Sneak Peek at Upcoming 2015 Music Matters 33 rpm vinyl:

As the embargo is coming to an end shortly, it is a good time to give a sneak peek at some of the upcoming Music Matters Blue Note vinyl in 2015, all of which will be 33 rpm issues.

I'll give you some of the highlights. There is a mix of titles previously done, mostly by Analogue Productions and in every case distinctly inferior, and a few that were previously done at 45 rpm by Music Matters, but with the 'input' of Steve Hoffman, and now without that burden Music Matters can take advantage of not only the improved mastering and cutting chain of Kevin Gray, but Gray's superior mastering.

1. Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage:

This was taken from a second generation analog tape copy made in the 1970's as the master tape was deteriorating. The actual master has not been used in decades - not for the Analogue Productions 45 rpm, not for the hi-res downloads - not for anything, in over 30 years. This tape was discovered by Music Matters and is being used for the first time, and it sounds much, much better as a result. My go-to for Maiden Voyage has been a Japanese Toshiba from their Blue Note Masterpieces series, a rare cut. This one is much better.

What I really get a sense of when listening to the Music Matters is the nautical adventure narrative of the music, how much this is a cycle of tone pieces that in every sense was a concept album well before the first rock concept albums. Tony Williams cymbals splash across the soundstage and put up a wall of shimmering waves, that previous masterings just didn't get. Carter's bass finally has presence and depth of tone. Coleman digs deep and his tone - on the AP 45 whitewashed and weak - here is powerful, rich and vibrant, full of color, as is Hubbard, who has attack and articulation completely missing on the Analogue Productions.

The 33 rpm Maiden Voyage is a revelation, and the way it should have sounded - but probably never has, at least not since a true first pressing, which this almost certainly exceeds.

2. Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil:

This is a massive revelation. The earlier Music Matters mastered by Hoffman (if you can call it mastering) is less than ideal. Weak tonality, mushy, wishy washy sonics, as if he sucked the power out of the music and tried to make it some smooth jazz crap. No bass. High end cut that recesses the cymbals. Cutting at 45 rpm doesn't help.

But, it has long been part of the lore that Speak No Evil was a mediocre recording that has no bass. NOT SO. Again here, a second generation tape was used that is recently discovered - and it has everything. Right from the word go, the horns are right out front, squawking, shouting, taunting - just shouting 'speak no evil, speak no evil, speak no evil'...now, with this new 33 version, it all sounds right, and the message gets delivered. Everything here is remarkable - it sounds as a whole, organic, the tone - massive tone - just so vivid. Elvin Jones kick drum (which Van Gelder never really cared to mike) punches through solidly to punctuate the horns, and his cymbal work - as ever with Elvin, very precise and detailed - has every nuance detailed.

Speak No Evil comes across with the power and passion of a revival meet. I suppose that is what it is. Now you are closer to this iconic music that ever before - I almost felt that I had the mike right in front of me, the horns are so powerful and close.

Don't miss this one, and if you haven't got the earlier Music Matters 45, and still buy into the Hoffman mastering style, don't worry - there will be a bunch of them in the used stores next year going cheap.

3. Ike Quebec - Blue and Sentimental:

I always figured this record was fine, but it never really grabbed me. This Music Matters 33 blew my mind. The Analogue Productions 45 is lounge music. The Music Matters 33 is the late night blues, the 3 am type. Grant Green is tough, metallic, very electric, and this is surely one of his best records. Quebec is huge, robust, dark, and there is a menace inside these blues. There is an astonishing moment ending the record - I always thought it pretty much ended on a Green solo, but here I heard much more clearly that ever that Quebec comes back in for a brief, wonderful figure right at the end that is almost inaudible but, in a brief moment, brings the whole record together and to a beautiful close. Just a magic moment, and this is what the Music Matters 33 delivers - sheer magic.

This is a far more powerful record that I have ever heard it before, and almost certainly represents the session far more accurately that it has ever been represented. The Music Matters team 'gets' this music, gets it deep, and they know the spirit of the music. The massively black background and huge, open sound places you right in the studio and you can feel the room back in the early 60's and practically lose yourself back in time. This is a must have and completely supersedes the earlier Music Matters.

4. Stanley Turrentine & The 3 Sounds - Blue Hour:

This is another staggering revelation. This title was not reissued in either the Analogue Productions or Music Matters 45 series and is therefore a welcome addition.

It's a good thing they waited for the upgraded Cohearant Audio mastering chain. This is another one of those Blue Notes that I considered pleasant and lightweight, as early Turrentine I considered it inferior to his later Blue Notes and even more his CTI recordings, but a good if not great record.

When Turrentine comes in on side one, it is a massive roar that had me worried that my needle might not track the power of his horn. Digital never got horns right, not even hi-res - I suspect that only when we see reissues at 384k or quad DSD will the true power of a tenor sax get captured as analog tape obviously could.

What is striking here is how huge Turrentine sounds, how lifelike - you get the whole room in this, and Turrentine just bounces off the ceiling he is so powerful, almost on the edge of distortion. Blows his shoes off, that big bore Otto Link metal sound. Once again here I am struck by how organic and whole this sounds, how the sheer swing comes across, the inner timing of it.

So again a reissue from Music Matters that brings a classic record to life while transporting the listener back to the early 60's putting you not just in the studio, but in the era feeling the essence of the life these great musicians were living through their music. I can guarantee this is light years ahead of an original and a sound this powerful and harmonically right just can't be captured in even high resolution digital.

5. Horace Parlan - Us Three:

Another title that was issued earlier by Music Matters in the 45 rpm series now gets a huge upgrade at 33. I am generally not a fan of Van Gelder piano trio records. I am probably not overwhelmed generally by 1950's and 60's piano trios overall, the few exceptions being stuff like Bill Evans and Herbie Nichols.

I can't compare to the earlier MM 45, but this version is a winner. It opens with a solo bass figure that turns from finger to bow and the sense of resin on the bow is palpable, as is the timing and rhythmic sense - the sync of the kick drum with the bass as Parlan enters, and the piano sound is quite excellent, lots of color and decay.

This is a wonderful swing record, Parlan has a nice touch with a percussive attack, the chordal voicings are fairly advanced for the period, yet still this is very much a hard bop record. Nice one, and makes the case that Rudy actually could record a piano pretty well.

6. Kenny Clarke & Francy Boland - The Golden Eight:

This might be the gem of the series. The Kenny Clarke - Francy Boland Octet featuring a roster of the top Euro and British players of the era, and ex-pat Jimmy Woode on bass. This was recorded in Europe so one of the few Blue Notes not recorded by Van Gelder, so that alone makes it special.

So does the music. Boland is a fabulously inventive arranger as well as a tasteful pianist, Clarke is the consummate hard bop drummer who is consistently swinging and elegant. The band leaves nothing on the table for the more known American counterparts of the era, and under it all is the propulsive and fleet Woode.

Every solo is killer. this band is red hot. For 1961, these players are actually pretty far ahead of a lot of what was going down in the American scene, and they are technically extremely proficient - good thing, these charts are tough even though they are very danceable in a way.

You have to think reissuing this one is kind of a labor of love or a personal passion for Music Matters, given that they have tended to stick to pretty safe titles in the past few years. No wonder - it leaves you grinning ear to ear from start to finish, such is the sheer exuberance in the playing and the absolute joy in the charts. A real treasure, an overlooked classic if there ever was one.

The sound here is quite different from the typical Blue Note sound and Music Matters had an outstandingly well recorded mastertape to work with. There is a big sound-space, a tight and powerful bottom end, a sparkling piano sound and the horns have wonderful tone with huge impact. A great recording, pretty rare, and probably should be the first on your pre-order list.

So there you have it - six of the prime Music Matters Blue Note 33's coming in 2015. I guess that is exactly half of them - Mobley's Workout is coming, the killer Jackie McLean - Right Now (sounds awesome) is on tap, so is Freddie Hubbard's Hubtones (better than the rather limpid AP 45, and very good sounding - but would not have been my first, second or third choice to reissue).

Couple of things to mention before I wrap this up:

First - buy them direct from Music Matters. Not from Acoustic Sounds, not from Music Direct - from Music Matters. Why? Simple. If you want the Music Matters Blue Note series to continue, the only way to do that is if YOU take responsibility and make sure it is reasonably viable finacially for Music Matters. There is not a lot of money in these pressings, folks. Maybe you think there is - but there isn't. The pressing runs are small, the licencing costs, the mastering costs, the superb covers, the top pressing - it eats up over half the retail price. BUT - when you buy from one of the big box audiophile delaers, Music Matters have to sell to them at a very low margin - a few bucks a record - as the middleman - Acoustic Sounds, Music Direct and others - makes their markup on it, and actually, those guys force a bigger cut than Music Matters themselves actually earn, which just isn't right.

So buy direct from Music Matters. Forget some free shipping, forget bottom feeding on Amazon, forget anything else and do something with your money -  support the guys doing this so that the can do more. If you want Music Matters, which let's face it - isn't exactly a capitalist operation, it's more like a tiny break even at best - to keep going, buy direct so that can happen.

Music Matters raised the bar by a mile for everyone else in the reissue business. Chad was putting out mediocre masterings with shitty cheap covers for years before Music Matters forced Analogue Productions to up their game. Mofi are upgrading their analog chain because the simple fact is the MFSL vinyl can't hold a candle to what Music Matters does as a routine matter. Let's keep it going. Everyone benefits.

Second - I have been harping on this with Music Matters for years, and they keep telling me that more 'challenging' Blue Note material - not the 'out' stuff, simply more avant titles or titles that veer too far off the Blue Note conservative warhorse track - simply don't sell, that American customers are too conservative and while European markets are not, the bulk of Music Matters sales are in the U.S.. I simply don't believe that, and I would dearly love to see Music Matters bring titles like Sam Rivers - Contours, Horace Silver - Serenade To A Soul Sister, Andrew Hill - Smokestack, Lee Morgan - Taru and so many other deserving gems back to life. It is a myth that Blue Note did nothing worthwhile in the 70's, far from it, and it would be amazing if Music Matters - the only people who could do it - were able to rewrite that part of audio and musical lore by bringing some more Blue Note to market.

Want that to happen? There is only one way. You have to write Music Matters directly. Tell them what you want, give them some reasonably interesting titles. Don't write asking them to reissue your personal favorite, Alfred Lion Presents Australian Surf Music - it will sell 3 copies, and two of those will be returned for a refund. Make it sensible, and if enough people do that, perhaps Music Matters will see a way to bring some deeper BN catalog out. Don't be lazy and waste your time posting to some lame online board or social media that they will never look at. People are too busy to search online for your comments. Write then an email, directly. You might be surprised what can happen.