Tone Poet Blue Notes

[Graham H]

I've never heard or seen these reissues. I agree that if Blue Note albums lack 'energy' then something is not right.

Thankfully I have an earlier repressing of Dialogue and my Talkin' About is a Music Matters 2x45rpm version. The MM reissue sounds good but I bought it more out of curiosity and I can't be bothered with the inconvenience of flipping 45rpm versions. In fact I have very few 45rpm records.

So far I am a bit jaded by the Tone Poets or whatever BN reissue programs there may be simply because I already have many other versions of the albums. I only focus on original blue notes or earlier represses (including japanese versions).

I understand your jadedness, but equally I can understand other people’s excitement about the Tone Poet and 80th series. I think they sound excellent and the team deserve full credit when so many other labels are falling short.

You’re not missing anything with the Elemental series. My Conn CD of Dialogue sounds better.

I’m using the Tone Poet series to replace worn or lacklustre pressings and CDs, as well as fulfilling a latent interest in soul jazz (I’m working backwards in some ways, as I began collecting the likes of Incus, Ogun and ESP in my teens and early 20s). I can’t afford the ridiculous prices of original or early Blue Note pressings, although I am fortunate enough to have acquired some in the days before internet pricing. (I remember one infamous second hand record dealer in Norwich - who began dealing in the 50s and stopped in the 90s - once saying to me ‘everything is a fiver because this is Norwich’. Imagine that happening anywhere now).

On a thread derailing note, I see London Jazz Collector is blogging Capra Black by Billy Harper, a fantastic Strata East album IMO. He confirms my observations and hunch about the recent Pure Pleasure reissues being needle drops. He’s confident about this as he reckons his DJ pal loaned PP original pressings to copy. Thought you might be interested.

https://londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/

 

[hockman]

I have no experience of the Tone Poets or other current Blue Note reissues hence no comments from me. I've been listening to Blue Notes for a long time, and these days I just prefer to buy earlier repressings (most 1st or early pressings are too rich for me!). Often Liberty or UA or Toshiba or King would suffice. Occasionally I luck out on a NY address Blue Note. By and large though I prefer to spend money on other interesting and unfamiliar records that I don't already have.

Thanks for the note about the Pure Pleasure reissues. I have my suspicions about them. London Jazz Collector is probably referring to Jean Claude of IF Music as the source of the originals used for PP's needle drops. I've heard from reliable industry sources that Strata East only provided digital files to reissue labels and many of them sounded pretty poor so they ended up using their own needle drops instead. I suppose we should be grateful that Pure Pleasure is at least reissuing these titles.

My own collection of Strata Easts comprises a mixture of originals and early Japanese versions. My Capra Black for example is the same Denon one referred to by LJC. I guess I am lucky I started buying some of them way before they became collectible but I have only a few. I've fared much better with my original Horace Tapscott Nimbus albums.

P/S - You are way ahead of most of us with your early collecting of Oguns, ESPs etc.!

 

[JustJohn]

Having had a brief taste of the Tone Poets series at Andrew's (Elephantears) I bought the Sam Rivers with the help of a little Amazon credit I had to use. Big mistake. These things are like crack. I'm starting to look for my next fix.

 

[Seanm]

Having had a brief taste of the Tone Poets series at Andrew's (Elephantears) I bought the Sam Rivers with the help of a little Amazon credit I had to use. Big mistake. These things are like crack. I'm starting to look for my next fix.

I sound like a Music Magpie shill but with their 20% off offer on eBay the Tone Poet stuff can be almost reasonable. They seem to go in and out of stock very frequently though.

 

[poco a poco]

Thanks Poco a Poco for the article - let me know if its the real deal when it arrives from Dodax. Worst case you can complain that it has misrepresented the goods - most sensible online retailers accept that fact and refund the cots (at least that's been my limited experience). Hard though to believe a stock of vinyl has been lying around since 2004. Fingers crossed.

My copy of Glamoured as just arrived from Dodax and I can confirm it is a Tone Poet as I suggested earlier. Properly sealed in the usual Tone Poet wrap with the label on the front. Came in good quality mailer and looks fine. I have yet to give it a spin as playing some Ornette Coleman at present.

Still waiting for Mr Shing-a-Ling.

 

[scotty38]

That's good news. I think I must have been a bit optimistic with my delivery as it's still not here yet....

 

[Theo]

My Shing-a-Ling turned up last week from Amazon.fr. Still haven't played it yet (too many new albums parked, so little time).

 

[poco a poco]

That's good news. I think I must have been a bit optimistic with my delivery as it's still not here yet....

Mine was quite a bit later than quoted as is Mr Shing-a-Ling and another record I had on the same order with same delivery only started to ship today. I think Dodax may not really have them in stock, but get them 'just in time'.

My Shing-a-Ling turned up last week from Amazon.fr. Still haven't played it yet (too many new albums parked, so little time).

Yes I'm having this problem as well at the moment. Welcome, but too many good reissues, plus I had some good second-hand finds I'm working through. Should I buy anymore, at my average 15 hours a week it would take a bit over 4 years to play through everything I have on vinyl & CD and I've had my 'three score & ten' plus a bit? ​

 

[Thinkfloyd]

I've just ordered Etcetera and Mr.Shing-a-ling from Dodax. I said last week that I wasn't going to buy any more records for the month, after picking up about 20 on 3 separate business trips. Oh well.

 

[daytona600]

Quote
On a thread derailing note, I see London Jazz Collector is blogging Capra Black by Billy Harper, a fantastic Strata East album IMO. He confirms my observations and hunch about the recent Pure Pleasure reissues being needle drops. He’s confident about this as he reckons his DJ pal loaned PP original pressings to copy. Thought you might be interested.

.......................

Without pure pleasure , speakers corner , dcc , Mofi & analogue productions vinyl would of died 20years ago & all the pressing plants would of shut
these companies had a gentlesmans agreement to always work from tape ( Mastertape , safety tape , production master ) & AAA
they would never use needle drops , or a digital file as a source Capra Black i have a test pressing & production copy

All our Strata-East tiles, licensed from Strata-East are mastered from their best available master sources.
JC at If has had no involvement whatsoever, other than suggesting titles to be issued.
AAA 100% Analogue
Mastering by Ray Staff at Air Mastering London
Pressed at Pallas Germany -

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Pure Pleasure all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records. During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existent tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

 

[Graham H]

Quote
On a thread derailing note, I see London Jazz Collector is blogging Capra Black by Billy Harper, a fantastic Strata East album IMO. He confirms my observations and hunch about the recent Pure Pleasure reissues being needle drops. He’s confident about this as he reckons his DJ pal loaned PP original pressings to copy. Thought you might be interested.

.......................

Without pure pleasure , speakers corner , dcc , Mofi & analogue productions vinyl would of died 20years ago & all the pressing plants would of shut
these companies had a gentlesmans agreement to always work from tape ( Mastertape , safety tape , production master ) & AAA
they would never use needle drops , or a digital file as a source Capra Black i have a test pressing & production copy

All our Strata-East tiles, licensed from Strata-East are mastered from their best available master sources.
JC at If has had no involvement whatsoever, other than suggesting titles to be issued.
AAA 100% Analogue
Mastering by Ray Staff at Air Mastering London
Pressed at Pallas Germany -

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Pure Pleasure all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records. During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s – or employed existent tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

Daytona, you better get over to LJC and put him straight.

 

[jagdesign]

Wallet has taken a bit of a hammering, but very pleased I saw this thread. Spinning Mr Shing-A-Ling now and it sounds phenomenal, also got Etc. and the Cassandra Wilson (which hasn't turned up yet). Might have to pull the trigger on Cornbread too

 

[scotty38]

My Glamoured just arrived from Dodax and I too can confirm it's the real deal bargain at £14.99.....

 

[kjb]

My Glamoured just arrived from Dodax and I too can confirm it's the real deal bargain at £14.99.....

Mine arrived too. Sounds glorious but caused me to break my hard and fast "Nothing in any way associated with Sting comes into the house" rule as he wrote a track on it .

I wonder if they will have more modern recordings in the next set. I'd love to hear Charlie Hunters self titled record which is a long term favourite.

Kevin

 

[Jim Black]

My copy of Glamoured as just arrived from Dodax and I can confirm it is a Tone Poet as I suggested earlier. Properly sealed in the usual Tone Poet wrap with the label on the front. Came in good quality mailer and looks fine. I have yet to give it a spin as playing some Ornette Coleman at present.

Still waiting for Mr Shing-a-Ling.

Result! I've had a few vinyls recently that I have ordered at silly prices that were subsequently "cancelled" so hopefully my copy is on its way.

 

[kjb]

At the risk of looking the wrong way at the proverbial gift horse …..

Having played Glamoured a few times I'm wondering if this was so cheap as its a substandard pressing: there's a fair number of clicks and pops on sides 3 and 4 and on side 4 the voice occasionally distorts. It's not bad enough to return and I'd not pay £60 for it anyway, but, while the first of the two records is of the usual standard, the pressing on the second disk is nowhere near as clean and silent as on the other Tone Poet's I've picked up.

Also, interestingly, I can see no writing credits on the record - either on the label or on the sleeve.

A nice record nonetheless.

Have any others found this?

Kevin

 

[Jim Black]

At the risk of looking the wrong way at the proverbial gift horse …..

Having played Glamoured a few times I'm wondering if this was so cheap as its a substandard pressing: there's a fair number of clicks and pops on sides 3 and 4 and on side 4 the voice occasionally distorts. It's not bad enough to return and I'd not pay £60 for it anyway, but, while the first of the two records is of the usual standard, the pressing on the second disk is nowhere near as clean and silent as on the other Tone Poet's I've picked up.

Also, interestingly, I can see no writing credits on the record - either on the label or on the sleeve.

A nice record nonetheless.

Have any others found this?

Kevin

Perhaps Dodax has done a deal with UMG for a batch of faulty pressings, which would be sneaky if that's the case. The missing writing credits is odd though. Worst case, you get one Tone Poet at half the price of a regular single vinyl tone poet release. Trying to look the wrong way as well......

 

[poco a poco]

At the risk of looking the wrong way at the proverbial gift horse …..

Having played Glamoured a few times I'm wondering if this was so cheap as its a substandard pressing: there's a fair number of clicks and pops on sides 3 and 4 and on side 4 the voice occasionally distorts. It's not bad enough to return and I'd not pay £60 for it anyway, but, while the first of the two records is of the usual standard, the pressing on the second disk is nowhere near as clean and silent as on the other Tone Poet's I've picked up.

Also, interestingly, I can see no writing credits on the record - either on the label or on the sleeve.

A nice record nonetheless.

Have any others found this?

Kevin

Kevin,
I have been away for a few days so have not had a chance to play it yet. I'll let you know what I find as soon as I can. My disks all have KG@CA in the deadwax (Hard to see you have to look carefully) that proves they are mastered by Kevin Gray and the metal work is produced by RTI. It would seem unlikely they were pressed elsewhere. Inside of sleeve, bottom of second page says "LP Reissue Supervision: Joe Harley. LP Mastering by: Kevin Gray, Coherent Mastering".

I would hope that RTI and UMG would not want to smear the reputation of this series by selling a whole batch of substandard pressings. I'm certain Joe Harley would have something to say about that.

Even if you paid £14.99 it still has to be 'fit for purpose' so if it is quite bad contact Dodax UK about a return and replacement.

My Mr Shing-a-Ling came by Royal Mail in a good mailer while I was away, as did Glamoured, and was left with my neighbour. A six record box set from Dodax came via DHL in a cardboard box and they had just thrown it over our fence behind the gate and put a card through saying "we have left you package in a safe place" Luckily the thunder storms predicted here for Saturday did not happen and it looks like only the outer box was damaged.

 

[poco a poco]

At the risk of looking the wrong way at the proverbial gift horse …..

Having played Glamoured a few times I'm wondering if this was so cheap as its a substandard pressing: there's a fair number of clicks and pops on sides 3 and 4 and on side 4 the voice occasionally distorts.

Have any others found this?

Kevin

Kevin,
I have played my copy now and the only adverse thing I hear is a little very low level non fill noise at the very start of side 3, that pretty much disappears as the music starts. Otherwise the wonderful inky black background of all these Tone Poets. I assume you are not mistaking the finger clicks, particularly on side 4 'Throw it Away', where the frequency is close to each record revolution in places,for vinyl faults? As for distortion her vocal sibilants do in one or two places start to push the tracking ability of my cartridge, but doesn't take it over the top into distortion.

The only good reason for me to have passed on this record is that it cost me £14.99 rather than £60. Otherwise it would have been a big mistake.

It is a fairly dry studio recording, but is really top demonstration quality. Of its type the recording combined with the excellent mastering probably the best I have ever heard, it will give any system a real work out or show it off. Spectacular dynamics and transients and I don't think I have every heard the lowest frequency bass notes as well reproduced and without distortion from vinyl before. Well not heard really, felt through my chair and massaging my chest. If your speakers and room can reproduce them it certainly is impressive.

And I really liked her interpretations on this record and the guitar fills by Fabrizio Scotti. I had to play it through again straight away as the impressive sound quality distracted me from the music at first. I have about 4 of her albums on CD and they are good, but not in the same league as this.

 

[poco a poco]

So after two plays of Glamoured I have just played Lou Donaldson - 'Mr Shing-a-Ling' and again another great recording and mastering in this Tone Poet series. I think I'm never going to be the greatest fan of soul jazz and organ, but as Graham said side two here is very good and Donaldson and Lonnie Smith on the Tone Poets and BN80's are slowly winning me over.

I have all the Tone Poet series now and I'm looking to Blackfire and Introducing Kenny Burrell arriving on Friday or Saturday.