I was expecting more overlap with popular MMJ titles. I will try a few out. Its not like I have been spending money on originals.
Checking out some of the titles I don’t have and aren’t familiar with. So far I’m definitely in for Dexter ‘Doin’ allright’. Herbie ‘takin offf’ is pretty good and will likely get it since it has Dexter and Freddie and the price hopefully will drop under $20. I’ll check out later today Jutta Hipp with Zoot simms. I’d never heard of her and reading the wiki on her and the album sound really interesting.
The Blue Note 80 vinyl reissue series has just been announced: PRESENTING THE BLUE NOTE 80 VINYL REISSUE SERIES | News it "is curated by Don Was and Cem Kurosman features mid-priced 180g vinyl releases in standard packaging". It would be good to know more about the process - is it digitally sourced or AAA, who is doing the mastering and cutting, where is it pressed etc. This information is not included in the press release, the price for the first 3 releases is 25 USD. Please post any updates below.
I don't care if they were sourced from digital or not, as long as the mastering suits the music. However, I do care about the packaging. If they come in those cheap, flimsy sleeves they already used for the 75th anniversary series, I'm out. No way I'm gonna pay ~€30 for this kind of presentation. (and I'm sure they will cost that much in Europe).
My copy of Blacks and Blues has seen better days, so might be worth checking that out. I'm in - let's see if lessons were learned.
Excited for this one, it's never been released on vinyl! Definitely a title from my "grail list", i never thought it would ever be released on vinyl, considering it was from 2005, a little too early for the vinyl resurrection, too recent for nostalgia. It also runs over 65 minutes, so it needs two LP's. Hope it's pressed somewhere good.
For those wanting more details, this screenshot was posted over in the Jazz Vinyl Lovers fb group yesterday:
Well that's good news on Optimal - an improvement on using United for the 75th. If they are Mastering from original tapes - that's going to be happening stateside. Not completely unheard of for USA AAA mastered metalwork to be sent to Europe for pressing. The Dylan Monos and some Experience Hendrix reisues spring to mind. Fingers crossed. But more likely they get B Grundman et al to master to hi res file and send that to optimal for cutting.
The first three titles to be released on May 10 are: Dexter Gordon – Doin’ Allright (1961) Herbie Hancock – Takin’ Off (1962) Robert Glasper – Canvas (2005)
Indeed. There are also a few titles in this series that might have been recorded only digitally. At least for these the only variables involved are mastering and pressing quality. I would really like to know more about the John Scofield album.
OK, I scanned the Blue Note FB page and found an official reply to someone asking about the details: "Blue Note Records Hi Thomas, whenever an analog source is available we're using the analog master (i.e. Herbie Hancock "Takin' Off" & Dexter Gordon "Doin' Allright" from the 1st batch), but some newer titles are from a digital master (i.e. Robert Glasper "Canvas"). Vinyl is being pressed at Optimal in Germany." I am a bit hesitant about the analog source statement, as it is not clear how the whole production chain looks like... is it possible that they're correcting the mistakes made with the BN75 series?
I'd say that they may use an analogue master, but the mastering chain won't be completely analogue. I'll wait for some initial reviews and probably jump on Gordon and Hancock. Hell, I might even be the guinea pig myself.
I expect that these are all cut from digital high resolution files, if not, these would be part of the Tone Poet re-issue series.
Very doubtful that they’ll be AAA as well, but it’s a good opportunity to get the Robert Glasper title
Complete list from the link above: Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series: May 10 – Blue Note Debuts, Part 1 Dexter Gordon – Doin’ Allright (1961) Herbie Hancock – Takin’ Off (1962) Robert Glasper – Canvas (2005) June 14 – Blue Note Debuts, Part 2 Johnny Griffin – Introducing Johnny Griffin (1956) Freddie Hubbard – Open Sesame (1960) Grant Green – Grant’s First Stand (1961) July 12 – Blue Grooves, Part 1 Lonnie Smith – Think! (1968) Reuben Wilson – Blue Mode (1969) Bobbi Humphrey – Blacks And Blues (1973) August 9 – Blue Grooves, Part 2 Lou Donaldson Alligator Bogaloo (1967) Donald Byrd Ethiopian Knights (1971) John Scofield Hand Jive (1993) September 13 – Great Reid Miles Covers, Part 1 Freddie Hubbard – Hub-Tones (1962) Kenny Dorham – Una Mas (1963) Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Indestructible (1964) October 11 – Great Reid Miles Covers, Part 2 Jutta Hipp – Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims (1956) Herbie Hancock – Inventions & Dimensions (1963) Joe Henderson – In ‘n Out (1964) November 8 – Blue Note Live, Part 1 Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers Meet You at the Jazz Corner of the World (1960) Horace Silver Doin’ The Thing (1961) Grant Green Alive! (1970) December 13 – Blue Note Live, Part 2 Jimmy Smith – Groovin’ At Smalls’ Paradise (1957) Lonnie Smith – Live at Club Mozambique (1970) Lee Konitz – Alone Together (1996) January 10, 2020 – Drummer Leaders, Part 1 Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Buhaina’s Delight (1961) Pete La Roca – Basra (1965) Tony Williams – Foreign Intrigue (1985) February 14, 2020 – Drummer Leaders, Part 2 Art Taylor – A.T.’s Delight (1960) Elvin Jones – Mr. Jones (1972) Brian Blade – Brian Blade Fellowship (1997) March 13, 2020 – Great Reid Miles Covers, Part 3 Jackie McLean – A Fickle Sonance (1961) Dexter Gordon – A Swingin’ Affair (1962) Lee Morgan – The Rumproller (1965) April 10, 2020 – Great Reid Miles Covers, Part 4 Andrew Hill – Smokestack (1963) Kenny Dorham – Trompeta Toccata (1964) Larry Young – Into Somethin’ (1964) Some of the usual suspects, but also some lesser known/heard gems like that Tony Williams Foreign Intrigue & a good selection of live sets.
I think I'll wait to read some reviews of these and determine if they're worth picking up. There's a few on here that would be nice to grab if the price is right and the SQ is acceptable.
Outstanding lineups on that Jackie McLean Fickle Sonance & Elvin's Mr Jones titles. I'm not familiar with those so will be checking them out.
Keep in mind that the Tone Poet series isn't touching anything previously done by MMJ, AP or Classic, so the Dexter Gordon and Herbie Hancock titles would be off-limits. So there could still be some AAA titles in the BN80 series. However, like others, I'll be waiting for details on where they were cut and by whom before making any assumptions. Hopefully, someone will be able to get clarification on what "mastered from analog source" means here.
Not necessarily. The 75th Anniversary BN series had plenty of overlap with MM reissues. And on the MM site, Basra is listed as Out Of Stock, which means MM still has more authority to press more of that title. And would you be surprised if they came out with an SRX 33 pressing of it?
That depends on the license that MMJ has. Weren't MMJ producing some of the same titles as the 75th edition, when that was going on?