advertisement


BLUE NOTE 75TH ANNIVERSARY VINYL REISSUES

hockman said:
I believe that the Blue Train stereo/mono is an EU loophole pirated disc. I just wish people will stop buying these bootlegs. What is the point?
Click to expand...

Some people don't know, the majority of people have no idea about mastering and different source provenance and analogue only vs digital pressings and so on. It's not strictly a bootleg or a loophole either, just a pressing of out of copyright material in certain areas where the copyright has expired and cannot be resumed, just because blue note has access to the source does not give them legal claim on the material anymore in those areas where copyright expiration has happened so their copy is now legit as anyone else's.

Just better, and better art and better access to mastering budget and talent which makes it worth buying I doubt anyone with a name would want to remaster from CD sourced material.

People just need to keep their eyes open, that's all. I picked up a DOL Mingus Blues and Roots expecting the worst, it's not bad, not great either but it's not hell to listen to... would rather get one closer to the source and will probably avoid the DOL Sonny Rollins Riverside releases like Bridge and Saxophone Colossus.
 
PS DOL pressings are about £6 BTW. If you have absolutely no interest in the HiFi aspect of a 50+ year old record and don't do the streaming thing, it fills a market. Not every record playing owner is an audiophile and it's ok, for what it is.
 
Slightly OT but isn't this 50 year rule going to start hitting The Beatles and The Stones and their ilk (for example) right about now? A lot of Blue Note's currently unavailable catalog is in that state because nobody was buying it (the last round of RVG CD deletions was for titles selling less than 350 copies a year!) and in that case, in principle*, I'm happier for it to be available in some form rather than unavailable, but there's some big sellers that are about 50 years old now.

*Not that we need yet another dodgy Blue Train, Kind of Blue etc.
 
I think the timing of the Beatles mono reissue project is all part of that last grab before the bootleggers jump in... The RVG reissues were pretty ropey to be honest and I hate to say this, but frankly, never let an old man with old man's ears remaster his back catalogue for what it gives in credibility and authenticity, it takes in a top end that slices tomatoes and very very odd stereo decisions.

George Martin too, sorry. It's rude and unrespectful but ears and acuity fades with time.
 
Fox said:
I think the timing of the Beatles mono reissue project is all part of that last grab before the bootleggers jump in... The RVG reissues were pretty ropey to be honest and I hate to say this, but frankly, never let an old man with old man's ears remaster his back catalogue for what it gives in credibility and authenticity, it takes in a top end that slices tomatoes and very very odd stereo decisions.
Click to expand...

Well to be fair, not all the RVGs were awful and the earliest ones were the worst, partly because Rudy wanted them to be mono and the label wanted stereo. They compromised and ended up with a dogs dinner. I agree that many of them aren't great EQ-wise, but wasn't Michael Cuscana involved too? It was still the best opportunity to hear a lot of that music (over 300 titles I seem to recall) and I can't see that kind of concerted effort happening again, even if the execution left something to be desired.

Fox said:
George Martin too, sorry. It's rude and unrespectful but ears and acuity fades with time.
Click to expand...

It's not just aging in George Martin's case, he's had nothing above 12K since the late 1970s. I assume he works with a staff.
 
johnfromnorwich said:
It was still the best opportunity to hear a lot of that music
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more - I have a shelf full, most bought in "3 for £20" deals or less - I got a copy of Donald Byrd's Cat Walked In last week for £1.00! These allowed me to discover a lot of great music in the pre Spotify days. Some great CDs - by Andrew Hill, for example - were bought to make up the numbers and became favourites.

Like others here I'm planning to replace some with the better quality 75 reissues over the coming months. I like the way they've paced the programme to i) make it affordable ii) keep us going back for more - better than the big high priced box sets or an all at once reissue and will probably come to be seen as good marketing.
 
I came

qapudebe.jpg


Oh such a lovely job they did to a once Scorpio fave of mine, the mastering is unobtrusive, it just feels good.
 
Fox said:
Oh such a lovely job they did to a once Scorpio fave of mine, the mastering is unobtrusive, it just feels good.
Click to expand...

Well that one has the advantage of being a really great album to begin with! I have a DMM copy that I think sounds fine. I've no idea if the 75ths are substantially better, but every replicate I get is a new title that I don't get. FWP.

All of the Scorpios I have will ultimately be replaced and relegated/promoted to wall art. All Herbie Hancock ones I seem to remember.
 
The stuttering sax break on que pasa side two of Horace silver's songs for my father are top notch, drag you in really close up and personal, the bass lines all run the same path an Horace Silver just I fills in the gaps where it's needed. I like the Cuban but not too hot Cuban drumming on this, some deft accenting and there sounds to be a really nice job of the stereo work. Thus drumming so lose are forgiven. Bass tracking the middle chord on Lonely a Woman are grab your ears stuff. And that dance motif at the end is bittersweet joy and sad.

I listened to a FLAC of this today on the server this am over coffee and It sounds like a cleaner copy but so many things come together, with the process of listening to records, the triumph over adversity, the sitting saying, "I had this a lifetime before" the insights seem to come from the process of physical and mental recovery.

My father would have been impressed at the work. He would have liked the music and asked me how my horrible noise and scribbling was progressing? He has passed on his can do diy and odd world approach to me.

It would be nice to think healthily/appropriately properly ageingy with this to see me through
 
Fox said:
I came

qapudebe.jpg


Oh such a lovely job they did to a once Scorpio fave of mine, the mastering is unobtrusive, it just feels good.
Click to expand...

I have a reissue copy of Soul Station, it was part of a series that was issued in 1997, manufactured by Capitol Records. Nice artwork, pressing, even has an inner sleeve similar to the one used by Mo-Fi.
 
I remember clearly hearing this record while browsing at Tower Records in their large downtown location off West Broadway in NYC circa 1988 and thought to myself that I must get it. Twenty-five years later the DMM digitally remastered LP I had bought has been passed on to a friend after I got a Toshiba pressing, and recently I've just acquired the Music Matters 33rpm one. The MM33 is probably the best sounding but truth be told they are all pretty good sounding and not that easy to tell apart.

Which is why sometimes I feel that Fox's approach of just enjoying the music for what it is and not fussing over the pressing is the correct one.
 
I decided to put a toe in the water with Blue Trane which arrived yesterday. I did a back to back with the RVG CD which I've played regularly and really enjoyed over the past decade or so.

Back to back, the vinyl breathes and the CD sound pixelated. It is a much "easier" listen, less abrasive and you can hear the tone and warmth in the horns. My 9 year old, who sat in on the comparison, said the CD sounded echoey and tinny and like it was playing at the bottom of the garden - the vinyl sounded like it was closer and was real instruments. Need to train the young-uns to appreciate such things!

Suffice to say the CD is on the way to the charity shop pile and resource will be found to replace a bunch of others over the coming weeks. Maiden Voyage and Song for my Father next!
 
kjb said:
I decided to put a toe in the water with Blue Trane which arrived yesterday. I did a back to back with the RVG CD which I've played regularly and really enjoyed over the past decade or so.

Back to back, the vinyl breathes and the CD sound pixelated. It is a much "easier" listen, less abrasive and you can hear the tone and warmth in the horns. My 9 year old, who sat in on the comparison, said the CD sounded echoey and tinny and like it was playing at the bottom of the garden - the vinyl sounded like it was closer and was real instruments. Need to train the young-uns to appreciate such things!

Suffice to say the CD is on the way to the charity shop pile and resource will be found to replace a bunch of others over the coming weeks. Maiden Voyage and Song for my Father next!
Click to expand...

I love the Blue Train re-issue, God only knows what a first press must sound like?

I think it is probably the best sounding record that I've bought in years, to my ears it is easily better than the mono version of the American record store day (2013) re-issue of KOB which gets amazing reviews.

I find the instruments are really lifelike in the room so to speak but nice and gentle sounding like a small intimate club type of gig, even with the volume cranked up it never loses that 'sound', really fantastic.

It's fast becoming my favourite jazz album, certainly has to be one of the best jazz records ever.
 
twotone said:
I love the Blue Train re-issue, God only knows what a first press must sound like?

I think it is probably the best sounding record that I've bought in years, to my ears it is easily better than the mono version of the American record store day (2013) re-issue of KOB which gets amazing reviews.

I find the instruments are really lifelike in the room so to speak but nice and gentle sounding like a small intimate club type of gig, even with the volume cranked up it never loses that 'sound', really fantastic.

It's fast becoming my favourite jazz album, certainly has to be one of the best jazz records ever.
Click to expand...

Well if you're feeling a bit flush, Music Matters have done a Mono cut of it as part of their 33rpm series. All analogue chain. etc. Tempting.
 
twotone said:
I think it is probably the best sounding record that I've bought in years, to my ears it is easily better than the mono version of the American record store day (2013) re-issue of KOB which gets amazing reviews.

I find the instruments are really lifelike in the room so to speak but nice and gentle sounding like a small intimate club type of gig, even with the volume cranked up it never loses that 'sound', really fantastic.

It's fast becoming my favourite jazz album, certainly has to be one of the best jazz records ever.
Click to expand...

Totally agree re the KoB mono.

I've put a pile of the 75 edition in my wish list and check every few days for a price drop. Quite a few seem to be dipping each week.

Kevin
 
just out of interest what are the print runs of each of these anniversary editions, it may have been mentioned before but i cannot recall if numbers were mentioned.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top