Blue Note 75 Reissue Help

I recently got back into listening to vinyl records. In the last year or so I have started listening to jazz which I was introduced to by a streaming music site. As my old record collection had no jazz selections in it, I went out and picked up three new jazz records at a local shop, without doing any research. The records were John Coltrane, Blue Train and A Love Supreme, and Dexter Gordon, Our Man in Paris. All of these selections were under $20 Canadian, although two were marked down. My question is about the versions I have.

The copy of Blue Train is a 75 Blue Note edition in 180 gram vinyl. It also has "Back to Blue" on the sticker and a coupon to download and MP3 of the album.

The copy of Dexter Gordon's Our Man in Paris also has the 75 Blue Note sticker, but says nothing about 180 grams or a reference to Back to Blue or any MP3 coupon. Reviews of these 75 Blue Note reissues have said the records are 120 gram, but the Blue Train says it is 180 gram. Are there two versions of these 75 Blue Note reissues? Reviews for these have generally been positive, and they are priced well. What's the consensus on these versions?

Finally, the John Coltrane A Love Supreme is not a 75 Blue Note reissue. It has no information at all in the form of a sticker or anything on the jacket. The label looks like Impulse. This record was $15.00 Canadian regular price. What is this version about?

I haven't opened or played these yet. I am not a hardcore jazz fan or audiophile, but I would like to have good product in my collection. I know new albums can get quite pricey, so the price point on these was attractive. This is a first time post, so any help would be great.

Thanks,
Steve

 

Steve, there are two types of Blue Note 75th reissues, US pressed ones and European pressed ones, the few US ones I've seen haven't impressed me, the Europeans seem to be better, but just to confuse things Universal switched European pressing plants for a while so they may also vary in quality, I've no idea on who is behind your Impulse reissue although it may well also be Universal. All three are great titles although "A Love Supreme" is very different from "Blue Train", you should be able to get well pressed used copies from the seventies and eighties for less money, or if you want the best buy the Music Matters 33 rpm version of "Blue Train", it's fantastic, I haven't got their version of the Dexter Gordon, but assume it is equally great, I believe there is also an audiophile "Love Supreme", but I haven't heard it.

I wouldn't generally recommend them, but there are many public domain CD sets available of classic Jazz albums by Coltrane, Gordon, etc., these are usually quite cheap and will allow you to decide what you like, you can then search on here to find out which vinyl versions are worth picking up, Blue Note in particular is a minefield with maybe 9 different reissue series from perhaps 7 different labels in the last decade or so with the quality ranging from poor to fantastic.

 

Thanks for the reply! Looks like this getting back into vinyl thing may get confusing! The three records I bought I have heard before streamed from Rdio. Like I said, I don't have to have the very best, and of course often most expensive pressing of each album, but I would like to know if these are worth keeping. I can bring them back, but I had assumed they would beat the streaming I was doing over a computer, as I have upgraded by sound system also. With the price I have seen of some new records, I know having the best copies could add up. The Coltrane Love Supreme is no doubt not the best pressing available but at $15 Canadian for a brand new album, is it worth keeping?

 

Let your ears do the deciding. We all have different ears, systems and life experiences that make us choose what we choose. They are average copies compared to what some call the best versions so no need to take them back. Listen to them and decide.

 

Check discogs.com, all the Blue Note 75 variants are there.

 

The Music Matters reissues definitely beat streaming.
Personally, I wouldn't bother buying the 75 reissues on vinyl, when you can stream, or even get them on CD. If you are going to go to the expense and trouble of buying them on vinyl, just buy the best, which is Music Matters.

 

Thanks for the replies and advice guys! I checked these out on Discogs. It looks like the Blue Train may be a European pressing. The Love Supreme may have to be opened to find more information. That will make it harder to return if I decide I don't want it. It may be a 1995 pressing of unknown source origin. I think the Dexter Gordon is one of the 75 Blue Note reissues from 2014, but it may not be 180 gram if it isn't written on the information sticker

 

What are the Music Matters versions generally selling for?

 

Looking on their website, they are just under $40 US.
Not cheap, and here in the UK, that tends to become £40.

 

And will be more here in Canada, especially when you factor in the exchange rate. Not sure what direction on want to go here. I'll keep researching.

 

You need to know your stuff when buying classic jazz albums on vinyl as there are so many public domain issues of dodgy origin sitting in the racks. Make sure it is on a major label like Sony or Rhino or Universal.

 

Having another look at the John Coltrane A love Supreme. It's surprising how little information is available without actually unwrapping the album. Searching on Discogs helps but not 100%. There are a number of listings for Impulse GR-155, some are said to have an information sticker and one is not. Here is a link to what may be the copy I have.

http://www.discogs.com/John-Coltrane-A-Love-Supreme/release/3313670

 

I'm starting to realize this isn't easy to figure out. The spine says Impulse. Would the record itself have additional information about Sony, Rhino or Universal? I'm trying to avoid unwrapping this one until I decide if I want to keep it. If this had any decent selling points such as 180 gram weight or some remaster information why wouldn't they attach one of those stickers? At least the copy of Blue Train gives me something and the Dexter Gordon has the 75 Blue Note sticker. It's something. What info will I have when these are unwrapped and the little sticker is gone?

 

I think someone else may have said this, but if it sounds good to you, that's all that really matters. You can make yourself crazy (and poor!) going after the very best pressings (audiophile 180 or 200 gram titles can run upwards of $50.00). Or you can make yourself really nuts (and very poor) going after original 1st pressings.

 

Sounds like good advice and I can see how a man could overthink some of this. I have upgraded my system and will be going from streaming to vinyl. Sounds like upgrades there. Maybe down the road I will want to upgrade to top quality albums, but right now I'm a casual listener. I just wish they gave some basic information on some of these albums.

 

What kind of information are you looking for?

 

Maybe the weight of the album, some of the reissue information. The usual stuff you see on many albums. Does any of that matter?

 

The weight is a marketing gimmick, 180 gramme LPs are often too thick and cause problems with cartridge VTA, 140-160 is probably the ideal weight for a record, but hey most people believe more must be better, so it doesn't matter if your LP is 100 grammes or 200 grammes, unless it causes a problem for your arm and cartridge.

What does matter:

That the record is either being issued by the label that owns the copyright or is properly licensed, at least this gives the possibility that the original tapes or a high quality transfer/copy was used as the source. Avoid public domain labels such as Doxy, although there are exceptions to that rule.

Personally whether it's an all analogue cut or has at some stage been converted to digital doesn't particularly matter to me, but it does to many, if it matters to you then you will need to avoid all modern pressings except for a handful of expensive audiophile all analogue ones.

With Jazz then generally speaking the original country rule applies, so US mastering/pressing quality is usually better for American recordings, earlier pressings are generally better, but not always and most labels were well pressed until vinyl declined in the late 1980s.

If you want cheap Blue Notes, get the French ones from the eighties, UK ones from the seventies, although that's just a few titles and the 1990s US EMI releases that came in two different series, they should all be cheaper than the 75s and sound as good or better, Japanese Kings/Toshibas are nice and you occasionally see them cheap, otherwise if you can afford them buy MMs, avoid Scorpios, other current reissues are either more obscure material, (Heavenly Sweetness) or scarce and expensive, (the Japanese replicas).

 

Thanks Dubmart! I'm new to this so I appreciate the help. Looks like it will be different than the old days when you bought the record and just listened too it, often on pretty cheap systems. Now there are so many reissues and terms it can get confusing, and expensive. Bottom line, what are these 75 Blue Note albums like? The price seems good. Why does one say 180 gram and the other doesn't? Also, what is the story on the Love Supreme that has no information at all? It's by Impulse. Appreciate the help.

 

It depends how good your system is, and why you want to listen on vinyl.
My view is that if you want the music to sound better than digital, that means a reasonable expense on system and audiophile albums.
If you just want them on vinyl, then the Blue Note 75s are more than okay.
But then so are CDs, and they are a lot cheaper, less hassle.
The 80s French pressings Dubmart speaks of are not well regarded by fans, as they are digital. So again, why not just get them on CD?
I'm sure there is a mid market of people buying cheap digital vinyl to play on low end systems, but the result won't be much different to putting a CD on.
I have sold all my digital jazz vinyl. I am quite happy to stream titles I haven't got, and buy analogue vinyl one by one over time, or when I see them reasonably priced second hand.
Those albums you have bought are cheap, but not as cheap as streaming. Take them all back, and buy one album, Music Matters Blue Train, and keep streaming the rest. Just my opinion, of course...

 

Appreciate the input and you certainly make some good points.

 

Unlike some of the 75s the 1980s French issues are uniformly good pressings also a lot of the hate for them is retrospective, sure they aren't originals or audiophile, but back in the 1980s they sounded fine and to be fair most of them still do, some of them are actually pretty nice sounding and most importantly depending on where you live they can be picked up cheaper than the 75s, sometimes much cheaper. I've heard 15-20 75s about two thirds European, if you are lucky and the pressing is good they are fine, nothing special, but perfectly listenable and it's great to see some of those titles available, the prices seem to vary greatly, at least here, but if you can get them cheap then grab them, enjoy them, learn which titles you love and then upgrade when you get an opportunity. As APH suggests it may be easier to pick up cheap CDs as a learning tool and then buy better vinyl issues of those you like, I also agree with him that you should grab the MM "Blue Train", it is fantastic.

One other thing, there's more nonsense talked about Blue Note pressings than any other Jazz label, try and find online sources you can trust and always trust your own ears, I've got everything from first press, through Libertys, UAs, Capitols, 70's UK pressings, French, Mosaics, Classic Records, AP 45s, MM 45s/33s, Kings, Toshibas, Scorpios and Four Men With Beards, I don't always agree with what people post although there are some people on here who really know their Blue Notes, you just need to decide for yourself who they are. This is a link to some useful guides to identifying different Blue Note pressings: https://londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/record-labels-guide/

I'm not up on current Universal reissues, there are just so many, but "A Love Supreme" may well be from Universal in which case I suspect it will be of similar quality to the Blue Note 75s, I love the album, but for a novice "Blue Train" is a much better choice.

 

Pay the extra, get the Music Matters reissues.

 

Thanks Dubmart! There certainly is a lot to consider! I have only recently started listening to Jazz, all via streaming from online, specifically Rdio, which will be offline soon due to bankruptcy. That's too bad because they had a good selection of jazz albums, especially for a beginner. It was a great way to check out artists and titles. I'm thinking of going with Spotify to replace that service. In terms of equipment, this was all played through a set of Bose Companion 5 computer speakers. I have replaced that with a Focal Bird 2.1 system and a Project Carbon RPM1 turntable, a set up that fit in my small condo. That upgrade alone has improved the sound I'm enjoying. I'm still waiting on a part to stream audio on this system from my desk top computer, so I have only been playing my old vinyl records so far (blues, hard rock etc.) I figured a few classic jazz albums wouldn't hurt, so I went out and bought the ones we have discussed. None have been opened or played yet. Checking prices for the Music Matters Blue Train at Amazon Canada, looks like close to $70 Canadian plus tax for that title. I'm not against spending that kind of money on a few select titles every now and then if I think it will be worth it, but I will have to be choosy.

 

I may go that route, however, what is $40 in the US is close to $70 here in Canada, so that has to be taken into consideration.