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Collecting Blue Note Jazz

I have decide to start building up a collection of Blue Note Jazz LPs, of which I have very few. What is the best way to go on what can be a sizeable investment. I am willing to spend for great music/sound quality, but cost is a factor, especially when originals are so expensive. I see many options, of which standouts include:
1. New Music Matters 45 RPM reissues.
2. Original Pressings ($$$)
3. Affordable but relatively early reissues (e.g. Blue Label, Liberty Pressings..maybe from the 70's or even early 1980s)
4. Just buy SACDs, since the LPs will not sound that great anyway.
The website www.dccblowout.com touts hot stampers. As I understand it, this site recommends shunning recent reissues and buying perhaps five or more original LPs or reissues (e.g. Blue Label) and keep the best sounding of the lot, while selling the rest. I've noticed that none of the Blue Note LPs I have so far offer sound quality on par with my LPs by the Contemporary Records label. Any recommendations? I have a pretty decent system for both LP and digital. Any advice would be much appreciated - Mark
mcmprov
mrmitch
359 posts
 
I was very lucky to live near the Record Exchange in Princeton, NJ, in the 80's (and still). Those were the days when you could get original pressings or early re-issues for a reasonable amount of money, and the store was more vinyl than CD. Many people turned in those "ancient, less than perfect sounding" LP's(their loss, my gain!)for the new format. My Lp collection is close to a thousand albums (and around 500 CD's). I have a few original Blue Notes and some early re-issues, among them:
1. Stanley Jordan's "Magic Touch"
2. Art Blakey &The Jazz Messengers "Moanin"
3. Jimmy Smith "Softly As A Summer Breeze"
4. Stanley Turrentine "Up At Minton's"
5. John Coltrane's "Blue Train"
6. Tony Willams "Life Time"
7. Milt Jackson with Thelonius Monk Quintet
plus many wonderful Verve's, Riversides, Pablos, Contemporary,Coumbia 6 eyes, Capitol, Atlantic, MoFi's, and one of my favorites....a 4S stamper of RCA LSP-2438 Paul Desmond "Desmond Blue". I realize that these would cost a goodly amount today, but IMHO, nothing replaces their sound.--Mrmitch
adam18
670 posts
 
I've been buying a lot of Blue Note re-issues from Dustygroove.com. The quality seems fine, and the LP's sell for $7 - $12. Loads of Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Grant Green, Ike Quebec, Lou Donaldson, etc., etc. I don't know how these LP's compare to the $50 re-issues, but I do know that they sound really good. Personally, I'd much rather be able to buy 12 albums for under $100, than buy only two for the same price. Just my two cents.
Happy New Year, and Happy Listening !!!
grimace
624 posts
 
I'd beware of "VG+" on E-bay. You will be disappointed. There are a lot of sellers misgrading records out there. Not all but its very hit and miss. "VG+" seems to be the catch-all grade for some real crap vinyl.
mcmprov OP
57 posts
 
I've bought a few hundred LPs from ebay, mostly rated VG+. If not satisfied, I just ask for a refund. However, this is very inconvenient, and happens too frequently. Also, if someone accepts the return, I don't give them bad feedback, since I'm grateful to get my money back (ex shipping). There does not seem to be anyway around this issue. Not enough inventory on ebay is rated NM and I've even had problems with LPs rated NM. On the other hand, I've had many good buying experiences on ebay as well. I live in the Boston area, which has many great used vinyl shops. However, the employees tell me that most of the best LPs go straight to ebay...as walk in customer typical don't pay more than $30 per LP. This issue is relevant for this thread, because I guess many of the best original blue notes are probably sold on ebay.
jj2468
280 posts
 
My experience with vg+ vinyl is very similar to Grimace's report. Like a b+ insurance company rating, it often means its a "D" or an "F".

Having said that, I've found a lot of really nice NM and NM- records on eBay in the range of $5.00 to $15.00 or so. If you are in SoCal, I also recommend Atomic Records. They are on the web too, but save their more expensive stuff for eBay.
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