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

I think I have just 8 or 9 MMs. Can't say if this was the worst one but if I was unhappy I would've returned it. There is the print through issue discussed somewhere in this thread but that doesn't bother me really. I can accept that some copies of it might be noisier than others.

 

Great! I mean, the sound is great on mine, but it just has more crackle and ticks throughout than any other title I have.

 

OG?? I don't know what that is.

Don't most here think that the MM reissues are significantly better than original pressings?

 

Agreed. My first MM was Pete La Roca’s Basra which miraculously showed up used in my local shop a few weeks after I had added it to my wantlist. I gave that a listen and instantly understood the fascination with MM that I’d been reading about here. The sound was of course great, and the pressing was absolutely silent. I can certainly live with and absolutely enjoy my Midnight Blue, but in comparison to so many others it just doesn’t have the same black background. I believe I’ve read this in this thread, but, generally speaking, I’ve found that the 45s have less issues with surface noise and I have since switched over to getting only 45s whenever possible.

 

The Origina Gangsta himself, Mr. Rudy Van G?

 

I generally prefer the 45 rpm sound and in the cases where I have both, the 45 gets the majority of the play time. Though, it is nice to have the 33s for less intense listening.

 

I don’t have any title in both formats to compare. A friend, a few weeks ago, brought me some records he wanted to sell, the Cape Verdean 45 was one (I have the 33) but I declined to get it in favor of getting more stuff I don’t already have. Although, I admit that, since then I’ve been entertaining the idea of calling him back and getting it just to satisfy my curiousity.

 

Thanks for the recommendations so far everyone. I actually haven’t gotten into the second Quintet yet. I recently played them all through once on Apple Music, but I decided to save those for a little later, I’m still really enjoying and absorbing the coltrane Miles stuff plus seven Steps.

 

OG is abbreviation for original.

 

AP has a lot of the Prestige Miles/Coltrane in mono, as well as Someday and Steps. I only got the AP Steamin’ because the others I already had. It is sweet though. I used to be more of a 1st Quintet person, but these days I’ve been listening more to Shorter than Trane so I’ve also been more of a 2nd Quintet person.

Oh, I meant to mention Donald Byrd’s Royal Flush earlier, the MM 45 is .

 

That entire series is great.

Also, the Legacy Sony Mono releases of Miles. Super affordable, amazing quality.

 

True there, I have quite a few from both the Prestige mono and stereo series on LP, I even picked up a couple monos on SACD in the recent Black Friday 50% of sale. I don’t have any of the mono Sony’s on vinyl but I did get the mono CD box set. On a different tip, I’m hoping, though, that the MoFi Miles Smiles that is depicted in the recent Music Direct catalog comes to fruition sometime next year. I wrote to MoFi late in 2016 and asked them if they were going to do any more Miles (specifically Miles Smiles) and they said they had no plans for 2017, so hopefully that plan applied only to 2017.

 

Miles Smiles is coming from MOFI. It’s on the rear cover of their winter catalog. So is Porgy and Bess.

Re the 33s, everything pressed since they switched to the new formulation at RTI has been flawless for me. That includes the last six titles of 2015 and everything released in 2016-17.

 

Yeah, that’s what I was referencing... I hope so, it feels like a big hole that needs filling.

 

What is the "print through issue" ?

 

The tape is very old and had some print through on one track. Can't remember which. Supposedly it's on the 45 version also. I hesitated on it a little bit for that reason, but ended up taking a chance because I like the album so much.

http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/3mtape/printthrough.pdf

 

Its on Mule, you can hear his guitar before he starts playing.

 

So it's like double your fun with Double-Mint Gum?

 

Yes! My first buys arrived!

 

Two greats.

 

I agree, 'Out To Lunch' is a real trip. The clue to it's contents and sound is certainly in the title. I must pull it out again over the weekend. On a side note to a comment in the thread AnalogJ, what titles or which series have AP gone to extra lenghts on their sleeves?

 

The current 33rpm AP Prestige reissue series have nice tip-on jackets. No gatefold though.

 

I played 3 Ike Quebec titles this evening, early 90's Japanese editions and all sounding great as they are mint (purchased from a renowned journalist's collection).....but then pulled out MM's 'Blue And Sentimental' to round the session off. Just stunning in sound and music. Grant Green on this LP......fantastic.

 

In addition to the Prestige albums mentioned above, the AP Impusle! series used MM-style thick gatefolds (the main difference being that the Impulse! albums were originally released in gatefolds, so the AP gatefolds replicate the originals, rather than adding photos as MM did for their Blue Notes).

 

I've been moping about these last six months or so thinking on how wonderful it was to see those new Music Matters Blue Note releases. I don't need to fuss about which one to buy, only which one to listen to next. How terrific was that sweet run and how great they all sound. Those were the days, my friend; I though they would never end; I thought they'd last forever and a day. But alas they did end, while I console myself by turning those magical black platters every day.

So my Christmas wish is that Music Matter graces us this holiday season with something, anything, and it would be awesome. Somehow, someway, somewhere, the God of Vinyl Goodness takes pity on us diehard fans and we are graced. All I want for Christmas is for Santa Claus to tumble down my chimney with a freshly minted MM issued Blue Note record of my wildest dreams. As I wipe disbelief from my eyes, hearing Santa sprint away with bells jingling and reindeer dashing and a ho ho ho, I'll cue up Duke Pearson's Merry Ole Soul, or better yet a shiny new 200 gram slab of vinyl to celebrate one of America's greatest artistic creations, jazz.

Anyone with me? Boys and girls, Merry Christmas to you all. I've enjoyed you each and every one of you. These are the best of times, these are the worst of times. But we are alive with great music to comfort us and a chance to capture the magic of the stylus each and every day.