Updates: More Monterose and More Blue Note
Jazz Collector is certainly expanding my horizons. Today I spoke to a bass player in Rochester who was friends with J.R. Monterose and, in fact, produced a CD that is probably J.R.’s last recording. He’s sending me a copy and I’ll let you know about it when it arrives. Quite possibly we could end up as a repository of the first and last known recordings of J.R. Monterose. Pretty cool. Also, I had a long conversation with Ron Rambach, who has a company called Music Matters, which reissuing of a good portion of the Blue Note catalogue as
45-RPM limited edition sets. If you check out their Web site, you’ll see some of the classic titles. I’ll be getting a couple to review for you and, when I do, I’ll share more information about what Ron and his colleagues are doing. Does jazz need saving? Not around here.
The Music Matters 45rpm blue note albums are beautifull. Although Accoustic Sounds is also doing a blue note 45 series, the jackets from the M.M are stunning.
Thick carboard with beautifull deep photo printing.
Also does the M.M series exist of gatefolded jackets with on the inside nice reproductions of the famous
Francis Wolff photograps.
I would be intrested in the difference in sound quality between them (180 versus 200gr) .Do they have a different ‘ideology’ on the remixing?
Lot’s of reissue-series going on on the moment(also Prestige 45 rpm), so i would say; jazz? it’s alive! ..ALIVE!!
Marteen, i understand, and appreciate your enthousiasm regarding jazz, although i have not the same opinion regarding Music Matters. I’m not sure that reissuing all those 50 years jazz record is a proof jazz is alive. Mr Wolff and Lion were certainly recording the spirit of the moment. Music Matters is reissuing the spirit of 50 years ago’s music. I love and collect Blue Note originals as testimony of their era, i enjoy each second of music from the period. Anyway, i would never buy any reissue (33rpm, 45rpm, and maybe tomorrow reel to reel tapes ?) from Mr Hoffmann, Rambach and colleagues (all are self proclamated “jazz experts” and “know it all” of course), because i have the feeling that they endlessly want to sell us something that we already have heard.
This is only my point of view, anyway.
i have no doubt that the interest of music companys reissuing records are most of the time financially, and i agree with you to be sceptical about “jazz-experts”
But for (young) newby’s in the jazzworld,like me, who have not experienced the ‘real deal’ in the ’40-’60 ‘s, reissued records are often the only ones around or
don’t have those ridiculous prices on them as first pressings often have.(thank you middle-aged collectors all over the world!)
I still do think that the Music Matters are beautifully made, but agree that (in the end) you probably want an original for all the various reasons.
Maarten and Michel: I am not familiar with “Music Matters”, but I would have thought that, for a starting collector, interested in hard bop, cool, West Coast etc, not having the means to buy the originals, the logic approach would be to buy Japanese re-issues. They are good quality and reasonably priced.
The existence of this category of buyers, whether they buy Music Matters or not, proves there is an interest in a period of jazz which has definitely revolved. Like in the fifties, when people were collecting music from the twenties, or so called revival jazz. They were collecting a category of jazz, totally ignoring what was going on around them, there and then. I see a parallel with the present trend of glorifying the fifties. I for one love that period, but I lived it too: I heard Lee Konitz, Miles, Trane, Mulligan, Monk, Silver, Lee Morgan, Bud Powell, et al. live, talked with them, took pictures etc. For that reason that particular music means something special to me. But does it mean jazz is alive? Yes, because there is an interest in jazz in absolute terms, no, because the question of contemporary jazz creativity remains unanswered. Like formal classical music, the question of the dead end/further development remains open. What next, if anything at all? What comes after Prokoviev and Shostakovicb, or after Bill Evans and Ornette Coleman? Brad Mehldau?? I don’t know. I am too far away from the scene to have any opinion. But the question should be asked. Was that the essence of the Wall Street Jourbal article?
Maarten, can you contact me off-line at:
nordicstorage.swi@voila.fr
Rudolf