Well not as much as the MM team and folks like Michael Cuscuna but he now runs Blue Note.
I referenced Don Was because Joe Harley related a story to me on the release of the 75th anniversary Blue Notes and that in the video Don goes on about what a great job Music Matters did.
Many of the titles that Music Matters released were titles that had not been released or infrequently released. Some were very commercial like Somethin Else but that is needed to get a decent profit on their efforts.
That's a glass half full view. MM has done these reissues extremely well even down to recreating the cover art from photo negatives. A lot of music lovers appreciate that detail and the top quality masterings. It's not likely that Blue Notes will be done as well as this again if only because the tapes are deteriorating.
If you like Blue Notes and don't have the big bucks to get original pressings, please consider supporting us and getting more titles of these classic performances.
I can relate a story about some new vinyl buyers in Atlanta. Once they experience the sound of Music Matters at my house and few others, they saved up and got one or two and have now gone back for more, especially the more affordable 33s. Now, I know these guys pretty well and they are young and not making much money but they did spend the cash for them because they love jazz so much. So I do think its possible that newbies get into these if not as frequently as us collectors. A local store has sold so many that we are inviting a couple of local jazz experts to the store one weekend to talk about the label. Should be fun.
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Friends, we are now close to 600 signatures. Please sign-up if you like Blue Note jazz! Thanks. Sorry to hear this. I have not experienced any noisy pressings in the 120+ MM titles I have.