'Tone Poet' Jazz Reissue Series*

I'm really hoping Thad Jones Detroit-New York Junction ends up as a Tone Poet, or the Classic Series. One of the very first Blue Note sessions
recorded for the 12" era BLP 1513, when many others at the time were reissues of 10" sessions. It's an underrated gem!

I think MMJ did The Magnificent Thad Jones because it has an iconic cover, but 1513 is an equal
if not better session! (IMHO of course). Both are amazing examples of the early sound.

 

Fresh off my second listen of Further Explorations, which I bought having never listened to the album before, and I have to say I am really enjoying the records I have from this series. Here is what I own:

Chick Corea - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs
Duke Pearson - The Phantom
Horace Silver - Further Explorations
McCoy Tyner - Tender Moments
Lee Morgan - The Rajah
Donald Byrd - Byrd In Flight

Does anyone have any recommendations for my next Tone Poet?

 

The Hutchersons are in my top 5 TPs.

 

Minor Move Tina Brooks

 

Hell, get both Tina Brooks titles, The Waiting Game is really good as well.

Wayne Shorter Etcetera is essential.

 

Re the mono debate:

Every Blue Note recorded before March 8, 1957 (Art Blakey, Orgy in Rhythm) was recorded only to one-track tape. There are a few more, recorded after this date, recorded only to one-track tape as well.

Beginning on May 8, 1957 (Horace Silver, The Stylings of Silver) and ending on October 30, 1958 (Art Blakey, Moanin'), RVG recorded every Blue Note session to one-track tape and two-track tape simultaneously.

Of these sessions with dedicated mono and stereo mixes, the Tone Poet series has released Paul Chambers, Bass on Top; Lee Morgan, The Cooker; Hank Mobley, Poppin'; Horace Silver, Further Explorations; Tina Brooks, Minor Move; and it will release Hank Mobley, Curtain Call. Joe has chosen the stereo tapes for all these titles.

When he was at Music Matters, Joe (with Ron Rambach) chose the mono tapes for John Coltrane, Blue Train; Lou Donaldson, Blues Walk; Horace Silver, The Stylings of Silver; Paul Chambers Quintet; Curtis Fuller, The Opener; Hank Mobley (BLP 1568); Sonny Clark, Dial 'S' for Sonny; John Jenkins with Kenny Burrell; and Louis Smith, Smithville.

Music Matters released Lee Morgan, Candy, both in mono and stereo. They chose stereo tapes for the following titles from this period: Sonny Clark, Sonny's Crib; Sonny Rollins, Newk's Time; Johnny Griffin, The Congregation; Clifford Jordan, Cliff Craft; Lou Donaldson, Lou Takes Off; Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin'; Cannonball Adderley, Somethin' Else; and Art Blakey, Moanin'.

After October 30, 1958, RVG recorded to two-track tape only, with all mono lacquers cut 50/50 from that tape. For all sessions recorded after that date, Music Matters and the Tone Poet Series have chosen to release only stereo records.

Based on the above, I don't think we can conclude that Joe has a preference for stereo over mono. I remember him saying that he pulls all tape assets for each project, and for those sessions recorded simultaneously to one-track and two-track tape, he listens to both versions and picks the one he thinks gives the best representation of what happened in the room that day.

 

Yeah I didnt bite on those Disk Unions either. It was kind if hard to read at the time if they were worth or not. Of course hindsight and all.

However, the one I really wanted was "Blue Serge". I got very lucky about two weeks ago and won one for $23.00! Couldnt believe it. Had looked forever to find one at any price. Still, wish I had been more open to getting them all.

Its just tough to spend 50 bucks on the MMJs and APs and then turn around and throw down another 50 on many of the same titles. I did pick up one of the Donald Byrd titles also before the prices went nuts.

 

Wayne Shorter - etcetera

 

Get Sam Rivers - Contours.

 

I think a bunch of the MM mono albums don’t exist in stereo though, so Joe wouldn’t have had a choice of mixes.

 

The 2 best TPs IMO are Sam Rivers Contours and Wayne Shorter ETC. Those are both top tier BNs.

 

Part of the reason they had crossover appeal was because they WERE the popular records of their day with all but the youngest audiences. Jazz musicians largely played standards, The Great American Songbook. As the music started getting esoteric, as well as the younger audiences growing up listening instead to pop music, jazz started taking a backseat.

 

All for the better

Thank you Miles and Coltrane (and others) for breaking free.

 

My post is solely naming sessions that were recorded simultaneously in mono and stereo. My entire point is that Joe had a choice with respect to these albums, and he made different choices based on what he heard on the tapes.

 

Nice! Did you get Byrd Blows On Beacon Hill?

there was a set of the non-blue note labels, Capitol, Transition, and one on Pacific Jazz,
It's kinda funny how under the radar one title was.... it seems I keep hearing about this one Tone Poet,
yet 8 years ago....

 

Clearly you forget about the printed insert that Music Matters put in the early records, there is a page dedicated to the issue of mono vs stereo.
The Blue Note Record Sound | Music Matters Jazz | Jazz Vinyl
They outline the collector preference for mono, and then explain they listened to a bunch of 50/50 tapes.
Joe wrote:
"Once we heard the actual stereo masters, the decision was made: when a stereo Blue Note master exists, we will use that stereo master to cut our lacquers for this series."

So yeah, i do think we can conclude that Joe & Ron preferred Stereo.

 

I didnt realize that about the other labels. Very cool. Were they Disk Union's also? I was also kind of on a self imposed "hiatus" from many music purchases around that time period of about 2010-2013 or so and really out of the loop.

The Thad Jones I have is the "Detroit-New York Junction". Really like that album. Though I understand its possibly in the running for a TP? Not certain though on that.

 

Yeah, there were 8 titles under the "DELP-001 to DELP-008" numbers,

 

Yes Loved it. Would love to see again .

 

I'm sorry, but that is not accurate at all. Some of the all time best recordings of small acoustic ensembles are from the late 1950's and the 1960's by classical music labels like UK's EMI and Decca, french Harmonia Mundi and Erato, german Telefunken and Archiv Production and others.

Staying within US and the jazz genre, there are many superb recordings besides RVG's work in the 1950's and 1960's. Major labels Columbia Records and Atlantic Records released excellent jazz recordings in this period alongside the output of specialty jazz labels like Impulse!, Prestige, Riverside and others to name a few. Of course, in these matters, a mandatory special mention must go to Contemporary Records and the impressive work of Roy DuNann.

I recommend this article that also includes a couple of Joe Harley statements about DuNann's legacy: Jazz Profiles: The Search for Roy DuNann

 

It's funny people are discussing this here. I'm reading Miles autobiography and I'm precisely at the point where he is talking about jazz going out of fashion. His perspective revolves around new jazz and the difficulty some people had understanding it, the way someone couldn't simply hum melodies. And, even though Ornette's band was popular, that took a toll on jazz.

Then he obviously goes on about white people pushing white singers and using free jazz to against the genre etc, but that's just Miles.

 

I compared Bass on Top (mono Disk Union and the stereo TP) and I think the choice for the stereo tape was right: the mono - also mastered by Kevin Gray - sounds a bit muffled to me. Personally I tend to prefer stereo.

 

Both my copies are super ...you'll have a great evening after your workday ..

 

What a really interesting article ...thanks for bringing it to our attention

 

I thought I was the only one being seriously annoyed by that or, rather, by the systematicallity of it in many of GG solos... Thanks!