45RPM Blue Note Jazz Reissue Series Coming Soon...

[Ctiger2]

A note from STEVE HOFFMAN:



Hi everyone; exciting news if you love legendary jazz!



This SH Forums thread from last week mentioned a new BLUE NOTE reissue vinyl series:



http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/sh...ht=blue+n ote



A blurb from that thread:



Joe Harley then handed me a gorgeous, double gate-fold LP of the
Horace Parlan Quintet's Speakin' My Piece. The first release in Music
Matters' new definitive Blue Note reissue series. They'll be mastered
by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman at AcousTech Mastering, which will
produce the metal parts. Because the recent Acoustic Sounds 45RPM
Prestige/Riverside discs sounded so luscious, Music Matters decided to
release the Blue Note series as double disc 45 RPM limited editions sets.



------------------------------------------------



I am now authorized to give you some more information:



For me, the greatest Jazz LP label of all-time is BLUE NOTE. Music Matters, Ltd. is a new record label formed primarily to reissue these definitive vintage BLUE NOTE albums on 180 gram virgin vinyl with the best possible quality.



http://www.musicmattersjazz.com/



This new numbered limited edition series will cause quite
a stir in the jazz world as well as the audiophile and record
collecting communities, thats for sure. The movers and shakers behind
the MUSIC MATTERS label are legendary rare record dealer RON RAMBACH,
JOE HARLEY, vice-president of AudioQuest and "Mr. Blue Note" himself
MICHAEL CUSCUNA as special consultant. These three BLUE NOTE experts
are considered the greatest authorities on the label and have come
together to insure that this is the most exciting jazz reissue series
ever attempted. Folks, this has been very long in the making. (For
example, I was first approached by Joe Harley to master these BLUE NOTE gems YEARS ago; yes, I can keep a secret). Just this year it finally came into being, thanks to the good folks at CAPITOL/EMI.



See post #101 for the first 63 BLUE NOTES on the list.



The albums are being cut at 45 RPM for maximum quality by Kevin Gray
and me using our full ANALOG disk cutting system; most studios cannot
even cut vinyl in 100% true analog anymore (they convert to digital
first) but we can. The original Rudy Van Gelder
engineered stereophonic session tapes are used when we master these
gems. The sound quality is amazing on our test cuts. Like from heaven.
First totally uncompressed versions of these jazz classics that Ive ever heard and trust me, you will
be impressed; they sound like no other releases of this music. The
sound is lifelike, the horns are in the room with you. Our non-invasive
mastering insures the true breath of life on these
original Van Gelder session tapes is transferred to the virgin vinyl
with absolute authenticity. It is like hearing these BLUE NOTE
masterpieces for the first time and that is NO exaggeration. When we
heard the first lacquer acetate playback from our first mastering
session I thought Joe Harley was going to pee in his pants he was so
excited. Actually we all were; after 50 years of many lackluster and some downright bad
sounding versions of these albums, hearing the real deal is a humbling
experience, even for us hardened music veterans. You will be able to
listen to the music exactly like we did when these are ready for sale
in a few months.



A word about the artwork and jackets. MUSIC MATTERS have
really spared no expense in the creation of the album covers. All
laminated thick gate-folds, (custom paper, etc.) just like the
originals. Better, actually. Even the hi def original session photos
are from the absolute original camera negatives. The old BLUE NOTE covers
had around 150 dots per inch on their album photos. These are all
redone from scratch at 450 dots per inch or more; its astounding! Best
quality you'll ever see.



I feel there is great merit to the project and I'm proud to be a part
of it. At least 63 albums so far are going to be re-released in this
high quality fashion. The dynamic duo of Gray/Hoffman will master all
of them at AcousTech Mastering from the analog originals.



PLEASE NOTE:



Some of you hesitated on the Analogue Productions "100 Greatest Jazz
Albums Of All Time" 45's culled from
Prestige/Pablo/Contemporary/Riverside/Fantasy because you felt the list
price (around 50 bucks) was too much. Well, some of them are now going
for hundreds and hundreds if you can even find them. The BLUE NOTE 45 RPM reissues that I am working on will be strictly limited editions and once they are sold out, they will be GONE.
DO NOT HESITATE; some of these albums in their original state cannot be
purchased for under $700.00 from record dealers. Here is your
opportunity to get the best looking and best sounding BLUE NOTE versions for a fraction of that cost.



http://www.musicmattersjazz.com/



First releases are coming soon. Stay tuned!!



Pictured left to right: Ron Rambach, Joe Harley, Steve Hoffman, and
Kevin Gray in AcousTech Mastering at Record Technology, Inc. (with a
few "real deal" BLUE NOTE RVG master tapes sitting on the console).



Photo by Brian Jones.

More BLUE NOTE MANIA! New Acoustic Sounds 45 RPM vinyl by Steve & Kevin! The list:

---

http://store.acousticsounds.com/whatsnew.cfm



As most of you know, the fine folks at ACOUSTIC SOUNDS/ANALOGUE
PRODUCTIONS are also working on a bunch of 45 RPM 180 gram vinyl BLUE
NOTE JAZZ reissues. These are also going to be mastered by us (Kevin
Gray/Steve Hoffman) from the original Rudy Van Gelder master session
tapes.



Both the MUSIC MATTERS and ANALOGUE PRODUCTIONS BLUE NOTE
reissues are very exciting (to say the least). Both of these deals have
been in the works for a while. This is going to be such a memorable
time for both old and new jazz lovers. A good time to be alive!!



http://store.acousticsounds.com/whatsnew.cfm



Here is the list of the first 25.



1. 84047 Art Taylor AT Delight BX-5870 & 5871



2. 84083 Dexter Gordan Dexters Calling BX-6005 & 6006



3. 84112 Dexter Gordan Go BX-6061 & 6062



4. 84154 Grant Green Idle Moments BX-6149 & 6150



5. 84105 Ike Quebec It might as well be Spring BX-6047 & 6048



6. 1534 Paul Chambers Whims of Chambers BX-8567 & 8568



7. 84034 Lee Morgan Leeway BX-5844 & 45



8. 81577 John Coltrane Blue Train stereo BX-6634 & 6635



9. 84123 Kenny Burrell Midnight Blue BX-6087 & 6088



10. 81595 Cannonball Adderley Something Else Stereo BX-6463 & 6464



11. 84003 Art Blakey Moanin stereo BX-5707 & 5707



12. 1558 Sonny Rollins Vol. 2 BX-7801 & 7802



13. 84063 Kenny Dorham Whistle stop BX-5906 & 5907



14. 84110 Horace Silver Toyko Blues BX-6057 & 6058



15. 84114 Ike Quebec Soul Samba/ Bossa Nova BX-6065 & 6066 -



16. 84051 Jackie McLean Jackie Bag BX-5878 & 5879 -



17. 84140 Joe Henderson Page One. BX-6121 & 6122

-

19. 84130 John Patton Along came John BX-6101 & 6102 -

20. 84071 Grant Green Green Street BX-5922 & 5923

-

21. 84038 Jackie McLean Capuchin Swing



22. 84094 Fred Jackson Hootin and Tootin



23. 84078 Jimmy Smith Midnight Special



24. 84066 Lou Donalson Here tis



25 .84014 The Three Sounds Bottoms up

[Y]

[Allan Songer]

Can't do it. Spent too much time, effort and money getting all of the originals. Sold all of my Japanese KING pressings years ago and I doubt these would be any better, really.

But I'll bet they're gonna be good. I just hope Hoffman doesn't sizzle them up like he's been known to do . . . .

[Ctiger2]

Understandable. But, these will be the definitive sounding releases for these titles. It's also nice for us mortals that who will be able to afford them and not have to go through the impossible search for nice copies of the originals. []

What do you mean by "sizzle" them? I've never hear that in reference to Steve's work?

[fini]

$50 per disc, looks like.  For the cost of 3 LPs, I could fly round trip down to Allan's place for the day...

[Strabo]

It looks like there will be 6 - 8 releases per month between the two labels. I was having a difficult time figuring out how to pay for 4 per month. []

See the two threads on the subject. One is released by Music Matters and RTI, the other is Music Matters and Analog Productions. They both show different titles being released.

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=2865122&postcount=101

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=2865393&postcount=1

[Strabo]

What do you mean by "sizzle" them? I've never hear that in reference to Steve's work?

I notice a little bit of "extra air" on his CD releases but not on the LP's he works on. Although, I haven't compared the LP's to closely. Granted, his work is much better than any of the current major's reissue programs, but if you compare any 80's rock title to the original 80's cd it becomes pretty evident.

IMO, he gets the compression right but seems to miss on the treble knob. I'm looking forward to comparing his recent version of Tres Hombres and Rumors on LP to see how they fair.

[Ctiger2]

$50 per disc, looks like. For the cost of 3 LPs, I could fly round trip down to Allan's place for the day...

Get out that wallet and support that VINYL! []

[Allan Songer]

IMO, he gets the compression right but seems to miss on the treble knob.

BINGO!

Drop the needle on a dead mint mono deep groove first pressing Blue Note and tell me again how these new Steve H. 45 rpm versions are "definitive."

[Allan Songer]

$50 per disc, looks like. For the cost of 3 LPs, I could fly round trip down to Allan's place for the day...

Any time, buddy. Any time. And I'll buy you dinner and an evening at the best little jazz club on the west coast . . . .

[kjohnsonhp]

Any recommendations on what to start with?

Will these be the big sellers and perhaps good starters? Blue Train, Go, Soul Station, Somethin' Else, Moanin

I will probably pick up several of the ~$10 ojc vinyl or cd to hear first but the ones above might be quick sellers and worth pre-order? They also seem to be re-issued over and over (and some of the same few titles I've already have) so maybe some of the harder to find titles might be interesting, too.

[shload]

I believe Steve has stated that these will be the definitive REISSUES of the records, just not that many '' Dead Mint Mono Deep Groove First Pressings" to be had at this time. I will try a couple, but enjoy picking up reissues from $9.99 OJC to $30.00 BN Mono 180G 33RPM

Joe

[Ctiger2]

Drop the needle on a dead mint mono deep groove first pressing Blue Note and tell me again how these new Steve H. 45 rpm versions are "definitive."

It's interesting to note that "after the October 30, 1958
session at Van Gelder Studios the mono masters were made by folding down the original stereo master." According to the Music Matters new site. I did not know this. [] I'm interested to see which titles will come via the Analogue Productions pipeline. They are starting with 25 and will eventually expand this to 100+ titles. That's ~163 titles in 45 rpm from the original masters. []

[Joe Harley]

Hi Allan,

I normally don't spend time (or have the time) to puruse the audio chat rooms and forums. But this came up when I googled our company. Ron Rambach, owner of Music Matters and my partner in this series, has the largest collection of mint first pressing Blue Notes I've ever seen. He has multiple mint copies of nearly every Blue Note released during the 50s and 60s. You better beleive that the first thing we did when we received our first test pressings was to compare them with his pristine mono deep droove priginals of the same title. After the first few minutes of the first comparison, we looked at each other and just started laughing. The mono originals sounded like a wonderful rememberance of a fabulous recording. The 45RPM test pressings in stereo sounded much more like the cats were there on the other side of the room. There was a "liveness" to the presentation that was very addictive.

Those who prefer mono can always hit the mono button or use a Y-connector. But if we ONLY offer mono we are taking that option away from those who prefer stereo.

I know it will be percieved as self serving to say, but as purely a music fan I'm incredibly stoked by what I'm hearing so far.

cheers,

Joe Harley

[garymd]

Any recommendations on what to start with?

Will these be the big sellers and perhaps good starters? Blue Train, Go, Soul Station, Somethin' Else, Moanin

I will probably pick up several of the ~$10 ojc vinyl or cd to hear first but the ones above might be quick sellers and worth pre-order? They also seem to be re-issued over and over (and some of the same few titles I've already have) so maybe some of the harder to find titles might be interesting, too.

Start with number FOUR!!!

I have an original stereo pressing but I'm looking forward to hearing the new 45 RPM. I'm guessing it'll sound really good on my "plastic turntable."

[Allan Songer]

Hi Allan,

I normally don't spend time (or have the time) to puruse the audio chat rooms and forums. But this came up when I googled our company. Ron Rambach, owner of Music Matters and my partner in this series, has the largest collection of mint first pressing Blue Notes I've ever seen. He has multiple mint copies of nearly every Blue Note released during the 50s and 60s. You better beleive that the first thing we did when we received our first test pressings was to compare them with his pristine mono deep droove priginals of the same title. After the first few minutes of the first comparison, we looked at each other and just started laughing. The mono originals sounded like a wonderful rememberance of a fabulous recording. The 45RPM test pressings in stereo sounded much more like the cats were there on the other side of the room. There was a "liveness" to the presentation that was very addictive.

Those who prefer mono can always hit the mono button or use a Y-connector. But if we ONLY offer mono we are taking that option away from those who prefer stereo.

I know it will be percieved as self serving to say, but as purely a music fan I'm incredibly stoked by what I'm hearing so far.

cheers,

Joe Harley

Now why did you have to go and say THAT!!??!

It's just that I've heard almost ALL of the various reissues over the years--the fine KING pressings from Japan in the 70's/80's, the later Toshiba pressings, the Classic Records Stereo pressings, the Classic Records 45rpm pressings, the Classic "mono deep groove" pressings, and many others. I have yet to hear a reissue that can beat a nice original.

I have heard quite a few of the Prestige 45 rpm pressings and found them to be very good indeed--some titles sounded better than my originals and others fell quite a bit short. But all of them had some problems in the treble for me--a bit too hot. Maybe I'm just USED to how they've always sounded to me after 30+ years of listening, but I don't think I can get past it--perhaps this is MY shortcoming, but it doesn't matter why.

So now you come along and tempt me!! LOL!

I can't justify buying too many of these, but a few choice favorites will be in the mix I'm sure!

[garymd]

Allan - I completely understand where you are coming from. These pressings will most likely sound pretty darn good on my Basis/Khorn system (assuming they sound similiar to the other really good jazz audiophile pressings). Certainly better than most originals on that system. Compare that to a nice original mono pressing on my (or your) TD124/SPU Mono/Cornwall system. Which sounds better? It's totally a matter of opinion. Personally, I love both but I'll bet big money you won't be trading in your originals!! Any takers?

[Joe Harley]

Hi Allan,

I know what you mean about all of the reissued Blue Note on LP never beating an original. Ron and I felt EXACTLY the same way....until now. On the other hand I really have never felt that those Prestige 45 RPMs were too bright. Actually this brings up an interesting point. I do feel, after having heard the original master tapes, that Rudy's original BN and Prestige LPs were cut a little on the hot side. And very cleverly so. When you consider that the typical home gear of the 50's and early 60's tended to lose high frequency information, Rudy was simply compensating for the enviroment of the time. Very clever! However, when you listen to originals now, using modern gear, the originals while exciting, are a bit over the top at the upper end IMO. But its a sound, as you say, that we've all grown to know and love after all these years. It's "how Blue Notes sound."

The BN 45s sound just more like the band is there.....or that you are there with them. They aren't bright, they aren't dull. But there's just more "there" there if you know what I mean. And gobs of tonal color, something that usually gets washed out on various reissues.

cheers,

Joe

[Travis In Austin]

Joe,

Do you know if Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disk or the other two outlets are going to be offering the series in a subscription format so the buyer can keep the same serial numbers throughout. Acoustic Sounds did this on their Fantasy 45 series, you could subscribe to the whole issue which allowed you to have same serial numbers.

I really hope you will consider that, and if we need to do it direct, just let me know where to send the check.

Travis

[Joe Harley]

Hi Travis, 

Oh man, now I have to cross the line over to commerce. OK, Music Matters is doing this (issuing serial numbers) as we speak. Just write to info@musicmattersjazz.com and Ron will take care of you.

Joe

[Travis In Austin]

Hi Travis,

Oh man, now I have to cross the line over to commerce. OK, Music Matters is doing this (issuing serial numbers) as we speak. Just write to info@musicmattersjazz.com and Ron will take care of you.

Joe

Joe,

Thank you for the quick reply, I sent Ron an email and will wait to hear from him.

Now you need to get set up so that you can hear these reissues on Klipsch speakers in a good system. I am sure Allan Songer will accomodate you, you are in SoCal correct? Allan in in the Long Beach area, has a killer system, and most, if not all, of the original BST you are going to reissue. You need to hear these through Klipsch herritage speakers, preferably KHorns. My guess is that you and your colleague would be over at Allan's all day.

Travis