Music Matters Definitive Blue Note 45 RPM and 33 & 1/3 RPM vinyl series (pt7)

Mail was late today so my vinyl box just arrived. NP Kenny Burrell with Art Blakey On View At The Five Spot Cafe. Sounds great! I suppose most of you ditch the thick plastic inners for the anti-static Mo-Fi or such. Have they ever released info on how many they pressed of each title? This one is in the 0400's.

 

2500 of each title

 

3500 of the 33s

 

I've gotten 9 so far within the past month or so and all are freaking awesome. The sound is SO BIG!

MM 45
Blakey Mosaic
Blakey indestructible
Hubbard open sesame

MM 33
Tina Brooks True Blue
Mobley workout
Hubbard hub tones
Powell scene changes
Hancock maiden voyage
Lee Morgan search for a new land

 

So far that has been my experience. What's startling is how each one that I've listened to so far is so unique, has their own sound signature and particular personality to the performance. I am digging the mobley workout and morgans search, grant greens guitar just adds a whole other dimension.

Which means I'm going have to get some grant green MM at some point lol.

 

Don't discount the AP 45 rpms of his, either. Equally stunning.

 

It's been a long time since a few of us heard from various sources ( mine was Lori)' that despite the public pronouncement Ron would in fact do a few more releases partially due to our petition. I take it no one has heard any rumblings since? How long are the gaps between releases typically? Is there a pattern? Apologies that I sound desperate for my narcotics, but frankly I am....
....got....to... have....now...

 

Your query is fair enough...and what I am about to say has no bearing on your question.

I think this is on Universal and not Ron. MM raised the bar on jazz reissues to a phenomenal level. Not sure Blue Note reissues will be done this well by anyone anywhere anytime soon. In fact, I will argue we have seen the mountain top. And I'm considering scarf-gate at $200 per pop, or whatever that price point is. It's 1%'er territory.

Don Was, IMHO, did not do Blue Note proud with the 75th Anniversary releases, while I'm glad to have some of the records and the release was suitably wide (particularly the 10" releases). Unfortunately, uniformly the quality of those pressings left something massive to be desired and did not honor the music. These pressings made most UA Liberty releases look like precious artifacts.

A dirty little secret here. If it were not for Ron Rambach, there likely would have not have been any 75th Anniversary releases. That man was so dedicated to Blue Note and the anniversary, I believe he goaded Don Was into doing something, anything to honor the historic label. We got what corporate America does to its heritage music, it mostly dishonors it and its customers with crappy pressings. I guess we get what $20 to $24 will buy, only now we have the option to pay $200 for a reputed great pressing and a scarf.

Universal, for now, has saw fit to be the gate keeper on Blue Note. And they have archived the tape, making 96/24 files available to reissue houses. The reason we have not seen an announcement, I'm speculating, while it may also be tied up in MM economics, is Universal. Not Ron Rambach. I suspect Universal will no longer allow for a super professional shop such as Music Matters to handle tape. even if they do so with incredible reverence and the utmost in archival care. Even as that label (well Capital) actually destroyed some master tape once upon a not to distant time; they thought that little of jazz and Blue Note and their catalog.

Ron would probably love to release a handful of titles. He and AP have done already a great job of mining the very best material. Now the later Blue Note recordings have a number of issues. Some is multi-track that is hard to remaster, some is still available as Liberty pressings at too cheap prices and not part of the classic period "collectors" desire, some is tape quality, some is the music too challenging for many folks to listen to, and, finally, Ron may not be fond of remaining titles enough to invest his time (e.g, Jimmy Smith). Basically, the best has been mined, even if we may disagree. That is my opinion, even if I am proved to be full of bull crap. Finally, maybe Ron has broken his pick on this entire endeavor.

Enjoy what we have. Everyday.

I say mine other notable catalogs. There is more to jazz than Blue Note.

 

Is Back at the Chicken Shack 45 rpm mono or stereo? The others say stereo but not sure about this one.

 

Stereo

 

ugh my wallet hates me for going on elusive disc and getting Eric dolphy out to lunch 45 and Andrew hill point of departure 33. I am justifying it in that MM no longer carries the dolphy and it was reasonably priced on ED and the Andrew hill was cheaper than listed on MM lol.

 

If it helps, those are two of my absolute favorites in the entire series (though mine are both 45s). The Dolphy may be in contention for the very best sounding MM release as well. I doubt you'll regret this purchase in the long run!

 

Appreciate the affirmation! I'm really looking forward to a sound that is a little more "out", as I've been a mostly strict bebop listener for as long as I've been into jazz starting in college. I would have loved to snag the 45 of the hill as well but I am somewhat trying to save costs lol.

 

@recstar24
I have Out to Lunch 33 and 45, and the 33 sounds as good. MM still has those, and cheaper than the EDisc 45. Flip it once, sounds just as good. I also just compared Ready for Freddie again for kicks and the 33rpm sounds better also. I know kinda crazy.

 

Thanks bud. Have you had a chance to compare the 33 to 45 of the Andrew hill point of departure?

 

What are you playing these on? I don't see your equipment posted. While I have not listened to Out To Lunch, other comparisons I have made generally give the nod to the 45, with it sounding more relaxed, more natural, and more spacious.

 

Sorry about that! I'll make sure to update my profile.

Technics 1200GR with ortofon 2m blue, Hagerman bugle 2, emotiva DC1 for volume control and preamp into emotiva stealth 8's.

 

Thank you for doing that. So, you don't hear any difference between the 33 and 45?

BTW, I still haven't been able to wrap my brain around Out To Lunch, but I keep seeing it in record stores, whether it be the Blue Note 75th, or recently a blue label Liberty pressing. Part of me feels like I should get a copy to seriously listen to.

 

I know I have an late 70s / early 80s reissue you can have to check out the material. I think it's pretty clean, too.
PM if you want it.

 

I don't have the same copies of a particular album in both 45 and 33, nor do I claim to have insight into the quality and sound of the master tape, but generally speaking, I find my MM and AP blue note 45's to be smoother with a very even response, whereas the 33 MM's all seem to share this very punchy, dynamic and slightly more forward quality. The 45's in comparison are a touch more laid back in comparison.

 

I had the Point of Departure in both 33rpm & 45rpm. The 33rpm is great but the 45rpm got that extra warmth and detail.
The 45rpm of Andrew Hill's - Point of departure is my N°2 in best sounding MM records.
N°1 is Wayne Shorter's - Soothsayer ! I use this album as MM's showcase album if friends come by to listen

 

I need to listen to those again then. They all sound so amazing, sometimes it's hard to decide which sound best. I always use McCoy Tyner The Real McCoy to showcase MM sound.

 

So,if mine is in the 400's, does that mean there are still 2,000 or so sitting in a warehouse or do you think they pulled them randomly instead of sequentially? Will some buyers request numbers and will those requests be met by whoever the seller may be? Also, are all copies numbered be they MM,AP,Classic...whoever? Or, are only the first hundreds,etc.?

 

I just wanted to say, as we approach page 500, that this is one of my favorite threads and usually the first I go to when looking at my alerts list. I appreciate all the participants and their great input. Thanks, I've learned a lot here.

 

Agreed, this thread was my intro to MM and now I'm on the other side of 100 MM titles. Never would have dreamed I would become so obsessed, but there you go...