Blue Note reissues

"In 2009 to celebrate the album's 50th anniversary, Sony Music decided to reissue the album newly mastered from the same original 3 track master Classic had used, both on CD and blue vinyl as part of a box set containing a book and other supplementals. That set can still be found online in in some stores.

The lacquers were cut (speed corrected) from the 3-track original tape by George Marino at Sterling Sound and plated and pressed on 180g blue vinyl either at Rainbo in California or at United in Nashville (I can't remember which). Unfortunately, virtually every copy pressed was horrendously noisy for the first ten minutes or so (at least) due, probably to "non-fill" that occurs when the vinyl begins to harden before it's squeezed outward fully and the plate's ridges can create a clean groove.

What a shame!

However, at the same time the lacquer was cut, Marino created a 96k/24 bit file from which the set's CD was produced. That file was used by Music on Vinyl, a European company that some years ago bought Sony's Holland-based vinyl pressing plant.

This two LP set is also pressed on blue vinyl. The first album is the KOB we all know and love but speed corrected, while the second LP has the alternative version of "Flamenco Sketches" on one side and a version of "On Green Dolphin Street" recorded prior to the KOB sessions featuring the Evans, Coltrane, Chambers and Cobb lineup."

I have the Music On Vinyl copy and like I said, the horns break up at that low volume while the rest of the spectrum is fine. Must be the horns mic'ing or needing dejuicing.

So it’s not just me then! Thank goodness I found this thread because people thought I was crazy when I talked about this.

Granted, my classic Blue Note records from the ’70s are all exemplary pressings and beyond reproach, but this latest batch of Blue Note reissues has made me Kind of Blue.

And I wonder if it’s just the records in the Canadian market, and if they’re pressed in Canada, because other posters on the forum have had no issues.

It started when I purchased a copy of Norah Jones Come Away with Me on the Blue Note label at our esteemed BBR store here in downtown Toronto.

The album looked great, 180g vinyl, really nice packaging, and I love Norah Jones. But when I brought it home and gave it a spin, it was unbelievable. The only thing that wasn’t wrong with it, is that it didn’t skip.

So where do I begin? The record was off-centre, so the tonearm swayed from left to right. And it was also warped, so the tonearm moved up and down, the combined effect had the head shell doing a repetitive figure-of-eight pattern, which would be comical if I wasn’t so annoyed.

Now I’m not one of those nutty audiophile-types who claim to hear things that aren’t really there. I just want a brand-new record to sound like, well, a brand-new record. But this had clicks and pops and crackles, first time out of the package, just like a used record.

But then, the most egregious malady here was the distortion mentioned earlier in the thread – that awful buzzing sound. And it was more prevalent towards the end of the album.

So naturally I think my cartridge is out of kilter. I get out the protractors and redo the alignment, several times actually, to no avail. On the passages where she sings very high or loudly, it literally breaks up into a cringe-inducing racket.

Then there was the surface noise (in addition to the clicks and pops). All these hissing and swishing sounds in-between the cuts, (with the tonearm doing its figure-eights) and also in the quiet passages.

When I examined the surface of the record under the light, I could see an uneven, shiny, mottled effect across both sides, almost as if the record was damaged by heat.

I tried it on my other turntable with the Rega tonearm, and still the distortion in the same places and the swishy sounds.

It was a terrible shame to hear Norah Jones’ voice ruined like this, and I wonder if she even knows that her albums are being distributed in Toronto in this terrible condition.

I don’t blame the retailer, but they should put some pressure on their reps. I don’t think enough people return these things, perhaps not wanting to appear like fussy fanatics.

I returned the album, and BBR was kind enough to replace it, albeit with another one from the same stack. When I got it home, it was exactly the same, if not worse, than the first one.

Later, I took a chance and bought another Blue Note reissue from the same store. McCoy Tyner’s, The Real McCoy. This is one had the CD in with the record. However, this particular record was OK.

All these albums were priced about $23-$25 Canadian, so they’re not high-end recordings, but I’d at least expect them to sound slightly better than K-Tel, not a whole lot worse.

Yesterday I picked up Hank Mobley’s Soul Station on yet another Blue Note reissue, from the same dealer. I was shocked when I got it home. Quality-wise, the record sleeve is a very cheap cardboard, almost like construction paper (which doesn’t really bother me if the record sounds good). The vinyl itself is so thin that it’s floppy, reminiscent of those crappy thin albums we used to get during the ’70s.

When I opened the album and took it out for the first time, there were streaks across both surfaces, what looked like grease marks, smudges or fingerprints, but that’s not possible right? This is a brand-new album.

When I played it, the audio sounded OK, but I was very annoyed to hear scratchiness with pops and clicks in between album tracks. I have yard sale records that sound better than this. On some tracks, during quiet passages, this scratchy sound was coming through. I wouldn’t say it entirely ruined the recording, but it did sound like an old, used record.

Again, upon close inspection of the record surface, I found that same shiny, uneven, melted, mottled effect, that I know for sure can’t sound good when played.

So what’s going on? Is it only the Canadian records? Surely they can’t be seriously trying to sell these without any quality control. They’re probably manufactured in some substandard, no-name factory in Scarborough with cheap, sweat-shop labour and no training on how to properly press records. It is a lost art that, like the manufacture of vacuum tubes, has to be learned all over again in these modern times.

As one poster put it earlier, the original Blue Note record company that we all know and love, has very little to do with these records other than the name on the front. I realize that.

As another poster here said, I would like to send this record to one of the executives of the company and ask them if this is what they consider a worthy standard.

As far as the audio community pressuring the record manufacturer, I’d expect that our concerns would fall on deaf ears. The one and only thing that will get a corporation to pay attention, is negative press. Reputational damage that results in substantial loss of sales.

The record reviewers, audio magazines and websites need to get the word out about what a sham these records are. It’s the big lie – you think you’re buying Blue Note quality but you end up with garbage, and the corporate head office doesn’t care because they have your money now.

In any case, that’s the last time for me with Blue Note reissues.

To return to the OP's question concerning Blue Note reissues, I can recommend the londonjazzcollector website, which gives very detailed information on the label and a ranking of sound quality of all the various (re)pressings over the years.

There is hardly any doubt that the original RVG mastered issues from the '50's and early '60's are superior to everything that came after. But most of these originals are financially out of reach for 'normal' record collectors, as these are now regarded as financial investments.

The second best option are the pressings that were made after Blue Note was sold to Liberty. Liberty immediately ended the association with Plastylite, who manufactured all Blue Notes up until then (identified by the so called 'ear' mark, which is actually a stylized 'P') and started using their own pressing facility. But in the first years after the takeover they kept using the existing (and still fresh) RVG mastered plates and they kept Van Gelder on as recording and mastering engineer. These early Liberty pressings are actually VERY close to the Plastylites and much cheaper. Their value is on the rise as well, but many titles can still be found for $50 or less.

The next best option is to hunt down the Japanese issues from the '70's and '80's, first on King records, later on Toshiba. The former are generally preferred, probably because they were earlier and made from less used master tapes (or first generation copies more likely). Although neither are as explosively dynamic as the originals, they still have plenty of life. These Japanese issues were made in large quantities, so they're not particularly rare or expensive (between $25-50 depending on the title).

Those are much better ways to spend your money than on those cheap current reissues, which are made from digital masters and have all the drawbacks of digital and (bad) vinyl combined. It's just a last ditch attempt from these global 'media' corporates to make a few bucks on the current vinyl fad. Sound quality is definitely NOT on their agenda and asking them to improve the quality is like asking a mosquito to kindly stop sucking blood...

This brings us to the so called 'audiophile' reissues from the US, claimed to be made from the original analog masters. I've tried various titles from both Classic Records and Music Matters (both on 45 and 33rpm). The Classics generally have a lack of dynamics, which would seem to suggest that those master tapes have become very tired. The ones I've heard sounded anemic and boring. Then came the Music Matters issues, which proved that these tapes are apparently still quite healthy, if you know how to deal with them. They don't have the typical RVG explosiveness of the 'originals', but it was RVG's signature to cut these records very loud and very 'hot'. So perhaps the Music Matters issues more faithfully represent what is on the master tape. I've never heard one of those, so this is pure speculation. Whether you like this more 'polite' presentation is a matter of taste, but at least it offers a viable alternative to the originals. And their label name is aptly chosen: they DO care about the sound quality.

PS: stay away from the Japanese 'facsimile' issues that are currently on the market. These are not cheap either (between $50-100 on ebay) and the artwork is absolutely gorgeous, but they sound compressed and lifeless. They're also claimed to be made from the original analog masters, but I find that very hard to believe.