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

I don’t know if you plan on buying them all at once but if you don’t intend to do so, the top two for me would be the Opener (Hank is on there) and Cat Walk.

 

Yeah, get them while you can! I love Curtis Fuller's, The Opener, who sadly passed away last week at 88 years young. As @mcrichley said, Cat Walk is essential and has some great hooks. It took me a while to warm up to Lou Takes Off, but it hits pretty hard, sounds great, and also has some nice trombone work by Fuller. If I were to leave one off the list, it would be the Jenkins/Burrell as they mostly play in unison, but Jenkins' music is a rare find, so you really need it too...lol. And run, don't walk, to get Destination...Out!

 

F*** - John Jenkins with Kenny Burrell
Marry - Donald Byrd
Kill - Lou Donaldson

(cannot comment on fuller and you’re already sold on Jackie)

 

omg hilarious! Interested in your thoughts on Jackie.

 

Another recommendation is Sam Rivers Fuschia Swing Song if you don’t have it. One of my favourites and sound quality is superb.

 

Destination Out by a mile for me. The others are fine, I got Cat Walk when it was priced low and enjoy it, especially with Pepper. But Destination Out is a late night go to for me and one of the sleepers in the series in my opinion. I do like it more than Evolution and One Step Beyond.

 

Yeah that’d be super high on my list too.

 

I love it - destination out is a cool album, and is very balanced between going far out and free but still playing within the overall structure and form of hard bop.

 

$100 in stock 45 head-to-head, would you all go Destination... Out or Point of Departure?

 

I grabbed Lou Takes Off on a whim locally and like it. It feels pretty straight-ahead but has some fun longer tracks (Strollin' In) where players step out a bit more.

 

Lou Donaldson: Lou Takes Off His best hard bop record, IMO. Right up there with Blues Walk. Essential.
Donald Byrd: The Cat Walk Essential for Pearson's "Duke's Mixture" alone. Mid '60s Duke is as good as it gets in my book. And it has Pepper Adams. Enough said.
Curtis Fuller: The Opener Solid but not exactly his best. If you don't have Imagination, stop immediately and get it long before worrying about this one.
John Jenkins: With Kenny Burrell Solid date. Jenkins could have been a much bigger name.
Jackie McLean: Destination...Out (this one is for sure given the recent discussion). Yup.

 

My apologies to Curtis Fuller. Really appreciate this feedback.

 

I'd go Point of Departure for sure.

 

I would personally go for Destination because it hits a sweet spot between “in” and “out” playing. I bought them both at the same time and play Destination way more often than Departure. Actually I’m playing it now.

 

Destination for me, but with one more drink, Departure.

 

Having streamed these some, that's my take too! Maybe the real question is projecting how much I'll be drinking.

 

Both fabulous. Destination isn’t too far out despite the title. Departure is further out to my ears. As a poster said upthread, if you want some “in” and “out”, Destination may be your bag. That said, Departure has a lineup for the ages (including Mr “in n’ out” himself, Joe Henderson). Snag both and don’t look back.

 

Point of Departure for me without a doubt.

Eric Dolphy
Andrew Hill
Joe Henderson
Kenny Dorham
Richard Davis
Tony Williams

 

I love em both a lot and play them both equally. Point of Departure is a little more of a challenge for me but I love Dolphy and Tony Williams on here. Destination out though just has a great mood to it and more up my alley for end of a long week. I’d probably go with Point of Departure if I absolutely had to pick, mostly for Tony Williams.

yup. Easier said than done, but both are rewarding and I return to quite a bit.

 

This is the kind of "both/and" encouragement I come here for

 

Thank you all for your helpful replies today. I ended up buying them all. I was going to wait on some of them but with MMJ’s practice of increasing prices as stock dwindles there is no point in paying more later.

 

As stellar as Destination Out is, Point of Departure is even better, IMHO--PoD is an absolute classic and easily one of my top five or so jazz albums of all time. If you can get both, I would, but if you can only get one, I'd recommend PoD.

 

I'd second this, PoD and OTL have never budged from my top 5, the rest is liquid.

 

Totally agree. It hurts the wallet now but I’m thinking of my MMJ purchases right now as a better deal than I will ever get in the future.

I just bought 4 more from MMJ directly and 2 from a reseller. Man does it hurt to pay so much for something I could have bought for like $45 a few years ago! And I was collecting MMJ at the time but for some reason was only focused on the 33s. Took me a few years to realize the tremendous value I was missing out on. By ignoring all those 45 titles.

 

Ngl it's crazy, I just checked the Discogs value of my MMJ collection (71 titles) and I'm floored. I'm so glad I was financially irresponsible in acquiring them when I did.