Blue Note Tone Poet Series

2025: jackie mc lean destination out
grachan moncur III evolution
cecil taylor conquistador
please

The new 2025 Tone Poet release schedule has now been announced.
It is very disappointing to note that the new subscription service which entitles a subscriber to four exclusive Tone Poet titles per annum, is only available to US subscribers.
Adds a whole new dimension to 'America First'. Is this deliberate I hear you say.
Yours from the vale of tears,
Al

Question about plating and early/later batches of the tone poets, acoustic sounds records and other top quality items.
When people discuss old original records its not seldom mentioned that the first pressed records with specific matrix number sounds the best. But nowadays it seems like a record that was released lets say 2020 continues having the same matrix numbers year after year, batch after batch. If it is the same early plates used for every batch I suppose it is best to purchase a new release as early as possible. Otherwise you might get a vinyl pressed after thousands of stamps from the same plates. I might be totally wrong here but I don’t know how it works. Taking an example Coltrane’s Ballads came out 2020 but keeps on being repressed. They do not make the mastering again with every repress right?

Comparing Tone Poets to the RVG originals is kind of pointless and silly imo.

The vast, vast majority of people simply cannot afford or find OG RVG pressings of all of these titles.

Tone Poets will never be replacements for those venerated and historic originals. That would be impossible.

The Tone Poet series exists to get more of this music out there in a way that we, as consumers, can find, afford and enjoy.

In this respect the Tone Poet series is a huge success.

I own all 98 Tone Poet releases to date. They were delivered to my doorstep in Mint condition. I love them dearly, and they all sound wonderful to my ears. No they do not sound exactly like an RVG pressing, but I'm also only paying $35 a pop... and I never have to deal with surface noise or beat up old jackets.

On the other hand in 30+ years of collecting, I haven't even SEEN OG RVG pressings of all 98 of these titles in the wild... so I have no way of knowing how most would compare... and it's a pointless question anyway, because even if I found all 98 titles, I doubt I could afford more than a handful of them.

Love the Tone Poet series for what it is: an excellent repress series. But don't expect too much for the $35 you pay, because Tone Poets are not a replacement for very expensive and very rare (and also typically pretty beat up) OG RVG pressings.

There's definitely a difference between the Tone Poet's and the original RVG's.
There's supposed to be.
The originals were equalized and cut to sound good on the average Joe's record player.
The Tone Poet's are trying to restore as closely as possible, what was on the original master tape in its current condition.
I don't necessarily see them as "definitive", but they're pretty damn good when you can get them at a sale price.
They aren't cut as hot as the originals but the low frequencies aren't cut off below 50hz either, which I'm sure was a consideration when they were cut.
They are pretty damn good overall from my experience, especially when you can get them in the $30 ballpark.
Many of the recordings were reissues of the leftovers from the 70's-80's that were garbage pressings from the start. Those specific Tone Poet's are my definitive.

Here’s a review which essentially no one will like… there are two reasons why we should treat this series with great skepticism.

The first is the condition of the source tapes. While it’s irable to take this approach, Van Gelder’s Scotch 111 or 201 tape doesn’t have an infinitely useful life. Pitch stability becomes compromised over time. This aging wasn’t profoundly noticeable on previous versions. (There were slight instances with the Music Matters. Retrospectively, I noticed one instance during Mobley’s BLP 1568.) Arriving into 2019, we end up with abominations like the current pressing of “Black Fire.” Joe Harley further embarrassed himself by confusing harmonic dissonance with poorly tempered intonation. The idea that this tin eared goblin is some sort of “Tone Poet” is far-fetched malarkey. He’s either ill equipped for his professional station or a shyster. Neither commands respect. Don’t just assume anything carrying his name is up to snuff, make him EARN your purchase on a case by case instance.

The second issue is the over stylized mastering. For reference, I have around 30 Blue Note albums with the coveted Van Gelder stampers. The quirky harshness and separation of instruments is an inherent part of the experience. Dexter Gordon’s breathy sax once brushed up against my cheek. (A shibata stylus helps in that regard.) Kevin Gray’s lush approach doesn’t do justice to the intent: hot ass jazz to grab your attention! Head to head against RVG, his versions sound syrupy with a distinct lack of “air.” A textbook example of "More = Less."

TL;DR: Buy for extremely rare titles recorded after RVG stopped using acetate tape. Don’t buy if you’re anticipating the “definitive” experience, this crew may let you down.

Any reason why some of the cat numbers don't line up with order of release?

Looks like Charles Lloyd & The Marvels, Tone Poem has disappeared from the Blue Note store.

My next picks for this series would be Sam Rivers' "Dimensions and Extensions", Shorter's "Night Dreamer", Jutta Hipp's "At the Hickory House Vol 1&2", Freddie Redd “Shades of Redd”, and Tina Brooks' "True Blue" :)

Great to know that Joe and Kevin are cutting the 2024 releases now and have them lined up for 2025 already picked out