Blue Note 80th Anniversary reissues...any news?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by riverrat, Nov 9, 2018.

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  1. mrbob

    mrbob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    scotti likes this.
  2. scotti

    scotti Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atlanta GA
    Only got a chance to listen to a couple Jazz titles last night as it was more of a Rock/Blues day for the wife (have to keep her very happy) but got to listen to the Jutta Hipp and side 1 of "Inventions", all I had before were the CD of these.

    The Jutta Hipp is now one of my favorite Jazz albums! This music is just beyond Cool! The sound is incredible and this is easily my favorite BN 80th release so far! No warbling to be heard from me on this or the Hancock. Not doubting anyone mind you, I just don't hear anything but awesome sounding music.

    "Inventions and Dimensions" is starting to hit me more and as @Mazzy pointed out earlier, Bobo and Chambers are the stars here, with Mr. Martinez adding some nice percussion. Of course that dude playing piano holds his own as well.

    Really looking forward to spending more listens to all three of these new ones throughout the week, and first up today will be the amazing, spectacular, and downright bad a$$ Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims...yeah baby this is one awesome example of why I love my Jazz!
     
  3. Yeah the rhythm section on that Herbie album is beautiful recorded. The percussion just pops and the bass is deep and warm without being over bearing.

    and Zoots sax on the Jutta record is deep and warm. Sounds a bit like Stan Getz
     
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  4. Gabe Walters

    Gabe Walters Forum Resident

    They came up together in the Woody Herman band in the late ‘40s.
     
  5. Didn’t know that. Thank you.
     
  6. Crazysteve

    Crazysteve Gonzo Party Member

    Glad you’re enjoying them @scotti. These are amazing releases. The music is some of my favorite to have come out of this series and the sound pulls me straight into the music. My pressings are perfect, I got no complaints.Now, if we could only get more from the 1500 series in MONO!
     
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  7. chuckgay

    chuckgay Forum Resident

    Location:
    Puyallup, WA, USA
    I think Amazon has a product picking problem... just received my third copy of In 'N Out. Maybe somebody doesn't want me to have Jutta Hipp?
     
  8. danomar

    danomar My spoon is too big.

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    Approximately nine months ago, I decided to finally get a vinyl copy of Inventions and Dimensions. I was close to buying a nice Japanese copy or acceptable early pressing when I learned about the BN80 release. It has been a long wait, but I finally got mine.

    Overall, I am happy with the BN80 version. It seems a little bright and there is a little treble distortion at a few points, but these issues might go away with repeated plays. I am grateful that Don Was decided to re-release a nice range of Blue Note titles at affordable prices. I have several Music Matters albums because they are nearly as good as the originals and almost always much less expensive than an equivalent vintage pressing.

    It is nice that some people in the music industry still care about music.
     
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  9. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    hot damn this herbie sounds great.

    but what's with the distortion on the first track?!?

    :p
     
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  10. Crazysteve

    Crazysteve Gonzo Party Member

    The sound of these releases blows me away. I’ve never been privileged enough to hear an OG pressing of any blue note. I will, but it hasn’t happened yet. I have OG pressings of other genres that blow me away in the same way that these albums do. By blown away, in this context I mean they feel present. Realistic.
    So how can anyone complain I ask myself. When complaints are specific I ask myself what am I missing. I listened to Black Fire so many times in a short span because I loved it - and because I was intrigued by the adamant complaints that I read about.
    In short, I thought I was deaf. But no, the system I put together to deliver sheer tone and joy made ‘warbles’ not warble. Today I sent the records into my “learning process” system of clinical direction of sound through Bowers and Wilkins and a ‘quality’ Denon receiver, instead of tubes and my beloved Harbeth’s. I would be much less content with some of these piano focused records with such a system on an on-going basis. Black Fire, Jutta Hipp, and Takin Off made me extremely happy to have discovered the sound that I crave in my system. In return, tubes and unclinical speakers give these releases big hugs and then let them shine.
    Just my observation and thought I’d share it. No fight necessary.
    Now back to Innovations the way I want to hear it. Without question, I thought I blew the left speaker the second I put it on initially on Friday. It’s a percussion record to be sure, but has it always sounded like that? Even on my softened setup, it’s a unique sound to be sure. The rest of the record is phenomenal in tone.
     
  11. mrbob

    mrbob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    After listening to the Jutta Hipp and raving about it here on the forum I finally had the time to give Herbie Hancock and Joe Henderson a spin on my TT.
    First of all: all are flat, spotless and great sounding. Very nice additions to the BN80 series. SQ ranges from very good (Hancock) to exceptional (Hipp and Henderson).
    For me both Inventions and Dimensions and In ‘N out were completely new, I deliberately chose not to listen to them on Spotify in advance because I didn’t want to spoil the surprise.
    This indeed was the right choice because I really enjoyed hearing the strange “Succotash” sound on Inventions that suddenly came out of my speakers. Very interesting and challenging album.
    I even more like Henderson’s In ‘n Out. To hear him here with Coltrane’s rhythm group is just great. Elvin Jones is pushing him and Kenny as hard as he did with Coltrane.
    What I noticed though was that Henderson’s sax somehow came out of the “wrong” speaker. Normally RVG would place the session leader in the left channel I think, but here Joe is placed right together with Elvin and Kenny’s trumpet comes from the left. Maybe Rudy wanted to emphasize the interplay between drums and sax. Just guessing here.
    Anyway, the sound of the horns and the drums is very lifelike. The piano is recorded better than usual but it’s still an “RVG piano” if you know what I mean.
    Noticed no warbling in the piano sound by the way but I don’t hear it on the much discussed BF Tone Poet either.
    To sum things up: three great pressings. Jutta Hipp remains my favorite. Might even be the best of the BN80s as @scotti already pointed out. To me this is just “happy jazz” which puts me in a good mood.
     
  12. mrbob

    mrbob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    +1 for more releases from the 1500 series in mono. When did the first of the 1500s come out? Maybe there is some anniversary coming up next year. ;)
     
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  13. mrbob

    mrbob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    @scotti Don’t want derail here too far but could you maybe report back on the SQ of the new SC release of Charles Lloyd’s The Flowering? Might get it myself but I’m not sure. Got the SC of Forest Flower. Love it very much.
    I saw Mr. Lloyd this August in our new concert hall Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany. Great performance. One of the “last mohicans” as he himself put it once.
     
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  14. scotti

    scotti Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atlanta GA
    Will do, I know @Josquin des Prez mentioned he was getting this title as well. Unfortunately (but maybe not $$$) Speakers Corner titles hit the US a bit later. Sometimes hard to get an exact date. I have to finalize my RSD 11/29 wish list with my local store this morning and will be following up on that and the Elvin Jones (really looking forward to this one) later this morning. Glad you got to go to that concert, that venue sounds pretty cool!

    Got to listen to the Jutta Hipp again last evening for a third time. Oh yeah, easily my favorite BN 80th release so far. And when I say it's one of my favorite Jazz records I own, it's because of how fun it is to listen to. And as you say, just makes you feel happy. Zoot is killing it on this!

    The more I listen to "Inventions", the more I'm digging it (my CD did not do it justice) but the percussion coming out of the left speaker on "Succotash" is almost bothersome to my ears. I am a big fan of Herbie's work, so I will continue to explore this one more. I very much like this album, but I would not put this along side his better works, but time will tell, as I have a feeling the instrumentation on this will continue to suck me in to it's black hole.

    Also got to the Henderson once again, and this was a title I had heard before, but just my CD and well, that ain't working. Absolutely enjoying the heck out of it, and it is on deck for later this afternoon.

    And if I could tell a funny story for a minute. A couple of days ago I was standing in front of my stereo enjoying some music while my dog was out in the backyard playing. I had my basement door partially opened (temperature finally dropped) and the next thing I know, a giant sized chipmunk goes running by my feet that my best friend had chased inside. Meanwhile, he goes running upstairs to hide while the chipmunk dashes underneath my stereo and hides itself between all my cables. I'm like WTF just happened? So I very carefully managed to get the critter out from behind my system, and what the beck does it do next, it runs underneath one of the spaces next to the control panel where my subs are stacked and would not come out.

    Quick thinking, I was like I will fix you, so I turned up the subs, grabbed my WB green of Sabbath's "Master of Reality" and let it crank. Well my new furry friend flew out from under the subs fast as can be and out the backdoor it went. Sorry for derailing, but a rather amusing story I thought.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2019
  15. mrbob

    mrbob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    Great story @scotti ! Black Sabbath as chipmunk deterrent! :laugh: Poor guy must have been scared out of his fur (don’t know if that’s a real english expression).
    Maybe you should have this idea patented. Could be some money in this. :)
    I had a small chipmunk as a pet when I was a child. Thought it was cute but drove me nuts because it hid everywhere when I let it out of the cage and I wasn’t able to find it again. If I only knew about Ozzy Osbourne back then.
    Ok ... now back to Blue Note.
     
  16. Crazysteve

    Crazysteve Gonzo Party Member

    That is great. It wasn’t the bass that got him out of there though. That chipmunk didn’t want his head bit off. Animals are well aware of Ozzy.
     
  17. dastinger

    dastinger Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portugal
  18. scotti

    scotti Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atlanta GA
    Looks like the current Speakers Corner new releases have been delayed a bit here in the States, unless it's the supplier for the store I shop is having an issue, but it looks like the US date has changed to 11/15 for these now.

    Got to listen to "Inventions" again yesterday, now I just skip "Succotash" and listen from there. As I thought it would, now having this on vinyl, the music is really starting to suck me in. And speaking of Mr. Hancock, kind of a break in the action this week, so I just ordered the MOV of "Mwandishi" this morning for arrival on Thursday. MOV has really been doing a great job as of late with their releases (I don't buy many, but the ones I have gotten have really been good). This is a really cool record by Herbie and I had recently gotten the SC version of "Crossings" mastered by KG, earlier this year, which is a bit more out there than "Mwandishi"...only one of that trilogy I never cared much for is "Fat Albert Rotunda"...maybe I need to listen to it more.

    More time with "In n Out" yesterday and I am really digging the heck out of this more and more. Going back for another spin later this afternoon...I did not realize that he recorded this and "Inner Urge" which I have the amazing SRX version of in the same year, 1964. I really need to get the MMJ 33 of "Page 1" as it's only $49 right now. Anyone here have that version?

    And as fate would have it, as I went to grab my original mono of "Monk's Dream" to listen to (my favorite by him), and there in front of me was that spectacular title from the one and only Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims (that cover gets me every time, might have to hide it before I where it out) and of course on the turntable it went, taking me along for another awesome ride of sheer coolness! Jutta, you are so silky smooth cool with your groove, and Zoot, you're killing me baby, just killing me with your bad a$$ sound!

    Well enough of my ramblings for one day...time to go inject some hot sounds of Jazz into my thirsty soul!
     
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  19. The MMJ Page One is phenomenal. What a debut album that was! Wow! Truly essential. I’d be willing to wager the AP45rpm is pretty awesome too. Given they are the same price, it may come down to preference of 45 vs 33. I’m normally a big 45 guy, but I got my MMJ for a steal (under $30 :cool:) so I’m sticking with that one for now unless someone convinced me otherwise!!

    Speaking of Monk’ Dream, the new MoFi One Step is absolutely jaw dropping. But I bet that original isn’t too shabby either ! That is a killer album.
     
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  20. musictoad

    musictoad Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salt Lake City, UT
    I only have the MMJ Inventions & Dimensions, what is everyone talking about with the opening part of Succotash that's driving people nutty?
     
  21. aoxomoxoa

    aoxomoxoa I'm an ear sitting in the sky

    Location:
    USA
    Some non fill on my Herbie!
    The horror...


    this is what I get after making a joke about people complaining about the scratchy noises on the album.
     
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  22. scotti

    scotti Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atlanta GA
    The percussion as Succotash starts that comes out of the left speaker (at least for me) sounds very unnatural. It almost sounds like there is an issue with the speaker, but there is not. Maybe it's just my ears, I don't know, but it is very hard to listen to. Will try it again later today...has anyone compared the two? Is that percussion the same sounding?

    I almost went after that, but earlier this year I found a like new mono original for around $15, might have been less and the sound is sweet as can be. Just can't justify $125 for the One Step version, but since that one's in stereo, you just never know. Looks like that one has sold very well. I dropped $200 earlier on the UHQR mono/stereo versions of Axis, and as you know, these high end audiophile releases can add up very fast! Another reason I'm enjoying these BN 80th and Tone Poet titles so much!
     
  23. Peterr

    Peterr Forum Resident

    I do not believe its percussion.
    Its a device that's looks like a coconut with some pearls on a string.
    You rub it.
    No idea what's it name is... Not even in dutch!
     
  24. dastinger

    dastinger Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portugal
    I'm not sure if that is what you're talking about, but if it's what I think it is, it's called a shekere.
     
  25. musictoad

    musictoad Forum Resident

    Location:
    Salt Lake City, UT
    That's a percussion instrument.
     

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