Music Matter Blue Note 33 rpm series for 2014! John Coltrane - Blue Train!!

I have been spending much of the past year getting into hi-res audio, building my laptop based system and building a library - now over 2,100 titles. It has been a fabulous journey of discovery and re-discovery, a few duds along the way, but in truth 99% have been glorious. But I am not writing today about hi-res, I am here to talk about the return of Music Matters Blue Note series - the new 33rpm series hitting you in 2014.

A set of 12 titles have been announced - all warhorses, most done before in the Analog Productions 45 rpm Blue Note series a few years ago, some also done previously at 33 rpm by Classic Records. I have previously written that I find the Music Matters 45 sound distinctly superior to what Analog Productions gave to Blue Note - free of the unfortunate treble roll off and upper mid dip typical of the AP BN sound, the Music Matters simply had better presence, definition and tonality - and tonality is everything. The Music Matters series got better as it rolled along - once they got rid of Steve Hoffman, the sound improved significantly, and as Kevin Grey upgraded his mastering chain, so did the Music Matters sound gain incremental improvements.

Still, my first reaction to this new series was - why would I need ANOTHER copy of Blue Train in my collection? Or another Cool Struttin? Another Midnight Blue - the Classic stereo was really excellent? And Somethin' Else, a record that I never really got into? Looked to me to be unnecessary, and pretty unexciting.

But then I slipped on the new Music Matters John Coltrane - Blue Train, a record I have known now for over 30 years. Jeez, was I ever wrong. This new mastering is simply MONSTROUS - it was a shock, a revelation, completely out of the blue.

First - it is mono. Great call. Mono is the way to go here. But - the sound!! My first thought was - holy shit, this is going to be problematic. The sound is just SO much better than the Analogue Productions 45 - it makes the AP sound mushy, dull, flat. But problematic in the sense that - this is even way above Music Matters own 45 series, like miles ahead, and I'll bet some folks are going to have some issues with that - issues with perhaps their love of the 'audiophile' 45 rpm ethos being ripped to shreds by these new 33's.

For me, they snapped me back into reality after spending so much time playing in the hi-res digital world - reality in the sense that there is nothing that comes close to vinyl at this level, even though vinyl all too frequently is not anywhere near this.

First thing you will notice is that the noise floor is vastly lower. Half of excellent sound is purely technical - the equipment in the mastering chain. It is clear on Blue Train right away - the mastering chain has taken a quantum leap forward. The other half is mastering - Grey has achieved the remarkable here.

Philly Joe Jones has never sounded so real. The cymbal word has a detail and realism that is unbelievable. Coltrane's tone is just incredibly real - massive, the metallic warmth of the Otto Link mouthpiece with it's rich harmonic overtones vividly presented. Lee Morgan thunders in, and you can hear his every movement and he dances around the microphone, swooping in, dipping down, leaning back. The pure physicality of this mastering is astonishing.   The AP 45 was a 'pleasant' listen, the Classic, in it's various incarnations - even the very good Clarity Vinyl 45 - a crystal clear, honest listen - this Music Matters is a visceral listen, one that makes you stand up, move with the music, it hits in the body, where the Classic incarnations are more of an intellectual purism, and the AP is somnambulist. The new Music Matters has timing in spades, and it shows the AP in comparison to just be missing the swing. It has a harmonic organicness that is one where you can just close your eyes and see every player right out in front of you - the medium disappears, you are transported back to a room in 1957 where 6 young cats were spreading their wings, swinging like crazy, opening up a whole new harmonic world. Sheer magic.

I thought I didn't need another Blue Train. I was wrong, and this is worth every penny. If you thought Music Matters couldn't get any better - think again. If you thought Music Matters is making a mistake to go from 45 to 33 - prepare yourself for a shocker that will make you re-evaluate any cherished pre-conceptions.  When you here those 3 horns coming in on the title track, it has never been so immediately gripping - the call of the blues train - then Coltrane brings that train roaring in, barrelling down the track, the blues train storming through the night. It's not just that you are there - in the studio. You are there - on that train - and you will never want to leave. Absolutely gripping.

More on the rest of this upcoming series shortly. Stay tuned.

I should mention that you can order these directly from Music Matters - http://www.musicmattersjazz.com/category_s/92.htm

And for those who care about such things, the lowest numbered pressings are always going to be found there.