Lee Morgan 45's evening ---sweet music!

[Mike Lavigne]

my friend jazdoc turned me on to a nice Blue Note website 25% off sale on reissue 'Tone Poets' jazz Lps.

https://store.bluenote.com/

i bought 8 of them Wednesday night, they arrive next week. 2 of these are Lee Morgan titles and i was searching my collection to make sure i was not buying any dups, and realized i had 8 Lee Morgan 45's i had not sampled in a long time. so tonight i'm stepping through them and i'm just really enjoying it.

so far the first three are Music Matters (1) 'Search For A New Land' ST-84169' and (2) 'The Procrastinator' ST-83023 on the Saskia model two/Durand Tosca/Etsuro Gold/CS Port phono, EMIA SUT, and the Music Matters (3) 'Mono' ''Candy' Blue Note 1590 on the NVS/Durand Telos wood arm wand, Miyajima Mono Be (holding it's own against the formidable Etsuro Gold at 20x the price)/dart phono.

the musicianship is simply amazing on every cut. great quiet pressings, super dynamic and lively with meaty tonality and drive. Morgan and Wayne Shorter just cook on some of these. it fills the room.

is there anything quite like great 45 rpm jazz Lps? they just cut through all the crap and deliver.

my troubles from the long week are in my rear view mirror.

next up is another Music Matters 'Mono', 'Vol.3' Blue Note 1557.

 

[pcosta]

The Tone Poets and 80th Anniversary series releases are great IMO.

 

[jazdoc]

You gotta watch this documentary

 

[Mike Lavigne]

You gotta watch this documentary

thanks Mark, watched about an hour of it so far. terrific. amazing story and makes the music more real.

 

[dan31]

Thanks! I’m going to play a few Lee Morgan LP’s. It’s been a while.

 

[marty]

Thank for bringing Lee Morgan to our attention Mike.

Lee Morgan and his idol, Clifford Brown (8 years older), are 2 of my favorite jazz trumpet players who were both unfortunately killed way too young (Morgan in 1972 at 33, shot by his common law wife; and Brown in 1956 at the ridiculous young age of 26 in a car accident (his wife was driving and died as well). Both are unquestionably in the pantheon of trumpet GOATs with a select few including Miles, Wynton and Louis Armstrong (considered by many to be the greatest American Jazz musician of all-time (the Tom Brady of Jazz??}

For those that don't know Lee Morgan, Qobuz has a really nice curated public playlist of 20 tunes that cover ihs music nicely from bop to ballads.

For those looking for a place to start with Clifford, The Clifford Brown and Max Roach album is a great place. The track "Joy Spring' is as perfect as it gets on this beautiful Spring day.

 

[jazdoc]

Thank for bringing Lee Morgan to our attention Mike.

Lee Morgan and his idol, Clifford Brown (8 years older), are 2 of my favorite jazz trumpet players who were both unfortunately killed way too young (Morgan in 1972 at 33, shot by his common law wife; and Brown in 1956 at the ridiculous young age of 26 in a car accident (his wife was driving and died as well). Both are unquestionably in the pantheon of trumpet GOATs with a select few including Miles, Wynton and Louis Armstrong (considered by many to be the greatest American Jazz musician of all-time (the Tom Brady of Jazz??}

For those that don't know Lee Morgan, Qobuz has a really nice curated pubic playlist of 20 tunes that cover ihs music nicely from bop to ballads.

For those looking for a place to start with Clifford, The Clifford Brown and Max Roach album is a great place. The track "Joy Spring' is as perfect as it gets on this beautiful Spring day.

Actually Richie Powell's wife was driving the car that killed Clifford Brown and Richie Powell the pianist. Joy Spring is Clifford's nickname for LaRue Brown, Clifford's wife. Her contributions to the liner notes of Mosaic Records' Clifford Brown set are a lovely tribute to her first husband.

 

[dminches]

Thank for bringing Lee Morgan to our attention Mike.

Lee Morgan and his idol, Clifford Brown (8 years older), are 2 of my favorite jazz trumpet players who were both unfortunately killed way too young (Morgan in 1972 at 33, shot by his common law wife; and Brown in 1956 at the ridiculous young age of 26 in a car accident (his wife was driving and died as well). Both are unquestionably in the pantheon of trumpet GOATs with a select few including Miles, Wynton and Louis Armstrong (considered by many to be the greatest American Jazz musician of all-time (the Tom Brady of Jazz??}

For those that don't know Lee Morgan, Qobuz has a really nice curated pubic playlist of 20 tunes that cover ihs music nicely from bop to ballads.

For those looking for a place to start with Clifford, The Clifford Brown and Max Roach album is a great place. The track "Joy Spring' is as perfect as it gets on this beautiful Spring day.

Lee Morgan may be my #1 trumpet player. Not only are there a ton of great albums with him as the leader, there are also so many with him as a sideman. He must have made 10 albums with Mobley as well as a handful with players like Coltrane (Blue Train), McLean and others.

 

[marty]

Actually Richie Powell's wife was driving the car that killed Clifford Brown and Richie Powell the pianist. Joy Spring is Clifford's nickname for LaRue Brown, Clifford's wife. Her contributions to the liner notes of Mosaic Records' Clifford Brown set are a lovely tribute to her first husband.

Yes, thanks for the correction.

 

[MikeHorns]

Love both Lee Morgan and Clifford Brown. I've already own all the Classic and Blue Note/Tone Poet reissue of Lee's output.

Thanks for the tip Mike regarding 25% off at Blue Note site. I was gonna cash in on their wall art but the manufacturer is currently shut down due to Covid-19.

 

[MikeHorns]

 

[Mike Lavigne]

for Lee Morgan fans, Quboz just listed a new Lee Morgan extended set in 24/192; from 1970, "Lee Morgan, the Complete Live at the Lighthouse" sessions. 47 tracks, 7 hours and 31 minutes. i've listened to about 30 minutes so far, and it cooks. the digital streaming version sounds really fine. if you have not listened to Lee Morgan, it might be good to sample his earlier recordings to step into him slowly to appreciate him.

Jazdoc turned me on to the vinyl box set back a month or so ago, which is 12 Lp's. mine is set to arrive on Thursday. i want to hear this in all analog.

Lee Morgan - The Complete Live at the Lighthouse - Blue Note Records

*All Sales Final The Complete Live at the Lighthouse is an expansive collection that presents for the very first time all 12 sets of music the legendary trumpeter Lee Morgan’s quintet with saxophonist Bennie Maupin, pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Jymie Merritt, and drummer Mickey Roker recorded...

store.bluenote.com

 

[Al M.]

for Lee Morgan fans, Quboz just listed a new Lee Morgan extended set in 24/192; from 1970, "Lee Morgan, the Complete Live at the Lighthouse" sessions. 47 tracks, 7 hours and 31 minutes. i've listened to about 30 minutes so far, and it cooks. the digital streaming version sounds quite good so far. if you have not listened to Lee Morgan, it might be good to sample his earlier recordings to step into him slowly to appreciate him.

Jazdoc turned me on to the vinyl box set back a month or so ago, which is 12 Lp's. mine is set to arrive on Thursday. i want to hear this in all analog.

Lee Morgan - The Complete Live at the Lighthouse - Blue Note Records

*All Sales Final The Complete Live at the Lighthouse is an expansive collection that presents for the very first time all 12 sets of music the legendary trumpeter Lee Morgan’s quintet with saxophonist Bennie Maupin, pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Jymie Merritt, and drummer Mickey Roker recorded...

store.bluenote.com

I have the previously released 3-CD set from the Lighthouse live sessions (already containing material previously not released on LP), and listened to all of it -- fantastic music making indeed! I am a huge Lee Morgan fan.

***

I wonder if the 12-LP set is mastered in analog or not. I find it unlikely, frankly, since the late Rudy van Gelder already remastered in digital, and these days Blue Note mastering is in digital, as far as I know. Hard to believe they would run separate analog mastering on an entire 12-LP set in limited edition. If they did, I would think they would have proudly included that fact on their website instead of just talking about an "all-analog" 180 g vinyl set. Might be interesting to ask them for more info.

 

[Al M.]

I saw that the 8-CD set is only around 80 bucks (with taxes). Just ordered. Thanks, Mike, for pointing out the set and Jazdoc for the original recommendation!

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I have the previously released 3-CD set from the Lighthouse live sessions (already containing material previously not released on LP), and listened to all of it -- fantastic music making indeed! I am a huge Lee Morgan fan.

***

I wonder if the 12-LP set is mastered in analog or not. I find it unlikely, frankly, since the late Rudy van Gelder already remastered in digital, and these days Blue Note mastering is in digital, as far as I know. Hard to believe they would run separate analog mastering on an entire 12-LP set in limited edition. If they did, I would think they would have proudly included that fact on their website instead of just talking about an "all-analog" 180 g vinyl set. Might be interesting to ask them for more info.

it's always possible that Blue Note is lying. but no one was recording in digital in 1970. so tape is the source.

i've bought many recent Blue Note pressings and to my ears they are analog when they say they are.

 

[dminches]

The LPs are definitely AAA. I have seen several short web casts about the release. They remixed the original 4 track reels to 2 track on 1/4” tape and Kevin Gray cut the LPs from that.

 

[dminches]

I compared the dynamic range of the original 3 CD set to the new, hi res files and the dynamic range is actually quite a bit higher for the originals. There is a pretty good amount of compression on the new digital files and CDs. I have no idea why that was necessary.

I am going to clean the LPs tomorrow and starting listening.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

arrived......

 

[matakana]

arrived......

View attachment 81363

View attachment 81364

Managed to secure the vinyl version , thanks again Mr Lavigne.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

only played 2 sides so far, but this set sounds.......live!!!......in all the right ways. lovely dense horn tones, excellent holographic staging, visceral lively drum kit! really quiet surfaces. great flow and sense of ensemble. radiates energy.

looking forward to working my way through this set. great inspired playing. a brief reading of the notes infers that as the sessions moved forward the engineer got the sound better and better. can't wait to hear THAT!

i liked the Quboz 24/192 streaming alot (and will be working my way through that too at the proper time). but it's not in this realm to my ears.

btw; the liner notes for this set are epic (assuming the CD set would include them too). basically it's dozens of jazz luminaries talking about Lee. i just sampled a few of them. very moving.