Which Kind of Blue?

Music Room
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I’m looking at versions of Kind of Blue as I don’t have a vinyl copy. Looking around (discounting the “mechanical rights” labels) there seems to be 3 options - the Sony BMG at about £20, the Music on Vinyl at about £30 and the Mofi at just over £80.

Can anyone offer comments on these pressings and relative quality? I’ve always found MoV to be great value/quality and obvs Mofi is top notch (and expensive!), but could the BMG be just as good?

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I own the mofi, a Japanese repress from the 70s, and the Sony Legacy mono copy, and prefer the Sony one overall. But they all sound good to me.

It helps that the Sony actually fits on my shelf—unlike the mofi, which of course has to come in a box—making it more likely I take that one out to listen.

All that said, it’s unlikely you’ll find a bad copy of this, it’s really that kind of record.

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50th anniversary box came with vinyl remastered at the correct speed. As with CD there are significant variations in quality and especially the noise floor.

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Had same experience here :+1:

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I am sure that @Richard.Dane has at least 6 different pressings. Josqquin Desprez too.
Poor kind of blue master tapes. They should have been used to death.

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I have a few… I’d say the UK '70s CBS label issue is excellent and great value too. The MFSL is excellent too but if you want a big money reissue then it’s probably worth trying to get the UHQR from a couple of years back.

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Some will say, as @Bobthebuilder , that the UQHR pressing is the best.

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I have quite a few the 70’s CBS Richard talks about is very good as is the mono version from 2013 by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound pressed at RTI. I also have a Kevin Gray cut from 2010 pressed at MPO which is also more than acceptable, I also have a 1965 CBS stereo which is very good, a Music on Vinyl from 2014 which is ok, the 50th Anniversary Box Set from 2008 which uses Mark Wilder’s remixed version as a source and is cut by Greg Calbi who was at Sterling I believe is also more than acceptable but the best is the UQHR.

I did have the MFSL 45rpm boxed set but at the time on my then LP12 it was quite bass heavy and was going for silly money so I sold it having said that I’d really like to try it again on my Rega P8 and may well buy it again if I find a reasonable one.

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I count 8 pressings.
How about Tone Poet or Music Matters? If they exist.

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They have also done Pacific Jazz and World Pacific releases and the most recent Tone poet Byrds Eye View by Donald Byrd and the upcoming Watkins at Large by Doug Watkins where on Transition Records.

Edit this was in answer to a deleted post.

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No Blue Note or Music Matters versions.

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Guess I know what I’m going to play tonight. :slight_smile:

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The only kinda of Blue is Joni Mitchell.

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I bought a lovely ‘crystal clear vinyl’ Record Store Day Essential LP of Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” a few weeks ago. It’s a lovely pressing, said (according to the sticker on the front) to be newly remastered by Bernie Grundman under Joni Mitchell’s supervision.

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I have several but this kills them all

IMG_1029

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Wondering out loud why the ears someone in their 70s would aid a remastering?

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It’s only equal to forum members in their 60’s and 70’s believing their ears can say digital is better than vinyl and vice versa and wether one release is better than another.

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Because it’s about more than just “ears”. Bernie may now be in his 80s but trained under Roy DuNann, one of the greatest engineers who has ever lived. He knows his stuff. Also he consistently turns out great cuts and remasters across a wide variety of genres.

Also, the metalwork for the Analogue Prods Kind of Blue was created by Bernie more than 30 years ago (the last time Sony let the KoB tapes out of the vault). It was used for the Classic Records cuts of the 1990s and when they went bust Chad (Kassem) acquired all the plates.

So Bernie would have been about 50 when he cut it. Also, those plates were the last time an analogue source was used.

So your question is meaningless as it is based on a false premise.

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From what I thought to have understood, there’s no consistency in the Bernie G pressings. Some are great, other average or even bad.
Kevin Gray seems to be more successful today.
Not ?

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From what I thought to have understood, there’s no consistency in the Bernie G pressings. Some are great, other average or even bad.
Kevin Gray seems to be more successful today.
Not ?

Not.

  1. A pressing and a master or cut are two very different things. A cutting/mastering engineeer has very little, if any, control over the quality of a pressing. No-fill, warping, dishing etc are down to quality control issues at the pressing plant.
  2. Can you give me an example of a bad BG cut?
  3. KG and BG are rivals, but friendly ones. Both are outstanding engineers. As are Ryan K Smith, Chris Bellman, Frank Merritt, Caspar Sutton-Jones and others.
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