Blue Note Jazz Recordings


Category: Music

Check out the RVG Collector Series from Blue Note. The RVG stands for the legendary recording engineer from Blue Note whos name is Rudy Van Gelder.

I have just picked up Midnight Blue by Kenny Burrell. Just a fabulous remaster of a great classic. The RVG Collection from Blue Note is worthy of every Jazz Library out there.

What RVG has been able to do with these old tapes and put them to 24 bit CDs is remarkable. There are now several offerings under the RVG logo and if the rest are anything like Midnight Blue, they must be special indeed. I know I will be looking for additional RVG titles for my Jazz Library.

Heres the link to Blue Note.

http://www.bluenote.com/

When it comes to jazz, it just doesn't get much better than Blue Note.
ferrari
I have purchase several of these RVG editions and think they are fantastic. Music Direct (amusicdirect.com) has recently offerred some nice deals of packages of 5 and 6 of these.
Blue Note LP vs Blue Note CD RVG editions.

Have been able to make this comparison now. And the results are below.

The equipment is Oracle Turntable,Sumiko Premier FT 3 tonearm with Grado Platinum cartridge, with Grado phono preamp. The CD Player used is the Arcam CD 73 24 Bit Dac.

Was able to switch back and forth easily due to the Forte F 44 preamp that has remote capability.

Compared John Coltranes album " Blue Train " on LP and CD. Coltrane on LP is the Direct Metal Master and the CD is the same title as a Rudy Van Gelder edition in 24 Bit format.

Being the vinyl junkie I am, been at this for 48 years now,have to admit that the gap has indeed become very narrow now. First got into CD in 1983 when there was only 25 CD titles listed in the Schwanns Catalog. So I do have some experience in the CD medium. Over that time have had several CD Players and in about the last 5 years or so CD Players have made quantum inroads in their sonic signature and probably won't be much longer until CD is totally on par with vinyl.

Like any comparison it is system dependent on the components used. Too see the complete system for this evaluation click on systems Forte/Alon. Fully aware that most of you have systems that far exceed my Forte/Alon and I tip my hat to you in that regard. However this is my current reference systems as it stands now.

First of all I have to admit this was a tough call and the CD format is a lot closer than I would have previously thought possible or care to admit to, being somewhat prejudice to vinyl.

Neither format was a let down to listen to, as both formats were very easy to listen to. But for overall sonic signature have to give the nod to the LP format, by a slim margin. In my opinion the Arcam with its 24 Bit resolution DAC has brought this much closer to the analog signature.

Brief description of the 24 Bit DAC as folows:

High-bit format for higher resolution and lower distortion from CD The 24-bit DAC re-quantizes the 16-bit digital signal to convert it to the 24-bit format. This process compensates for the conversion error that is created during recording. The result: you get a sound that is closer to the original sound, an analog signal with finer resolution.

Listen for several hours to both of these formats and came away with the conclusion, that if push came to shove I could live quite nicely with the CD version.

Rudy Van Gelder at Blue Note is to be highly commended for these reissues he put to 24 Bit format. No doubt he clealy knows what he is doing. Listed below are the formats themselves.

John Coltrane - Blue Train - BST81577LP-DMM on Teldec Vinyl

John Coltrane - Blue Train - 724349532625 - RVG 24 Bit CD

Both are from the Blue Note Label and on both Rudy Van Gelder is listed as the recording engineer. Nuff said there.

It is clear to me that the digital camp has been listening to the carping of the analog camp and finally beginning to produce software and players that have truly begin to make inroads as a serious alternative to vinyl. If the technology continues at this pace the digital format is not far off from being equal to vinyl.

I fully realize that in posting this that various opinions from the membership will emerge. And that is as it should be. Everyone hears things differently and certainly one's system and it's components will have an effect on what one hears as being the musical truth for them.

In closing I have tried to be fair and as concise as possible with the gear I have and based on some 48 years in this hobby.

Hello there.

I just got two of the RVG CD's last week. 1. The Horace Silver Quintet, "Song For My Father" and 2. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, "Moanin'".

I have many Blue Note titles on Vinyl but not these two. I don't like to own the same thing twice; I've done the CD/Vinyl comparison with only a couple of titles. I have a new-ish CD player, the Eastern Electric MiniMax. I actually would never have considered owning any Jazz, let alone the wonderful Blue Note stuff, on CD without having THIS CD player. It has brought recordings much closer in sound quality to my turntable rig: Rega P25, Dynavector 10x5 and Graham Slee Gram Amp 2 phono pre.

My observations with these two new RVG cd's is that the Horace Silver sounds very much like a good quality vinyl pressing... to me that = good! The Art Blakey disc sounds more CD-like in that it is a little more present with a little more high-frequency energy that can cause fatigue. I find myself listening to the Horace Silver more, not due to the music but due to the pleasant nature of the recording.

Of course not all my Blue Note albums sound identical, and that may be the case here... but so far I am batting .500 with the series. I will probably seek out more though. I am a huge fan of the extra tracks and the ease of getting CD into my car or on my iPod for example. But... but... if I go shopping and I find a nice Blue Note album I'd grab the vinyl first... but could be happy if I found the RVG CD instead... it’s all for the MUSIC!

PS. Kenny Burrell's, "Midnight Blue" is my favorite jazz album possibly of all time!
Beware of Blue Note releases that are not "audiophile" such as the rvg editions. They can be some of the worst reissues you will ever hear.