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

Blue Train and Lush Life are both great classics. Add Giant Steps for a hat trick of excellence.

Some of Lee Morgan's best playing is on Blue Train.

 

just found out about the "blue train" ltd to 500 srx. gosh. super duper tempted.

 

....reading this forum i got sooooo tempted that went downstairs to check my MM archive....wow! I have some issues ! i have a multiple copies of at least 5 MM titles !!!!!!!! Can i ban myself from reading this forum

 

....i can not stop ! Found out that i do not have !!! Horace Parlan 2 most highly praised titles....o gosh.... back to MM site

 

You'll feel better if you sell me your doubles at their original prices.

 

I know how u feel. I found this thread while I was trying to find out more about the srx formulation MM has recently started to use. then when I found this thread it was like close to 700 pages. im sure it'll hit a thousand soon. kept on reading page after page and even spotted a couple of posts from joe Harley, the tone poet himself. really nice of him to share info. I don't have any MM titles yet but I do own quite a number of early/first (mostly)Japanese issues of BN, riverside and other jazz labels. my eyes just turned red when I logged into the MM website. its like paradise.. hehe. really wanna grab the blue trane but shipping is pretty high to where I am. so need to put in more consideration. rite now I m considering the following: blue trane srx. h. silver song for my father srx or 2x45rpm and a. Blakey mosaic 2x45rpm

 

I really need to find a spreadsheet that has all of the blue notes that have had a Classic Records, Analogue Productions, and Music Matters pressing

I second this!

 

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just saw this on discogs. the sticker label looks great

 

...ive got another problem ..can’t remember how much i paid for them at that point

 

Absolutely not! This is a classic album! I will say that it is one that over the years might have gotten a little over played for it's own good. It seems like it is one of those iconic Jazz titles that gets lumped together with Kind of Blue, which in my opinion might be one of the most over rated Jazz albums of them all (still a classic no doubt). I am looking forward to the SRX version big time! For some reason I never got around to buying it on vinyl since I had an SACD and have taken some what of a break listening to it over the years..

When I started buying MM titles at the end of last year, I was going to get it, slept on it, woke up the next day and it was not available. I am so glad now that it happened this way.

I am a huge JC fan, one of my all time favorite musicians of any genre! I would most likely put Giant Steps over BT, but one of his classics I do like a lot, but have a hard time listening to anymore is Love Supreme. The Atlantic Mono vinyl box that came out a while back is a must have for any serious fan of his work. It also includes albums you do not hear every day like Ole, Bags and Trane, and Plays The Blues. And the crazy thing is I got this box set for the same price as one of the SRX titles when it was first released...

I for one could not be happier about getting this on SRX, can't wait! Even one of my son's is buying a copy today as well. I do not think it would be wise to debate buying this very long, but I am still fairly new to the MM family, so I could be wrong.

 

Regarding the repress of Blue Train on SRX. Any thoughts on stamper reuse/age? I'm guessing the previous 33 stampers, which were used to create X thousand 33s, were used to create these new 500 copies. In theory you could have an early press of the non SRX that betters the SRX. Or maybe not...

 

Nice price! And I've been going back and forth on this set. I've watched the below thread for a while, and it seems like there are mixed reviews, but overall more positive than negative. John Coltrane - The Atlantic Years (In Mono) 6CD & 6LP box sets coming in 2016

 

There are always mixed reviews on this forum (so you have to be careful no doubt). I could not be happier with it! Decent job on the covers and the sound quality is very very good. Listened to "Plays The Blues" again yesterday and enjoyed it big time!

Just got my tracking number for the SRX of Blue Train, and the final bill, $84.95 for just one title...I hope the heck they did this one right! I will wait until my wife hears it first before I tell her what I spent on it, plus it is the weekend and not about to say to her I just spent another $85 on an SRX title when she gets home from work...

 

Yeah, good call. Comments on this forum can be very nit-picky / difficult to navigate through sometimes! I'll keep my eye out for sales on the box - I've seen it fluctuate quite a bit since its release. Thanks!

 

I think this latest revival of "SRX Blue Train" from MM also includes a hologram of John Coletrane".

 

Well, you're under no obligation to like something that is highly regarded. Whether you're a noob or seasoned jazz listener, you like what you like. There are a lot of things that are highly regarded that I just don't care for. I think The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman is overrated. That is not an opinion that is well received by 'cinephiles.' So if something is not to your liking, then so be it. However, with jazz music, never say never. My opinions about a lot has changed radically over the years. I didn't care for Eric Dolphy in my younger years. I had to go back to his earlier work with Chico Hamilton to truly appreciate him and his progression. In time, I came to love his work. Dolphy is now one of my favorite musicians across all genres.

Back to Blue Train. I personally don't think it's overrated. I think it's rated accurately, especially when put into context of Coltrane's musical chronology. See, we have the luxury (or curse) to look back at art retrospectively. We pick and choose what we like and don't like. Nothing wrong with that, but sometimes we lose track of when these records were made. So someone will say that perhaps they like a Coltrane record from 1964 better than Blue Train from 1958 (but recorded in 1957). Coltrane was a different person between those periods and it reflected in the music. I like to contextualize the music. Where and when was the artist when he or she made it? What were they trying to accomplish? Of course, you can prefer any period, but I personally find it worthwhile to accept the records as they are on their own individual merits. For 1957, Blue Train was a tour de force. Sometimes, we look back at art and compare it to art that often came later.

Blue Train was a one-off. The lone album Trane made for Blue Note as a leader. It was while he was playing with Monk, so he was in the midst of a reinvigorated creative fury. While there were some Prestige dates between them, I look at Giant Steps as the spiritual successor of Blue Train. It was the natural progression of Coltrane's "sheets of sound" and he just continued to do amazing things through to his Atlantic period and his Impulse period. So like I did with Dolphy, perhaps going back to early Trane and then listening chronologically to his music to hear his progression and growth over the years will put things into context and might help you see Blue Train for what it is. A tremendous effort put forward by Coltrane during a period in his life where he felt reinvigorated creatively. He had two up-and-coming young lions with him on the horns (Morgan and Fuller) and he had two former bandmates from the Miles Davis Quintet (Chambers and Philly Joe), and last but certainly not least, Kenny Drew. With the exception of Trane and Philly Joe who were in their 30s, this was also a young band. Chambers and Fuller were 22. Morgan was only 20. Again, putting it all into context, very young men made this album. It's actually quite remarkable what these guys were doing at those ages. Think about what you were doing at 20 years old. When I contextualize it like that, Blue Train will never be overrated.

 

I'm sure some of us will be selling our regular MM Blue Train once the SRX shows up.

 

Thank you! I really appreciated reading this take on it.

 

I won’t be. I have the MM 33rpm and it sounds fantastic. No need for SRX version for me.

 

Whew! Now *there’s* some food for thought!! I’m very grateful for your contributions.

 

I got my math wrong. Lee Morgan was actually only 19!

 

Going back through my Music Matters catalog in order to hold off on spending tons of money on these new releases, damn there are some incredible records! Pulled out the 33 rpm versions of Emperyan Isles, Somethin' Else and the 45 rpm of Speak No Evil..sublime music and sonics! Hopefully I can resist a little longer to save for a couple SRX titles.

 

Whilst I understand the commercial appeal of releasing another version of Blue Train - and I love the album, I probably have 4 different versions already - wouldn't it be nice if MM releases some new Blue Note's (or other jazz labels) on SRX ... for example, I just listened to my RvG CD of Horace-Scope and whilst it sounds nice, an SRX version would be great. Can you imagine a new 12 LP series of heretofore unreleased music on SRX ... I would be a subscriber ... there is always hope...

 

Maybe try to resist those margaritas beachside so you splurge on a few MM. Sorry, just miss my old hometown...

 

I just went onto the MM site to scope out Solid, then I saw the other four or five titles I must have as well. I don't qualify for the inside the US free shipping bonus. Help