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Compared Tone Poet to Mosaic

This might interest some people.  The new copy of Hank, by Hank Mobley Sextet on Tone Poet just arrived last week.  The sextet:  Donald Byrd, trumpet; John Jenkins, alto; Hank Mobley, tenor; Bobby Timmons, piano; Wilbur Ware, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums.  Originally released in 1957, new release dated 2026, but received 12/2025.  Anyway this is a terrific hard bop record in the best Blue Note tradition.  Originally recorded by Rudy Van Gelder, remastered by Kevin Gray and Produced by Joe Harley.  I thought it might be fun to compare the vinyl Tone Poet with the Mosaic release of 2022, which is on CD.

For vinyl playback:  VPI HW-40 w/SoundSmith Hyperion set up using AnalogMagic, Conrad Johnson ART Phono.

For digital playback:  Luxman D-10X

Amp, line stage, speakers, wires etc. were the same for both.

Well some interesting differences and similarities.  First the Mosaic set used the mono master, whereas the Tone Poet set used the stereo master.  With that said the two masters were made simultaneously so there were no differences in performance.  The overall tonality of two were exactly the same.  That surprised me.  Overall I found that I liked the mono recording better.  I was amazed that there was no real difference between the analog and the digital versions that I could discern.  They were equally great and I would be happy to own either.  The difference I heard was more to do with what the recording engineer did and it is clear that Rudy V.G. was more adept or more comfortable with mono and lavished more attention on it to get it right.  I also think that Kevin Gray must have done everything possible to capture the sound of the original mono master.  The two recordings are remarkably transparent.  Later recordings in the Mosaic set are in stereo and if there is interest and if I have a duplicate in vinyl of another record, let me know and I will endeavor to do a follow up. 

billstevenson
tablejockey
4,409 posts
 

Detailed breakdown of early Blue Note recordings.

Insightful read

The Blue Note Record Sound | Music Matters Jazz | Jazz Vinyl

 

elliottbnewcombjr
7,879 posts
 

@billstevenson 

I read somewhere that:

During the early days of Stereo, Rudy watched the big studios pay the band or orchestra and recording studio to perform twice: once for the existing experienced Mono recording team with their equipment and setup; and then repeat the performance for the new Stereo recording team with their separate equipment and setup.

he decided he could not afford to do that, so ....

Rudy decided to make one Stereo Recording of the one preferred take, and subsequently make a MONO Version from his single stereo master.

Is is possible he sometimes made two simultaneous recordings as you described, and other times a single Stereo recording and subsequently created a Mono version as I described?

 

elliottbnewcombjr
7,879 posts
 

@tablejockey 

thanks for the link above, it seems Rudy did as Bill described, and later as I remembered

excerpt:

"The mono vs. stereo question confronts anyone dealing with reissues of Rudy Van Gelder’s Blue Note masters.

If the goal is getting to the essence of the music, we discovered that you cannot take a dogmatic view of this issue. 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. After that session, Rudy abandoned the practice of running both mono and stereo session tapes and recorded strictly in stereo. The evidence is there for anyone to see who examines the original master tapes. When Kevin Gray, Ron Rambach and I began our first mastering session with our first six Blue Note masters we couldn’t help noticing the clearly marked (by Alfred Lion) notations indicating "monaural masters made 50/50 from stereo master" on the master tape boxes."

billstevenson OP
1,252 posts
 

Another fascinating part of the Blue Note legacy was revealed by Don Was in an interview that is in the Qobuz Magazine.  He has been the leader of the brand now according to the article for almost 15 years.  He said that he interviewed RBG early on and asked him how to best preserve the sound and legacy of Rudy's work for the label.  Rudy told him among other things that the sound of the lacquer changed within four days of being cut.  So Rudy told Don to forget about trying to preserve the original sound of Blue Note records.  He said just do the best job possible to capture what exists on the tape.  Which of course is what Kevin Gray and Joe Harley do, first for Music Matters and now for the Tone Poet series.  Interestingly enough even the recent Classic Series Blue Notes sound exceptional.  

tablejockey
4,409 posts
 

Based on Discogs, looks like this particular LP and other Blue Note's during the period were ONLY offered in mono?

Perhaps the new fangled "stereo sound" wasn't seen as a promising market and too small-still considered a "luxury" for the casual music fan?

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