ART BLAKEY & THE JAZZ MESSENGERS COLLECTION OF TWO TITLES WHICH ARE 45 SPEED AUDIOPHILE LIMITED EDITIONS -  

COLLECTORS NOTE: THESE LP'S ARE OUT OF PRINT AND VERIFIED 1ST LIMITED EDITIONS EITHER NUMBERED ON THE BACK OF JACKET OR HAS THE ORIGINAL RELEASE MARKETING STICKER FOR A COLLECTOR TO PROVE THEY ARE PURCHASING THE ORIGINAL RELEASES.

 Last SET FOREVER. 

Here's How it was done: ON THE TWO 45 SPEED LP SETS 

Using only the original analog master tapes, the renowned team of Steve Hoffman & Kevin Gray remastered and cut all of the titles at AcousTech Mastering, which features a pure Class-A disc-cutting system. AcousTech is located at Record Technology, Inc. the plant where the vinyl was pressed. It is a tremendous sonic advantage to have the pressing plant plating department & mastering room in the same facility as Steve & Kevin could cut a lacquer and plated immediately. This prevents the degradation of the grooves in a lacquer which is very fragile to quick deterioration.

And of course cutting at 45 speed is the audiophile choice for the highest quality. A 45-RPM record is sonically superior to a 33 1/3 variety because of a 35 percent reduction of groove curvature compared to a 33 1/3 cut.. It means that while you can't fit as much music into a 45, the undulations of the groove that your cartridge has to track are stretched over a longer distance. For these reissues, the music was displaced onto four sides, meaning each side contains about 10 minutes of music.

This is the ultimate reissues. The only way you'll get closer to this classic music is to listen to the master tapes or have been in the studio with the artist originally during the actual session.

 You should never pass up the opportunity to upgrade your collection. They're each very limited in their pressings and disappear with extraordinary quickness from the vinyl market. This causes prices to skyrocket because once they are gone, they are gone forever! Don't second-guess yourself with this chance to upgrade your collection  because before you know it, the opportunity will have passed forever.

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers Art Blakey!!!!!Jazz Messengers!!!!! 180g 45rpm 2LP LOW NUMBERED 119 WITH VERIFYING COLLECTORS ORIGINAL RELEASE 1ST EDITION 45 RPM 180 GRAM KEVIN GRAY CUT MASTER LIMITED EDITION NUMBERED 119 ON THE BACK OF JACKET PROVING THAT THIS LP SET IS THE ORIGINAL RELEASE. IF THE LP DOESN'T HAVE A LIMITED EDITION NUMBER THEN YOU ARE NOT PURCHASING THIS ORIGINAL 45 RPM ACOUSTECH RELEASE.

Limited Edition 180 Gram, 45rpm 2LP Set!

Cut by Kevin Gray at 45 RPM and packaged in extra-thick cardboard stock gatefold jackets!

Art Blakey discovered and championed young talented musicians such as Clifford Brown, Lou Donaldson, Keith Jarrett and Wynton Marsalis to name but a few. But he also delivered the "message" of hard bop through thousands of performances at festivals right down to the smallest club. Lively, joyous performances, the very highest technical standards and somnambulistic music-making characterize this recording. Right from the very start it is clear that these jazz ambassadors have a new message for us. The hard-beat recordings win in lyricism thanks to the gentle sound of Curtis Fuller's trombone, something that was often missing in the powerful Blue Note sound. Four jazz evergreens give the musicians the time and opportunity to display their soloistic talents. The real climax, however, is to be found in the harmonic layering of the three winds which lend the themes new appeal. The message was broadcasted many times until the death of Art Blakey, but the history of jazz would have been a great deal poorer without these milestone recordings on the Impulse label. Art Blakey certainly knew how to delight his audience with fire, originality, a wealth of ideas and great humor.

Features:
• Limited Edition
• 45rpm
• 180g Vinyl
• Double LP
• Pressed by RTI

Selections:
1. À la Mode
2. Invitation
3. Circus
4. You Don't Know What Love Is
5. I Hear a Rhapsody
6. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You

PLUS Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers The Big Beat 180g 45rpm 2LP WITH VERIFYING COLLECTORS ORIGINAL  RELEASE 1ST EDITION 45 RPM 180 GRAM MASTERED BY STEVE HOFFMAN & KEVIN GRAY  MARKETING/HYPE STICKER THAT THIS LP SET IS THE ORIGINAL RELEASE AND IS STILL ATTACHED TO THE SEALED PLASTIC WRAP PROTECTING THE LP JACKET & VINYL INSIDE. IF THAT BLUE & WHITE STICKER IS NOT ON THE FRONT PLASTIC WRAP THEN YOU ARE NOT PURCHASING THIS ORIGINAL 45 RPM ACOUSTECH RELEASE.

Out Of Print! AND TREMENDOUSLY RARE AND VALUABLE PRESSING SELLING FOR WELL OVER $300 IN PRISTINE SEALED CONDITION LIKE WE ARE OFFERING HERE.

TAS Recommended! Rated a 'Best Audiophile Label Recording' in the November 2009 issue of The Absolute Sound!

Remastered by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman from the Original Rudy Van Gelder Blue Note Master Tapes!
The Definitive issue of this classic Blue Note title!

THE SOUND:
Mono or Stereo? Rudy Van Gelder first began recording Blue Note sessions in stereo in March of 1957. From then until an October 30, 1958 Art Blakey session, Rudy simultaneously ran both mono and stereo session tapes. The stereo presentation revealed more air, more detail and more sheer life than the mono. The mono playback was a wonderful remembrance of the old LP we all knew and loved. The stereo playback from the original masters was eerie. It was like going back in time to that day in Rudy’s studio. Quite simply, the stereo masters revealed more of what it was like to be there that day.

Why 45rpm? Simply...Because it sounds better! 180 gram pressings versus 200 gram? Music Matters, Lt. uses 180 gram pressings for the simple reason that they believe 180 gram weight is more than sufficient to provide a near perfect pressing. When Music Matters asked their friends at Record Technology Inc. for their recommendation to achieve the highest possible quality pressings their answer was unequivocal... go with 180 gram!

Upgrading Connnections at Acoustech! It goes without saying that there are many controversies and debates in the perfectionist audio/LP collector market. But one area of near universal agreement is the quality of mastering that emerges from Kevin Gray’s custom-built AcousTech Mastering studio in Camarillo, CA. Kevin, along with Steve Hoffman, has provided many of the best sounding new and reissued albums on LP during the last 5 or 6 years working outs of AcousTech.

THE JACKETS:
Music Matters Exclusive! Music Matters strongly feels that these Blue Note recordings deserve nothing less than the finest graphic presentation. The Music Matters Definitive 45RPM Blue Note jackets are designed to last a lifetime, using ultra-durable extra thick cardboard stock and thick, luxurious lamination... quality you’ll be able to feel in your hand the moment you pick up one of these albums. In addition, Music Matters has obtained exclusive access to a treasure trove of over 30,000 original Blue Note session photos from Mosaic Images for use in this series. The gatefold opens to display these session photos in stunning high resolution - four times sharper than original Blue Note jacket photos  

THE REVIEWS:
Hear what Michael Fremer, Wayne Garcia and others are saying about the Blue Note Definitive 45rpm Reissue Series from Music Matters, Ltd:
"They’re BIG and open and definitely work in stereo because they’re not hard left/right stereo. The cymbals are so "chimey" and the skins so open! Even Rudy's typical boxy piano isn't too bad. These are going to be really good....!!!! (Real time reaction after hearing his first test pressing of Horace Parlan’s Speakin’ My Piece LP.)" - Michael Fremer, Stereophile Magazine

"I’ve heard a lot of Blue Note originals and myriad reissues over the years, but based on the sample test pressings heard so far, none—and I mean none—convey the intensity of living, breathing music-making the way the Music Matter’s Blue Note series does. The sense of air, texture, and dynamic pop in these grooves is astonishing." - Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound

"Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers “The Big Beat” and Horace Parlan, “Speakin’ My Piece.” And if this is any indication of what’s to come, I advise you to get on the list now, before this collection is sold out." - Albert Porter, 

"The Music Matters 45s have all immediacy and add a free-flowing naturalness that is surprising at first but very easy to get used to." - Marc Mickelson, soundstage

Art Blakey was one of the greatest of all jazz drummers, a masterful talent scout and the inspiring leader of the Jazz Messengers. For 35 years (1955-90), the Jazz Messengers featured brilliant young talent who were pushed by Blakey to write new music and play at their very best. One certainly could not coast with Blakey's explosive drumming constantly egging on the players.

The who's who of jazz passed through Blakey's band for several generations, with everyone from Freddie Hubbard and Wynton Marsalis to Benny Golson and Horace Silver benefiting from the hard-swinging experience. But few lineups could compete with the 1960 edition of the Jazz Messengers featured on The Big Beat. Blakey, the "old man" of the band at 30, is joined by bassist Jymie Merritt and three brilliant stylists who were not only exciting soloists but very skilled songwriters: trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor-saxophonist Wayne Shorter and pianist Bobby Timmons.

The Big Beat introduces Timmons' "Dat Dere" (which practically defines soul jazz) and Shorter's "Lester Left Town" (a tribute to Lester Young) and includes an inventive version of "It's Only A Paper Moon" along with a few other lesser-known but colorful pieces. This is hard bop at its finest from one of the most immortal jazz groups of all time.

Features:
• Remastered from the Original Rudy Van Gelder Blue Note Master Tapes!
• Remastered by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman at Acoustech
• Cut at 45rpm for Better Sound!
• Pressed on two 180 gram Virgin Vinyl LPs by RTI
• Limited Edition Copies!
• Ultra-Durable, Extra Thick Album Jackets
• Gatefold Album with Session Photos in stunning High Resolution

Musicians:
Art Blakey, drums
Jymie Merritt, bass
Lee Morgan, trumpet
Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone
Bobby Timmons, piano

Selections:
1. The Chess Players
2. Sakeena's Vision
3. Politely
4. Dat Dere
5. Lester Left Town
6. It's Only A Paper Moon

"The albums are being cut at 45 RPM for maximum quality by Kevin Gray and me using our full ANALOG disk cutting system; most studios cannot even cut vinyl in 100% true analog anymore (they convert to digital first) but we can. The original Rudy Van Gelder engineered stereophonic session tapes are used when we master these gems. The sound quality is amazing on our test cuts. Like from heaven. First totally uncompressed versions of these jazz classics that I’ve ever heard and trust me, you will be impressed; they sound like no other releases of this music."

"The sound is lifelike, the horns are in the room with you. Our non-invasive mastering insures the true breath of life on these original Van Gelder session tapes is transferred to the virgin vinyl with absolute authenticity. It is like hearing these BLUE NOTE masterpieces for the first time and that is NO exaggeration. When we heard the first lacquer acetate playback from our first mastering session I thought Joe Harley was going to pee in his pants he was so excited. Actually we all were; after 50 years of many lackluster and some downright bad sounding versions of these albums, hearing the real deal is a humbling experience, even for us hardened music veterans. You will be able to listen to the music exactly like we did..." - Steve Hoffman

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