Perfect Vision

When Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff started Blue Note in 1939, no one could have imagined that they would create jazz’s most iconic record label. They captured not only important moments in time from some of history’s greatest musical innovators but the genesis and evolution of America’s classical music: jazz. They created timeless art that we at Music Matters have honored in the best way we know how: releasing a trove of the best Blue Note records using purist remastering, pressing and printing techniques.

When we introduced SRX vinyl in 2019, we knew we had discovered something special. SRX is a carbonless formula that not only decreases background noise but increases dynamic range and musical detail, perhaps because the silent backgrounds reveal these important musical cues. SRX makes for the quietest backgrounds, the highest resolution, the most music. It’s expensive and difficult to work with, but worth the extra effort.

For 2020, we have once again gone through the Blue Note catalogue, this time identifying the label’s most iconic recordings – the crème de la crème, the best of the best – because it was important for us to archive these masterpieces on SRX.

When we look at them all together, it’s surprising how diverse they actually are. Blue Train demonstrates Coltrane’s powerful artistry surrounded by giants of the genre in a straight-ahead jazz classic. Search for the New Land and Speak No Evil are explorative and gorgeous at the same time. Maiden Voyage echoes Debussy and establishes Hancock as a genre-defying world-class artist. Somethin’ Else, Moanin’ and Soul Station are some of the greatest standard-bearers for bop to ever exist. Midnight Blue and Idle Moments are both classic and keep our fires simmering, and The Sidewinder opens with a jaunty boogaloo before Morgan shows you everything that made him one of the most riveting players of any generation.

Exclusive to Music Matters Jazz, these new releases are mastered for vinyl by Kevin Gray and Ron Rambach from the original master tapes. They’re pressed on SRX vinyl at RTI with an additional Quality Control inspection, and the jackets are printed at Stoughton using meticulously re-created artwork with original Pantone colors and exclusively-licensed Francis Wolff photography.

Each of these titles is long sold out in our earlier pressings on standard vinyl, and people who missed the opportunity to purchase them have continually asked for their return. In 1939, Lion and Wolff couldn’t have imagined what they created, but in 2020, we have the benefit of hindsight. We know what we’ve wrought: the definitive reissues of Blue Note’s greatest and most influential recordings and the very best 33 RPM records we know how to create. And best of all, they will be the last versions of this great music you’ll ever have to – or want to – buy.

Best wishes from,
MMJ