The Blue Note Thread

Speedracer said:
I have a new deal with myself, I only get to buy a new jazz album if I sell one. Fair amount just siting around on my shelf gathering dust after having been listened to once or twice in the first month after buying them. Most of them are really good, but just don't get put on the spinner often enough.
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Big proponent of multiple spins per album justifying their shelf space. It’s “cost per wear” for vinyl.
 
Tough crowd, I’d say Extensions is a must buy, but that’s probably it from what I’ve heard, I only really buy albums that I will really dig deep into, I’ve only bought a handful of BN over the last year or 2, mainly Andrew Hill, McCoy stuff, I got Breaking Point recently as well.
Ghost said:
I’ve been gassing out on jazz recently, particularly with Blue Note. Over the last week I’ve streamed

Blue Spirits
Slow Drag
Sonny Clark Trio
A Caddy got Daddy
Infinity
The Right Touch
Let Em Roll
Demons Dance
Easterly Winds
Extensions
I Want To Hold Your Hand

And I can’t say anything felt like a must buy, like it’s good stuff but it’s bordering just hoarding jazz albums to get even a portion of those it feels like.
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I can't fathom buying a record and listening to it only once. Can't possibly get deeply into the music that way. Seems to me a pretty superficial experience.

I would say Extensions is the essential. Also Demons Dance. Slow Drag is close. A Caddy For Daddy as well.

All the rest range from inessential (Infinity, Right Touch) to forgettable (Want To Hold Your Hand, Blue Spirits).

I believe that Joe's curation of the series, combined with the more interesting Classic series, will bring a slow death to the TP series. I think people are feeling that it really is a pick & choose wisely series.
 
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RHANDMJ said:
I can't fathom buying a record and listening to it only once. Can't possibly get deeply into the music that way. Seems to me a pretty superficial experience.

I would say Extensions is the essential. Also Demons Dance. Slow Drag is close. A Caddy For Daddy as well.

All the rest range from inessential (Infinity, Right Touch) to forgettable (Want To Hold Your Hand, Blue Spirits).

I believe that Joe's curation of the series, combined with the more interesting Classic series, will bring a slow death to the TP series. I think people are feeling that it really is a pick & choose wisely series.
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kafunis said:
Tough crowd, I’d say Extensions is a must buy, but that’s probably it from what I’ve heard, I only really buy albums that I will really dig deep into, I’ve only bought a handful of BN over the last year or 2, mainly Andrew Hill, McCoy stuff, I got Breaking Point recently as well.
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I enjoyed Extensions, but rarely find myself reaching for the introspective Jazz when I’m spinning. So wondering if I’ll jump on that one. I think I’m in for Demons Dance and Slow Drag, I even quite enjoyed Right Touch more than the others I’ve gone through so far. Outside of one song on Blue Spirits I was pretty unmoved.

The surprising must grab of the Blue Note 2023 release schedule is actually Robert Glasper’s In My Element. Loveeeed the compositions on that one and obsessed with all the Dilla tributes. Right up my alley. Highly recommend for anyone who is overlooking it.
 
zdkaiser said:
Yes, it a widespread issue. BN made a statement about it and said something like, " it's not a pressing defect, it's mastered hot, increase your tracking force." Basically some bullshit excuse.
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grendel627 said:
Though I think the BN response is BS in that they should maybe have recalled the album or caught the issue before pressing it, I think they're correct in that these aren't "pressing defects" where some copies have the issue and others don't. It's the cut: Some turntables can track it well and others can't. As much as I typically love KG's cuts, I think this issue falls squarely on his shoulders.

But if you're having trouble tracking one copy, I wouldn't expect another to track much better. I made some very minor adjustments to my anti-skating and tracking force (added maybe .10 or .15 grams) and it did actually help. Now it sounds more like what MikeH describes but it no longer actually skips. I've left my setup untouched since then, and in the end, as much as I hate to admit it, I think it may actually sound better.

Still, there is an audible issue, and with an issue this widespread, it seems like BN should have been a little more apologetic and accomodating than they were in telling their customers it was their issue and not an issue with this press.
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"Just tape a dime to your cartridge lol" - Blue Note
 
Speedracer said:
I have a new deal with myself, I only get to buy a new jazz album if I sell one. Fair amount just siting around on my shelf gathering dust after having been listened to once or twice in the first month after buying them. Most of them are really good, but just don't get put on the spinner often enough.
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Having said this, I just bought two because they were less than 10 euro's a piece on Amazon NL 😅

Milt Jackson /w Thelonious Monk
Two Headed Freap

Can't look a gift horse in the mouth as they say here.
 
HayesWeighsIn said:
Confirmed! And spun it right after the honestly pretty awful reissue of Ahmad Jamal's The Awakening, which is such a bummer. That album was in dire need of a proper remaster/reissue. Not Blue Note, I realize!
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Not been impressed with the Verve by Request series. Seems like they have taken the cheap way out again and put in very little effort to make a quality product like the BNC and Tone Poets.
 
jamieanderson1968 said:
Not been impressed with the Verve by Request series. Seems like they have taken the cheap way out again and put in very little effort to make a quality product like the BNC and Tone Poets.
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Honestly, thankfully my local should take it back, as side A is both warped AND pressed off center. Double whammy. I try to take it easy on them in that regard, but this is pretty bad. Those issues aside, the press is noisy as hell, and the mastering is seriously not good.
 
HayesWeighsIn said:
Honestly, thankfully my local should take it back, as side A is both warped AND pressed off center. Double whammy. I try to take it easy on them in that regard, but this is pretty bad. Those issues aside, the press is noisy as hell, and the mastering is seriously not good.
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3rd man plant kind of is a joke cousin of MRP.

Cheap crap unfortunately 😕
 
Yeah, I agree about Third Man. They marketed their new pressing plants as modern, state of the art facilities, overseen by Jack White, the savior of vinyl records. And everything I've received from TMR is a mediocre pressing at best. They are definitely consistent with the surface noise.

Regarding the VOR TMR pressing of The Awakening, it is reeeeeeeally cheaply done. Cheapest paper sleeve available. No gatefold. Flimsy jacket. My copy wasn't offcenter, but it blew a huge split in the spine of the cheap jacket, and the record itself is fairly noisy. Have a replacement headed my way, hoping it sounds a bit cleaner. Thought the mastering was okay, but I think the Be With Records reissue is far superior to this recent reissue.
 
zdkaiser said:
Yeah, I agree about Third Man. They marketed their new pressing plants as modern, state of the art facilities, overseen by Jack White, the savior of vinyl records. And everything I've received from TMR is a mediocre pressing at best. They are definitely consistent with the surface noise.

Regarding the VOR TMR pressing of The Awakening, it is reeeeeeeally cheaply done. Cheapest paper sleeve available. No gatefold. Flimsy jacket. My copy wasn't offcenter, but it blew a huge split in the spine of the cheap jacket, and the record itself is fairly noisy. Have a replacement headed my way, hoping it sounds a bit cleaner. Thought the mastering was okay, but I think the Be With Records reissue is far superior to this recent reissue.
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That's great feedback. Thinking I'll continue to stick with digital on this one. Prices just a bit too high for me on the previous couple of reissues.
 
HayesWeighsIn said:
That's great feedback. Thinking I'll continue to stick with digital on this one. Prices just a bit too high for me on the previous couple of reissues.
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Yeah, I ended up with 4 different versions of this album and the recent reissue is definitely the worst of them all. I'd say track down the Be With pressing, but it seems everything that goes OOP these days immediately costs $150.
 
I got a shipping notice for my VOR Archie Shepp today and am nowhere near as excited for it as I was when I ordered it back in December... 😬

Guess I'll know for sure in a couple of weeks.
 
Hutcherson's The Kicker is back in stock on the BN store (and likely elsewhere):
store.bluenote.com

Bobby Hutcherson - The Kicker LP (Tone Poet Series) - Blue Note Records

Recorded in 1963, The Kicker was actually vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson’s first session as a leader for Blue Note, but for reasons lost to time it was shelved, and instead Hutcherson’s album Dialogue was released as his debut two years later. First released in 1999, The Kicker is a sequel to...
store.bluenote.com store.bluenote.com
EDIT: Morgan's The Rajah, Blakey's The Witch Doctor and Turrentine's Comin' Your Way are also in there.
 
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