Tina Brooks

[Dub Modal]

I'd probably go with the individual albums over the Mosaic set but that's personal preference as I don't have any info as to which would have the best sound. But I guess you'd have to add both Street Singer & Jackie's Bag to get the full scope via vinyl...

[Kevin Bresnahan]

2 of the 4 LPs in this box are out in the affordable Tone Poet LP series. These sound pretty good.

Minor Move

The Waiting Game

Back To The Tracks is not available on a Japanese King LP, only a Toshiba LP. I have it on the Classic Records stereo release. There's also a very expensive and rare Disc Union mono LP.

True Blue is available on a King LP but it's going for quite a bit. I have the Music Matters 33 rpm LP but that is also going for big bucks these days. If you want a decent and affordable LP of this, try to find a Connoisseur LP. Those Connoisseur LPs sounded pretty good to my ears back when they came out.

You might be better off with the Mosaic box. I am actually thinking about selling mine but shipping to the UK is pretty cost prohibitive.

[JSngry]

The Mosaic set is a beautiful, wonderful document from the time we're doing Beautiful, wonderful. documents was something that they did better than anybody else.

[Bill Nelson]

I've sold my Mosaic box and since bought the individual CDs and Music Matters' 33 of Jackie's Bag'.  

The Mosaic re-mastering sounded tepid, the CDs are much better, esp. the XRCD of 'Back To the Tracks'.

    

[mjazzg]

Thanks everyone, interesting and useful observations.

I'm erring towards the Tone Poet plus option at the moment but not wholly sold on that option.

I'm more interested in getting the leader dates at this juncture and have CDs of 'Street Singer' and 'Jackie's Bag'.

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by mjazzg

[Dub Modal]

5 hours ago, mjazzg said:

Thanks everyone, interesting and useful observations.

I'm erring towards the Tone Poet plus option at the moment but not wholly sold on that option.

I'm more interested in getting the leader dates at this juncture and have CDs of 'Street Singer' and 'Jackie's Bag'.

 

If you're not dead set on vinyl, don't sleep on those XRCDs of True Blue & Back to the Tracks. Or any of those Blue Note Audio Waves for that matter...

[Dan Gould]

Every JVC XRCD release I have has the best sound of the recording in question I've heard.

Not sure I want to spend for them, but still ...

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Those JVC XRCDs from the Blue Note catalog do sound great but if you happen to have the TOCJ CD to compare, you will probably find that they sound incredibly similar. I did this with a few of the first XRCDs I picked up and the differences were so small, I stopped buying them if I already had the TOCJ CD.

[Dan Gould]

41 minutes ago, bresna said:

Those JVC XRCDs from the Blue Note catalog do sound great but if you happen to have the TOCJ CD to compare, you will probably find that they sound incredibly similar. I did this with a few of the first XRCDs I picked up and the differences were so small, I stopped buying them if I already had the TOCJ CD.

Did not know that they were like that - I haven't sought out JVC XRCDs, only encountered them once at a used CD shop, $8.99 for a Johnny Griffin OJC in that format/engineering. And OMG the sound! Other than that maybe I've found one here or there, and there was a Japan-only Hamp with the Ray Brown Trio recording that was only a JVC XRCD as far as I could tell anyway.

[jazzbo]

Unlike Kevin I found significant differences between the Audio Wave XRCDs and the TOCJ Works cds on my system. I have collected all but about 4 of the Audio Wave. 

[Dan Gould]

3 minutes ago, jazzbo said:

Unlike Kevin I found significant differences between the Audio Wave XRCDs and the TOCJ Works cds on my system. I have collected all but about 4 of the Audio Wave. 

This is where not investing in a "special" system pays off (for me).

If you listen in the car or on high-end PC speakers only, you'll miss both subtle and unsubtle differences.

 

[JSngry]

I still enjoy those tepid Mosaic LPs, actually. They sound like Blue Note LPs to me, only I was more careful with my Mosaics (and I got them new).

But didn't one (or two?) of the CDs pick up some alternates that the Mosaic missed, something like that?

Also...if you really want to go back and do BN Tina Brook on vinyl, you're gonna have to add them Jimmy Smith records, especially The Sermon, which is about as stoneclassicdefinitive Tina Brooks as there is.

[mjazzg]

I love 'The Sermon'.  Once the leader dates are sorted...

[Rooster_Ties]

I think I’m only missing a total of three (3) Tina Brooks things, total...

Jimmy Smith’s Cool Blues is the only Blue Note date with/by Tina that I don’t have — nor do I have the Howard McGhee version of The Connection, nor wherever that early Sonny Thompson date is from 1951. Oh, and I’ve seen the famed Ray Charles footage from South America (iirc), but don’t own it.

Is there anything else obscure (outside of Blue Note) that he was on?? — that I’m overlooking?? Such a wonderful player!!

[Larry Kart]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

I still enjoy those tepid Mosaic LPs, actually. They sound like Blue Note LPs to me, only I was more careful with my Mosaics (and I got them new).

But didn't one (or two?) of the CDs pick up some alternates that the Mosaic missed, something like that?

Also...if you really want to go back and do BN Tina Brook on vinyl, you're gonna have to add them Jimmy Smith records, especially The Sermon, which is about as stoneclassicdefinitive Tina Brooks as there is.

"Tepid"? Sound quality? Surely not the music.

As for sound quality, I only know the Mosaic box plus the original LP of "True Blue," so I can't compare with the various reissues.

The main thing  is do the reissues of "Minor Move" have the notes I wrote for that album in the Mosaic set? They were, I thought, a quite good and certainly heartfelt account of Brooks' career, and I'd hate to see that they'd been replaced.

[JSngry]

"tepid" was a joke about the Mosaic sound quality. somebody found them tepid...sure, I guess. I was too busy listening to the music to notice that. Didn't seem at all tepid to me, but you know me, I ain't got no kind of ears.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

1 hour ago, jazzbo said:

Unlike Kevin I found significant differences between the Audio Wave XRCDs and the TOCJ Works cds on my system. I have collected all but about 4 of the Audio Wave. 

Significant? Could you elaborate what you mean?

Although my ears ain't what they used to be, I just happen to have mp3 rips of the TOCJ & the XRCD of both "True Blue" and "Back to the Tracks" on my work PC. I am swapping back and forth between the two and even with my current hearing, I'm still not hearing anything significant. Maybe there's a bit more treble on the XRCD of "Back to the Tracks" but not a ton more but the two "True Blue" CDs line up almost perfectly, treble and all.

FWIW, I do still have a bunch of these Audio Wave XRCDs. How could I not when they had that huge sale?

[jazzbo]

The Audio Wave sound a tad more dynamic and a tad more "vivid" than the TOCJ and the sound stage is deeper and taller than the TOCJ on my system when I have compared a few titles. I have compared Redbook discs, I don't listen to MP3 in any format. These are significant differences for my enjoyment of the sessions. I've not kept many of the same titles in the TOCJ series that I have in the Audio Wave as I prefer to reach for the Audio Wave. 

Edited March 29, 2021 by jazzbo

[Kevin Bresnahan]

As I switch back & forth between the TOCJ & XRCD (mp3 files) for "True Blue", I'm also finding that the XRCD is quite a bit louder. I switched to headphones so I could turn it up a bit more (not a great thing since my right ear is much worse than my left) and with the headphones on, I can hear a little bit more bass on the XRCD. So the XRCD has a bit of a smiley-face EQ? But it seem subtle to me.

BTW - "True Blue" is such a great session.

[Peter Friedman]

I am coming in rather late to this discussion.

 Larry, your liner notes from 1980 are on my Blue Note Connoisseur Series CD of "Minor Move". There is also an addendum by Michael Cuscuna.

I have two copies of "True Blue" on CD. One is the Audio Wave XRCD, and the other is the Japanese UCCQ-5084. The Japanese UCCQ has alternate takes of 2 tunes - "True Blue" and "Good Old Soul". The alternate takes are not on the Audio Wave XRCD.

 

 

[Chuck Nessa]

22 minutes ago, Peter Friedman said:

I have two copies of "True Blue" on CD. One is the Audio Wave XRCD, and the other is the Japanese UCCQ-5084. The Japanese UCCQ has alternate takes of 2 tunes - "True Blue" and "Good Old Soul". The alternate takes are not on the Audio Wave XRCD.

 

 

Those alternates are also on the US RVG edition.

[Larry Kart]

2 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

I am coming in rather late to this discussion.

 Larry, your liner notes from 1980 are on my Blue Note Connoisseur Series CD of "Minor Move". There is also an addendum by Michael Cuscuna.

I have two copies of "True Blue" on CD. One is the Audio Wave XRCD, and the other is the Japanese UCCQ-5084. The Japanese UCCQ has alternate takes of 2 tunes - "True Blue" and "Good Old Soul". The alternate takes are not on the Audio Wave XRCD.

 

 

Thanks, Peter. Good news.

[Larry Kart]

Shucks

P.S. The part of those notes that seemed innovative/novel/potentially validl to me was the relationship I heard/drew between Brooks and Faure.

[JSngry]

The Mosaic box is a very nice package. Still recommended, imo.

[Brad]

Never had the Mosaic but did buy a few years back the book. I purchased the Tone Poet of Minor Move and it’s a beautiful sounding record. I also have the Conn but haven’t done a comparison.