I sent back my second copy of Money Jungle - defective copies with noise on the last track... such a disappointment, now I have to buy and return Money Jungle till I get a proper one?
Triple gatefold? Nope. If we want to be precise, Speak Like a Child was an Unipak design. It had a picture and liner notes inside. Music Matters decided to use some session pictures instead of the original art inside the cover.
As much as I regret the BN80/C jackets not being Stoughton, my bigger regret is that they don’t sound anywhere near as good as the TPs. KG suggested in a recent video it was due to the pressing (Optimal rather than RTI) rather than his work which frankly makes it all the more maddening. Let’s hope they repress are RTI.
Just picked up the reissue of Art Blakey & Messengers "Witch Doctor". Good performance, sound is disappointing / not very good FYI.
Wait, so MMJ did not faithfully replicate Speak Like a Child's jacket? Sooooo, that means Joe Harley has a pretty good excuse to reissue it as a Tone Poet, right? Right?
It’s one of the worst sounding TPs, but it’s one of my favorites. Killer session and amongst Blakey’s best imo
That's KG's suggestion but it's not gospel. I've found the BN80s and Classics I have to be similar quality to the Tone Poets, soundwise.
There is a difference, not night and day and some sound as good as TP. Different vinyl formula, plating , presses? I would sooner save £15 per record and put up with the 'basic' covers. They are decent enough. TP aren't charging less for titles with a single sleeve.
Kinda feel similar about the sleeves, and there are a few additional TPs I'd have bought if they were Classic prices, but I do love the TP sleeve quality.
I don't see much of a sound quality difference between the TPs, MMJ, and BN80/classics. I think there are currently some QC issues with the Classics based on comments in the thread and my sample size of one, chicken shack. But, alhaving said that, I did pull out my 33rpm MMJ copy of Midnight Blue and it is kind of a disaster. Snap, crackle and pop all over it. There would be mass hysteria on this forum if people got a TP or Classics press with these issues. I'm probably going to pick up the Classic to have a better press of it. The 33 MMJs are not perfect, and don't let anyone tell you they are.
I adore shorter on this one. Great compositions and fantastic playing. Its actually top 3 TP for me. I never knew it before TP release so I’m very grateful for the series for this record alone already
yes, side one is actually sounding better today too. possibly one of my favorite art blakey records even though he takes a back seat.
I find it "fascinating" that opinions/experiences can be so opposite. I feel like every single reissue series pressed at every plant has its own quality consistency issues. It's just the nature of the vinyl beast, I feel, something we kind of just need to accept about this finicky process of cutting into acetate, slathering it with metal, then slathering that with metal, then doing that again, then squishing a biscuit of hot vinyl into a flat disc. Those quality control issues aside, I think all this stuff done at Cohearent and pressed at either RTI or Optimal sounds terrific. I have Optimals of which I would call the sound incredible, same with RTI.
With opinions so all over the place, it seems like there would be a market for alternative jackets. It would be cool to give people a way to "Tone Poet" their Classics, or "Classic" their Tone Poets, whatever their preference (or just replace damaged jackets). That said, this would probably really complicate the secondary markets and Discogs and might not be economically attractive for Blue Note. Not to mention that Stoughton is already probably at capacity.
It’s nice. I know I’ll eventually get everyone of them if they keep reprinting them. There will be so many copies that eventually they will pretty cheap on the used market as well.
...I stopped by a local jazz specialist shop last week and picked up the two most recent Tone Poets (the Blakey and the Amy/Bolton), and the owner said that his understanding is that these are not limited and will be continued to be re-manufactured as the sell out. He also said they sell like hotcakes and if he could get more inventory on them, he would -- but he can only order what is in stock at the distributor. He was praying for more copies of "Passing Ships" to become available, as he blew through his first order within a few days. It was nice to hear that, despite the usual level of SteveHoffmanForum nit-picking, this series is generally well-received. I don't have every one, but the Tone Poets I do have are generally great sounding and, I think, reasonably priced given the quality of the mastering, pressing, and packaging...
From time to time, this conversation pops up. Joe Harley himself said these are not limited hence why no one should overpay flippers for Tone Poets.
Does anyone else think the the TP series influenced the broader market to move to put out AAA releases (aside from the obvious Acoustic Sounds series)? It seems like there is more demand for higher quality pressings than the last 10 years or so mystery pressings of questionable sources. I don't know if TPs are creating more knowledgeable or discerning clientele, but it seems like people want quality releases and are getting more demanding to know the pedigree of the release. But, maybe its just me.
Ooof...here's hoping that the Tone Poet series doesn't spark the misguided fetishism for AAA releases among an even larger and more vocal contingency than already exists.
