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Music Matters Bluenote reissues

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    Posted: 17 Nov 2016 at 8:13am
Just wondering if anyone has tried any of the Music Matters Bluenote reissues? It seems they are regarded highly but a tad expensive. Thinking of picking up a few to try out.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Godra Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Nov 2016 at 1:23am
Hi ! I have a few reissue of Music Matters (Grant Green- Matador and Green Street, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers-Moanin, Kenny Burrell- Midnight blue). I think they are splendid, more so the 45 rpm, but yes, they do cost a bit. Due to their cost (50 to 65$ in canadian dollars), I buy only those I know I will listen to a lot.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Godra Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Dec 2016 at 11:39pm
You could also take a look at Analog Productions, Mobile Fidelity lab and Impex. They all make great reissue.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sturgus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Dec 2016 at 5:10am
Thanks guys. I picked up the Music Matters Thad Jones ( The Magnificent Thad Jones ) Horace Parlan Quintet (Speakin' My Piece ) Andrew Hill (Point Of Departure ). I got them in the 33rpm. When I give them a spin will let you know what I think.
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Musical Design pre/Dac/Phono Amps Aronov
VPI HW-19 Lustre 801 /Koetsu-Rosewood /GS Elevator/Accension / LP12 Audiomods-Nagoka500 Merlin VSM speakers Dalhquist subs
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dignan2000 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Sep 2019 at 3:37am
Probably old news for most, but it’s worth noting that Music Matters co-owner Joe Harley is producing a series of excellent vinyl reissues in-house for Blue Note. The first records were released earlier this year and the series is expected to continue through at least 2020. Check out the “Tone Poet” series if you haven’t already.

Another reissue series to check out is Blue Note’s “BN 80.” The packaging is not at the same caliber as the Tone Poet series, but the LP choices and sound quality are both very good. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote clangs Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 2019 at 2:57pm
The Music Matters reissues are very well done. The covers are beautiful and feature previously unseen photos from the sessions. The pressings, in my experience range from excellent to superb. The SRX vinyl that they are now using is extremely quiet but I'm not sure it is more than a minor improvement over the formulation they were using previously. The main complaint about Music Matters is the price and their policy of raising the prices on records that are getting near then end of the limited edition run. The Tone Poet series is possibly the best bargain in record buying today. In all but name, they are Music Matters records at 1/2 to 2/3 of the price. They do not use the SRX vinyl, but the pressings I own are all beautiful and super quiet. The Tone Poet series also has been more adventurous than Music Matters in selection of titles.
    Both series have been a bit controversial in Blue Note collector circles because they have been mastered with the goal of sounding as much like the master tapes as possible and do not attempt to duplicate the sound of the original Blue Note records. Rudy Van Gelder used various compression and frequency boosting techniques to make the records sound better on the limited equipment most listeners used in the 50s and 60s and to compensate for the rapid, severe groove wear caused by heavy tracking tonearms and use of worn styli. There has been much criticism in collector circles that the Music Matters and Tone Poets "Don't sound like Blue Notes". I have owned many original Blue Note Pressings and in my opinion, the MM and TP issues sound better--more naturally balanced tonally, sweeter, with better bass and more "air". More like music and less like a record. This is, I think, a minority opinion.       
    
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote patientot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Nov 2019 at 3:49pm
I have a few MMJ reissues. Very pleased with them but I wasn't pleased with their yo-yo pricing model which I found very distasteful. I had to draw the line somewhere. Some of the titles I have they are now selling for exorbitant prices which seem to change on a dime according to the head honcho's whims. Other reissue companies don't really do this for the most part. Their customer service could also be a lot better. 

RE: the Tone Poet series, I have a few of them but have stopped buying them blind because there are major tape problems with some of the titles they are releasing. Severe tape wow that is inexcusable IMHO. If you are at all sensitive to pitch, it's worth doing your research on what titles are affected the worst and avoiding those. Andrew Hill's Black Fire was a tragedy IMHO and never should have been reissued with such severe tape wow issues. What I said above also applies to the BN80 series. Some of those titles are affected as well. 

RE: Kevin Gray's decision not to copy RVG's mastering style, I've got no problem with that. I have a bunch of old BN records too that were mastered by RVG, among other work he did in the 60s and 70s. RVG had to deal with the limitations of low-end record changers that were common at the time, so that's what he mastered for. He also embraced digital recording and mastering when that came along and went on record saying he hated vinyl - I guess he felt there were too many compromises with the format. I have some CDs he mastered as well and can't say I particularly like them all that much compared to other's work on BN CD reissues. RVG also applied significant compression on those and even seemed to narrow the stereo image a bit too. 
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