Wow... just wow. Driving home from work just now and had a few concerns. First of all, up until now Blue Note reissue LPs and Music Matters reissue LPs have been the antithesis of each other. The one is an inexpensive product with flimsy jackets for the Amazon crowd, most of whom who wouldn't notice or don't care about the difference between all-analogue and digitally-sourced. The other has consistently put out a product so excellent that in almost all cases they actually beat first pressings. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this, and not sure I'll believe it until I see/hear it. Secondly, I fear this means I will not have the option of buying the Tone Poet series (I am forever going to be conflating the name with that Sinatra album) from Music Matters. MM always packaged my LPs to the hilt. I own upwards of 90% of all the MMs (both 45s & 33s) to date and never once received one with a ding, bump, scratch, or any blemish whatsoever. Plus Lori is a superstar and always takes great care of me. I have, on the other hand, dealt with damaged LPs from Amazon that were packaged poorly, often in oversized boxes and/or packaged with other items. It's not lost on me, however, that this series being a Universal affair should be much more accessible to the rest of the world and less expensive to obtain, something that is very nice indeed. Lastly, I know Don Was is a great guy who loves Blue Note as much as any of us. I just hope that as time goes on, the UMe corporate bean counters don't start turning in the screws to cut costs, leading to deterioration of quality. I have seen that happen too many times elsewhere. As a post-script, what about that whole vinyl formulation thingy? The decision for the Tone Poem series not to use it is just another case of compromising - sacrificing quality for cost-savings. If it's as good as it's touted, and I believe it is based on the reviews here and my own experience with Quiex II (which as I understand is not even as good as SRX), then I would want it on all future BN reissues, not just some of them. I'd gladly pay the $8 extra to get an upgraded vinyl formulation. But it looks like that won't be an option. Sad. And as a post-post script, please guys, reissue some new titles. I already have 45 and 33 duplicates, and now I guess I'll have SRX duplicates on top of that. But please, some fresh titles.
I don’t think it’s fair to Don Was to compare the BN 75th vinyl initiative to MM. don’s job and idea was to do an inexpensive vinyl reissue for new fans, and reissue some titles that haven’t gotten as much love from reissue companies. He did it with top mastering engineers. No one expects staughton tip on covers with a $10-16 record. Yes the quality of the vinyl itself had issues but I think overall he did a good job of reissuing inexpensive copies to tap into newbies just getting into vinyl. It worked for me, I bought probably 10 titles before getting hooked on Blue Note and stumbled on MM. Second I don’t think it’s fair to compare Tone Poet to BN 75. He’s already mentioned it’ll be pressed at RTI supervised by their plant mgr. covers will be MM gatefold style or staughton tip on for non gatefolds. And not using the new SRX vinyl, well joe can’t win because people complain about the prices of the new MM reissue due to it, and now people complain they’re not using it here. The price point for Tone Poet to me is spot on for more obscure titles to get people to take a chance and deliver a high quality product. ‘Reissue some new titles’ - if you actually read this thread that is exactly what tone poet is meant for. There will be no duplicates of AP or MM titles on Tone Poet. In my mind, Joe’s done a whole lot right for 12 years so I give him the benefit of the doubt for this new series.
I‘m not concerned bean counters will try to cut costs, because that‘s what they‘ve been doing these past ~ 25 years. Otherwise, why even produce such a reissue program that certainly won‘t be a big moneymaker in the first place, no matter how low or high the production costs are. I‘m more optimistic and it seems that Universal has had a change of heart by allowing Don Was to produce a superior product together with Joe Harley. What I‘d like to know: will the Tone Poet series definitely stop after 18 titles or is there room for more if sales etc. allow it? Just asking, because there‘s so much that could be covered by this series...
You sum it up well Guided and with having 2 different series they can hopefully appeal to both price point markets.
Hi Joe! Thank you so much for letting us know when more info will be available. I'd also like to take the opportunity to personally thank you for doing this. Being from Europe, it's not easy nor cheap to find excellent jazz pressings and this being taken care of by Universal might be a huge plus in that regard. Best of luck in this new project and I'm excited to know more about it!
Cory, Joe has said these will be done to the same quality standards as Music Matters. Master tapes, Kevin Gray, RTI (the same formula as the last batch of 33s), Stoughton tip-on jackets. No worries from a quality standpoint. I have no doubt they’ll be just as good as past MM releases. Sure, they won’t be on SRX vinyl, but that’s fine with me. I never had a problem with RTI or the vinyl formula they use. As for packaging, you can buy these from your favorite online store. Acoustic Sounds, Music Direct, and Elusive Disc all have great packaging.
I can see why the Shorter and Corea titles would be distinct from the MM brand, but why isn't the Rivers title under the MM banner? Are the Tone Poet titles then primarily titles Don Was is interested in?
Thank you so much for the kind words, really means a lot to me and to everyone associated with the project! With Universal's distribution, I think you'll find it relatively easy to find these at your local retailer in Europe.
Hi Milan, for now, the series will consist of 18 titles. However, if it is successful and people like the good folks here continue to buy and enjoy them, then I have no doubt the series will continue.
Hopefully, I can help you out with your question. The Tone Poet Series is a curated release of titles that I have chosen, along with Don Was's expert input. We are choosing from a pallet of titles from the Blue Note universe that includes titles from BN owned labels like Pacific Jazz, World Pacific, Solid State and of course Blue Note, both modern era Blue Note and classic. The titles we are choosing have not been released by Music Matters, Acoustic Sounds, or Classic Records before. And we are covering important parts of the Blue Note legacy such as soul jazz (including some great Hammond B3 sessions) and some of the more adventurous titles from the BN catalog. The Blue Note world is SO wide and deep when you think about it. There are SO many worthy titles still waiting to be released. I can tell you that with this first 18, we're just scratching the surface of what I hope is a multi-year project.
This sounds exciting! I’ve been expanding my jazz collection little by little over the last year or so thanks to this forum. I do have a turntable but I’m mostly a CD person. I’ve read a lot of good things about Music Matters here but due to my limited interest in vinyl I’ve found the price of Music Matters’ releases discouraging. Over the last year I did get most of the Audiowave XRCDs which were produced by Joe and have found them to be excellent. Hopefully, the price point of the Tone Poet series will be at the sweet spot for me so I can get a taste of what Music Matters is all about.
Thanks for that input Joe. I would only add that I wish these were also on the SRX vinyl, but I'll be thankful just to be getting these in the first place. Very glad to hear about diversity of styles, especially some Hammond dates!
So they've moved away from that ridiculous earlier series where you got one lp of value, some crappy second lp and a bunch of crap for $100+?
I'll take two of each, Joe, seeing how great the first divulged titles are (State of the Tenor in particular, and of course NHSNHS made me a very happy camper). Any chance Trompeta Toccata or Complete Communion are in the stars for us ?
Man, Afro-Cuban!! Along with all the other titles my AmEx is going to take quite a hit in 6 more days!
Hahaha, that's OK I love Afro-Cuban as well and I'm very excited to see the SRX version of this amazing title coming out! So much great music coming in 2019 for Blue Note lovers!!
Agreed, Charisma is very good. He did so many great albums that it's hard to choose. And just when you think you've heard all the better ones, another one sneaks up on you. Like Infinity or Rumproller. I wish MM had transitioned a few more to 33rpm. And I know it's not on Blue Note, but Here's Lee Morgan has some really outstanding tracks -- the versions of this I've heard are not the best audio quality so it would be most deserving of audiophile treatment.
My Tone Poet BN Wish List Andrew Hill-Black Fire Bobby Hutcherson-Dialouge Cecil Taylor-Conquistador Dexter Gordon-One Flight Up Don Cherry-Complete Communion Grachan Moncur-Some Other Stuff Grant Green-Feelin’ The Spirit Lee Morgan-Cornbread
Don't forget Joe mentioned Pacific Jazz. I'm praying hard for some Chet but there are so many gems edited by Pacific that would be great to have that I think I'll be happy with most choices.
Since Joe is digging in the Pacific Jazz vaults, then my man Carmell Jones is very necessary. He's a very underrated trumpeter who needs wider recognition. The Mosaic select release some years back is great.