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

Showing 1 response by ponnie

I have many original Blue Notes as well as Contemporary, Prestige and other Lables too. I have tons of reissues also. Many from the 70's and on the OJC label and other labels. I bought reissues from places like wdcdradio.com soundstage direct.com and a few on Ebay too. I have spent on average of about $12.00 ea. for sealed Jazz reissues from various labels. I also search Thrift Shops and Flea Markets and I choose only LP's that look to be in excellent condition. Average cost of them are between $0.49 and $3.00. I have compared many of the originals to some of the new reissues like Dave Bailey's 2 Feet in the Gutter. I got this for $7.99 on Soundstagedirect and the recording was fabulous. It was as quiet as the remastered CD I purchased but with more air and very good bass response too. I ended up buying all 3 Dave Bailey LP's. I have bought several highly rated reissues on Bluenote like Johnny Griffin Blowing from Chicago and while it was excellent at $40.00 the reissue was equally as good at $10.00. I often thought the bass on alot of LP's were a bit light lightweight on some LP's. But all have been very lifelike in it's sound. I have a couple Analog Production Blues LP's and they are simply wonderful. Maybe I'm just making good choices and the origial recordings were all excellent from the beginning.

I have heard in these pages and others to stay away from Scorpio Productions vinyl reissues but you will seldom know which recordings are Scorpio. From what I read they are mostly 180gm and are rumored to come from digital sources rather than original analogue tapes.

I can personally say that when I read a review of a jazz LP I buy the reissue first. If I like it enough I will go to the local audio store or a friends home to A-B it against premium vinyl reissues. Usually, there isn't much difference if at all to justify the huge difference in cost IMO. I won't say this is true for all out there but just for the one's I have purchased.

I can't justify spending $50 for a record when I can get it for pretty close for $10 or a 180 gm for under $15.00 in most cases. Soundstagedirect and wdcdradio are not the only places that sell quality reissues on the internet. I average about 4 LP's each order and I have yet to be disappointed with sound quality. MOST OF MY ORDERS ARE FOR BLUENOTES THAT I CAN'T FIND LOCALLY OR RECCOMENDED BY THE AUDIO PRESS. Also, many of the non 180gm records I have purchased are thick and do not flop like many of the 80's LP's and reissues. I say buy from a quality source and enjoy the music. One last thing no matter where you live Estate Sales are one of the best places to purchase vinyl and CD's. Check your local paper.
I also collect classical, rock, blues, R&B, jazz and folk and more.
There's allot of music out there. Recently I scored on some pretty good jazz on Audiogon. Check out labels like ECM, CTI, Pablo, Atlantic, Muse, Steeplechase, OJC, Discovery and others. They all have a great jazz catalog and the sound quality could be better than some of the premium labels mentioned above.