Sold Date: June 24, 2016
Start Date: May 11, 2016
Final Price: $19.99 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 4509
Buyer Feedback: 0

BST 84123 - Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue - 200g LP Quiex SVP* Classic Records Reissue - Still Sealed with Sticker (STEREO)

Why do this title in STEREO when the MONO is generally the way the  Classic Blue Note Signature Series titles are released and given that  we've made such a big deal about how Van Gelder intended his recordings to be  listened to in Mono?  The answer is simply that the 2 - track tape  sounds great and like "Somethin' Else" and "Blue Train" deserves its own treatment in  addition to the mono release.  The transfer by Bernie Grundman was  done on Classic's "All Tube" Stereo cutting system from the original 2 - track master tape (the  same tape used for the MONO release).  Midnight Blue is one of those records that you just put on, sit back and relax.   Burrell and a great band including Stanley Turrentine on tenor sax,  Bill English on drums, Ray Barretto on conga and Major Holley Jr. on bass lay down tunes including "Mule", "Soul  Lament", "Wavy Gravy", "Gee Baby Ain't I good for You" and "Midnight Blue" among others.  Burrell is quoted as saying to  Alfred Lion "I have always had a Love for the blues.  In my earliest  days in Detroit, worked with groups that concentrated a great deal on the blues.  And I wanted to get a  group together for this session that can feel the blues the way I  do."  Pressed on Classic's own Quiex Super Vinyl Profile, this release, as part of the Classic Blue Note Signature LP Series is  a must have.  Also available in MONO cut from the same 2 - channel  master tapes - summed into MONO per Rudy's instructions!

*Background on Classic 200g Super Vinyl Profile 

In 2003, Classic Records launched its now famous Signature Blue Note Mono reissue series. As part of that series Classic developed an "authentic" 200 gram LP profile that replicated that of an original Blue Note record from the 1950's.  Comparing a test pressing on the new profile versus the same title on the normal 180 gram pressing it was discovered that the 200 gram version sounded significantly better.  The 200 gram pressing sounded louder, with more definition and solidity of notes across all frequencies and there was more detail - particularly low level detail like room or hall sounds, pages being turned, musicians whispering and automobile sounds outside the studio all became easier to identify.  At first it was speculated inside Classic Records that the extra weight resulted in the better performance as no one could come up with a better answer given that the stampers were the same as well as the vinyl pellets used on both 180g and 200g pressings.  One day, Michael Hobson, the founder of Classic Records was discussing this unexplainable sonic discovery with the Legendary Mastering Engineer and Sheffield Records founder, Doug Sax when Doug, without hesitation stated "Ah Michael you've discovered the difference in a flat versus conventional profile".  Puzzled, Hobson asked for an explanation which Sax described as going all the way back to 1950's mono pressings and what happened when stereo records came out in the early 1960's.  Sax explained that in the 1950's when mono records had no vertical modulation (only lateral), pressing PolyVinylChloride PVC (plastic) records were more easily pressed on "Flat Profile" dies fitted to the pressing machines since the grooves on the mono stampers were all the same height (no vertical modulation).  The molten vinyl was able to flow evenly across the stampers and fill properly during the molding (pressing) of the record.  The problems started when stereo record cutting came into vogue producing stampers that had variable height grooves sticking up across the diameter of each stamper.  Using the older mono pressing dies resulted in tremendous problems getting the areas between grooves of different heights to fill properly - a groove that is in front of another taller one often got passed over by the flowing molten vinyl resulting in "non-fill" which was audible and thus a "defective" record.  Pressing plants don't like to press defective records and are always looking for high pressing yields or a s few rejects as possible.

To solve the problem, the engineers developed a new pressing die profile which tapers from the center of the die, flattens in the middle of the diameter and then tapers again toward the outside of the die. The new profile was "concave" rather than flat.  When you put a flat stampers onto the concave dies the stampers distort and are no longer flat - the grooves are no longer perpendicular across the stamper and by association across a finished vinyl pressing.  This new die profile created "back pressure" on the flowing vinyl and solved the "non-fill" problem with stereo pressings and resulted in higher yields which was great for pressing plants and good for record companies who wanted good prices on pressings.  The problem was and still is that the new profile records don't sound as good as they could because they are not flat across their profile.  Using a micrometer across the diameter of a 1950's mono records reveals that the thickness is virtually the same across the record's diameter from center label to outer edge but not so for a newer stereo profile pressing which is convex across its diameter resulting from the concave profile dies / distorted stampers.  This is the dirty little secret that Classic had rediscovered was known to old school experts like Doug Sax who founded Sheffield Labs in the 1970's.  After the discovery, Classic Records never looked back and all of its releases and re-pressings after 2003 were on the new 200 gram Flat Profile dies that were specially made for Classic.  Some years later Classic discovered that the very same profile was used by JVC in Japan to produce the legendary UHQR pressings for Mobile Fidelity which are well known to sound better than the conventional Mobile Fidelity pressings of the same titles - it all makes sense now.  The long and the short of this is that Classic 200g Super Vinyl Profile (Flat Profile) pressings are as good as it gets for proper playback without groove distortion from non-flat pressings - Period.

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