The Blue Note Thread

MikeH said:
Guitar Interludes is a really cool album but a bit tricky to find. I only just recently found a copy for a good price and it was a gamble since it was listed as VG but ended up being VG+ after a cleaning. Django is probably my favorite of his outside of that. I really dig most of his stuff on Pablo as well if you like some solo guitar records. Any of the Virtuoso albums are solid and can almost always be found for under $10.
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Catch Me! with Clare Fischer is good too. Such an impressive player.
 
snowwhat said:
Catch Me! with Clare Fischer is good too. Such an impressive player.
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Ooh I gotta check that one out. Pass is one of my favorite jazz guitarists. I pick up most records I see with his name on them, especially since they are usually pretty affordable. The Pablo records releases are all great.
 
dhodo said:
Man, you know how long MM stuff was in stock for the original price? Nobody wants it til it's gone.
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Over a decade. Not advocating or making excuses for their current business practices, but it is what it is. I'm fortunate in that I've been on board with MM since day one. I've never spent more than retail for a single MM title and I have all of them. Many of them were well under retail. I genuinely feel bad for people that want these records but came late to the game. These are great records and it sucks that the prices are now out of reach for many.
 
btf1980 said:
Over a decade. Not advocating or making excuses for their current business practices, but it is what it is. I'm fortunate in that I've been on board with MM since day one. I've never spent more than retail for a single MM title and I have all of them. Many of them were well under retail. I genuinely feel bad for people that want these records but came late to the game. These are great records and it sucks that the prices are now out of reach for many.
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Wow, you must have quite a collection! I've never bought a MM (I doubt I will either, they are tricky to find in the UK) but out of interest has this surge in demand affected you? Or did it work as a subscription service type deal, where because you have been there since the beginning you automatically get first refusal or something?
 
btf1980 said:
Over a decade. Not advocating or making excuses for their current business practices, but it is what it is. I'm fortunate in that I've been on board with MM since day one. I've never spent more than retail for a single MM title and I have all of them. Many of them were well under retail. I genuinely feel bad for people that want these records but came late to the game. These are great records and it sucks that the prices are now out of reach for many.
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Yeah, that's what I meant. I was pretty late to the game, but since $40 was and still is a lot for an album for me, I just got the 13 or so I was most excited about over the course of a couple years. I definitely would have bought at least 5 more if they hadn't jacked the price up, but after that, I was done.
 
btf1980 said:
Over a decade. Not advocating or making excuses for their current business practices, but it is what it is. I'm fortunate in that I've been on board with MM since day one. I've never spent more than retail for a single MM title and I have all of them. Many of them were well under retail. I genuinely feel bad for people that want these records but came late to the game. These are great records and it sucks that the prices are now out of reach for many.
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I’m jealous! Can’t imagine how good your record collection is. I only really got into jazz the past 4 years or so and have only really had disposable income to feel comfortable dropping $40+ on a record for the past 2 or so years. So I missed the boat on a lot of titles I wanted sadly. I still have 11 titles and only paid more than $40 on any of them twice. Never bought any directly through MM either. But it’s harder and harder to find good deals or even list price deals on any of them.
 
MikeH said:
Anybody know what time the SRX went on sale last time? They keep mentioning on FB that they might just surprise drop and I really want to grab Speak No Evil...
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This was the announcement on Facebook:
Coming Saturday, May 2, 11 a.m. Pacific, new SRX releases from Music Matters Jazz
- Lee Morgan, Sidewinder
- Cannonball Adderley, Somethin' Else
 
I am not interested in the srx stuff, but I am thinking about buying a handful of 45s that are in stock for $35-$50. My hesitation is that I heard their follow up service is bad - if there’s a defect on a disc or two, will they replace them? Or will they fight me on replacements? Anyone have any recent experience?
 
snowwhat said:
I am not interested in the srx stuff, but I am thinking about buying a handful of 45s that are in stock for $35-$50. My hesitation is that I heard their follow up service is bad - if there’s a defect on a disc or two, will they replace them? Or will they fight me on replacements? Anyone have any recent experience?
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I don't think their service is nearly as bad as VMP's. I haven't purchased directly through them but haven't heard anything bad about them. I think you just need to get in touch with Carol directly if you have any issues. The shipping cost has always been a deterrent for me. I'd double check discogs for the titles you might want to buy from MM--you may find them at the same price or less once shipping is factored unless you hit $200.
 
snowwhat said:
I am not interested in the srx stuff, but I am thinking about buying a handful of 45s that are in stock for $35-$50. My hesitation is that I heard their follow up service is bad - if there’s a defect on a disc or two, will they replace them? Or will they fight me on replacements? Anyone have any recent experience?
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Buy with confidence. They'll make you send the defective one back but they're great. I had one damaged during shipment (mailman literally folded it like a taco) and they were great. I've never had a "defective" press from them. They QC their stuff before it goes out.
 
Selaws said:
Wow, you must have quite a collection! I've never bought a MM (I doubt I will either, they are tricky to find in the UK) but out of interest has this surge in demand affected you? Or did it work as a subscription service type deal, where because you have been there since the beginning you automatically get first refusal or something?
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They were by subscription from MM directly. 2 titles a month and at 45 rpm. This got you numbered titles. Your number was the same across the series. However, the titles were also available to purchase from online retailers like Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc, Music Direct, and the now defunct SoundStage Direct. They were also available in some record stores. We're still battling COVID-19, but Jazz Record Center in NYC still has MM titles for decent prices, often more affordable than MM directly. Although that might have changed since people got hip to them having these titles for decent prices. For all I know, they could be all gone.

Anyway, the beauty of the online retailers back from 2007 to 2012 was that the coupons they offered had larger discounts and there were no "excluded titles". Today, it's 15% at most for a limited time and the best titles are excluded. The standard is now 10% off. When they still operated as a reputable company, SoundStage Direct regularly put out 25% off coupons, which made Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc and Music Direct follow suit with 25% off coupons. This was applicable to MM titles, so you could buy the 45 rpms for a little over $37. And even without coupons, the 45 rpm titles were $50 a title for years.

The 33rpm MM titles started at $35 a pop, then bumped up to $40.

The surge in demand has no effect on me. I got the titles as they came out, so I've never spent more than retail and in many cases, I bought them with coupons and discounts. The only titles I've ever spent more than $50 on are the SRX titles because the retail price is more than $50.
 
btf1980 said:
They were by subscription from MM directly. 2 titles a month and at 45 rpm. This got you numbered titles. Your number was the same across the series. However, the titles were also available to purchase from online retailers like Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc, Music Direct, and the now defunct SoundStage Direct. They were also available in some record stores. We're still battling COVID-19, but Jazz Record Center in NYC still has MM titles for decent prices, often more affordable than MM directly. Although that might have changed since people got hip to them having these titles for decent prices. For all I know, they could be all gone.

Anyway, the beauty of the online retailers back from 2007 to 2012 was that the coupons they offered had larger discounts and there were no "excluded titles". Today, it's 15% at most for a limited time and the best titles are excluded. The standard is now 10% off. When they still operated as a reputable company, SoundStage Direct regularly put out 25% off coupons, which made Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc and Music Direct follow suit with 25% off coupons. This was applicable to MM titles, so you could buy the 45 rpms for a little over $37. And even without coupons, the 45 rpm titles were $50 a title for years.

The 33rpm MM titles started at $35 a pop, then bumped up to $40.

The surge in demand has no effect on me. I got the titles as they came out, so I've never spent more than retail and in many cases, I bought them with coupons and discounts. The only titles I've ever spent more than $50 on are the SRX titles because the retail price is more than $50.
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I've been itching to go back to Jazz Record Center. Might be my first stop when things reopen...I don't think I saw any MM there last time, but they had a LOT of nice titles and japanese pressings for pretty fair pricing. I got a japanese issue of Davis Cup for around $20 last time I went and a few other things. Their new pressings seemed a bit on the pricey side but the used stuff I thought was mostly fair.
 
btf1980 said:
They were by subscription from MM directly. 2 titles a month and at 45 rpm. This got you numbered titles. Your number was the same across the series. However, the titles were also available to purchase from online retailers like Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc, Music Direct, and the now defunct SoundStage Direct. They were also available in some record stores. We're still battling COVID-19, but Jazz Record Center in NYC still has MM titles for decent prices, often more affordable than MM directly. Although that might have changed since people got hip to them having these titles for decent prices. For all I know, they could be all gone.

Anyway, the beauty of the online retailers back from 2007 to 2012 was that the coupons they offered had larger discounts and there were no "excluded titles". Today, it's 15% at most for a limited time and the best titles are excluded. The standard is now 10% off. When they still operated as a reputable company, SoundStage Direct regularly put out 25% off coupons, which made Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc and Music Direct follow suit with 25% off coupons. This was applicable to MM titles, so you could buy the 45 rpms for a little over $37. And even without coupons, the 45 rpm titles were $50 a title for years.

The 33rpm MM titles started at $35 a pop, then bumped up to $40.

The surge in demand has no effect on me. I got the titles as they came out, so I've never spent more than retail and in many cases, I bought them with coupons and discounts. The only titles I've ever spent more than $50 on are the SRX titles because the retail price is more than $50.
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MikeH said:
I've been itching to go back to Jazz Record Center. Might be my first stop when things reopen...I don't think I saw any MM there last time, but they had a LOT of nice titles and japanese pressings for pretty fair pricing. I got a japanese issue of Davis Cup for around $20 last time I went and a few other things. Their new pressings seemed a bit on the pricey side but the used stuff I thought was mostly fair.
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Just leading on from the mention of the Jazz Record Centre, I had been after Fred Cohen's Blue Note book for years but it always seemed too much when international shipping was included. A few weeks ago I was after a few out-of-print books and saw that the Jazz Record Centre had them. I emailed Fred back and forth and not only did he sort out a great price, but he also sent me their last hardback copy of the Blue Note book (they dont know when they can reprint due to COVID-19). Really nice guy.
 
Selaws said:
Just leading on from the mention of the Jazz Record Centre, I had been after Fred Cohen's Blue Note book for years but it always seemed too much when international shipping was included. A few weeks ago I was after a few out-of-print books and saw that the Jazz Record Centre had them. I emailed Fred back and forth and not only did he sort out a great price, but he also sent me their last hardback copy of the Blue Note book (they dont know when they can reprint due to COVID-19). Really nice guy.
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One of the shops I wish i had more time to visit when I was on holidays in NYC a couple of years ago. Well, you can't do everything in 10 days.
 
Selaws said:
Just leading on from the mention of the Jazz Record Centre, I had been after Fred Cohen's Blue Note book for years but it always seemed too much when international shipping was included. A few weeks ago I was after a few out-of-print books and saw that the Jazz Record Centre had them. I emailed Fred back and forth and not only did he sort out a great price, but he also sent me their last hardback copy of the Blue Note book (they dont know when they can reprint due to COVID-19). Really nice guy.
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Awesome! If you're ever in NY you have to go there. Especially if you like jazz books. They have just about everything there.
 
MikeH said:
I've been itching to go back to Jazz Record Center. Might be my first stop when things reopen...I don't think I saw any MM there last time, but they had a LOT of nice titles and japanese pressings for pretty fair pricing. I got a japanese issue of Davis Cup for around $20 last time I went and a few other things. Their new pressings seemed a bit on the pricey side but the used stuff I thought was mostly fair.
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They still do mail order. If you are interested MM titles, you should definitely call them up and ask what they still have.
 
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