, Now He Sobs' on Sunday. Excellently double box packaged now from Amazon. The fold out covers are excellent nicely laminated on really heavy card. A bit thicker than Vintage Impulse covers. Downside is I don't have an outer that they will slip into. They are I am fairly sure imports rather than pressed by a European plant that are often different and inferior. My matrixs on both LP's are A2/B2 with the Kevin Gray KG@CA markings in the dead wax and the numerical code for the RTI pressing plant. Both very clean, flat shiny vinyl.
So how do they sound - excellent, top rate. Very CD quiet black backgrounds from which the music emerges. Even the dead wax has virtually no noise. It's hard to imagine the new premium vinyl (and premium price) that the latest Music Matters issues are being pressed on is much better. Are they as good as Music Matters previous issues? I'm no authority on these as I don't like the splitting of original albums into 2 x 45 rpm discs, but I have listened to some of the 33 rpm's and I would say these are at least as good. I usually find if I have early originals they are hard to beat, but I don't have originals of either of these. The Wayne Shorter was not issued until 1980 on Blue Note Classics despite being recorded in 1965 so I'm fairly sure from the ones I have that the vinyl won't be as quiet for a start.
'Etcetera' is a typical Van Gelder of recordings of the period, very left / right channel with Tenor Sax, Bass and Piano around the left channel and Drums spread over the right channel. Very little centre fill. I agree with Fremer on Analog Planet the recording is a little 'dry', but not in anyway hard or bright. Shorter's tone is excellent and he appears to be further forward than Hancock and McBee. Almost seems to be in my room in front of the left speaker. The detail and front to back depth and seperation of instruments is excellent. Chambers drum set seems to be back about 10 feet beyond my front wall spread over the right channel in his own acoustic space about 19 feet away from me, but still sounding like a life size kit with fast transients and explosive dynamics. The macro and micro dynamics are really excellent with fine non smeared detail way up into the high frequencies even towards the inner grooves. And the music? I had not heard this Shorter album before, but it and he are good. Hancock is outstandingly inventive in some of his solo's. Four compositions by Shorter, but so far it's the long Barracudas track by Gil Evans that is my favourite.
'Now He Sings, Now He Sobs' is also has excellent sound, but quite different. More conventional layout with Roy Haynes, drums left channel, Chick Corea, centre and Miroslav Vitous on Bass right channel. Much more forward recording with them in roughly the same plane around the speakers, but in no way stuck to them. Again great dynamics and detail. Life like close up recording of Vitous's acoustic bass. You can hear a little high frequency tape hiss on this recording, but it sounds soft and natural on this pressing. Again I had not heard this Corea recording, but much prefer his acoustic piano recordings to his electric efforts. I played an original of his 'Delphi 1, Solo Piano Recordings from 1979 following this which is an excellent recording, but not quite up to this and mine has picked up some noise. I'm glad I got this as well as Excetera as its very good. I was only going to risk buying that at first to see if the recordings were worth the premium price, but as the first issues looked liked quickly selling I brought both.
So are these reissues worth having? Definitely, I'll be continuing to buy this series as it progresses. Some of the future ones are must haves.
