Anybody know anything about these vinyl (re) issues?
Cadre Rouge Audiophile Edition Bluenote issued c 1985 by Pathe Marconi France and advertised as Direct Metal Mastering-Premiun Quality Vinyl-Digitally Remastered-European Pressing. Any comments much appreciated.
John

Hi John,

Listening to one now (Kenny Dorham - Trompete Topccata)

There was a large-scale euro reissue programme for Blue-Note in the mid 80's, with around 175 titles, coming out of EMI via Pathe-Marconi in France

Some people have bad things to say about these reisuses - but I dont think they are too bad - Japanes and originals may be a little better, and these are a little "cold" in the way that I feel most CD's are, but I have a soft-spot for these as it is what introduced me to Jazz - I clearly remember seeing these in Virgin Megastore on Oxford St and just loving the covers, and then when I played them the music was even better than the covers!

B-N are the most reissued company ever, and everyone has a view on how the various reissues sound - but...botton line - I have never heard a bad one, although I agree that there are some whch sound like you were there in the studio

If you already have some, then just open a bottle and enjoy - if you have seen some and are wondering whether to get them - just do it - before someone else does

I've got loads of them, never realised they were digital though (are you sure?). I've seen people criticise them but to my ears they are fine sounding records, quiet flat pressings, decent quality heavy covers and really nice sound - open and crisp without sounding too forward IMO. I like 'em.

Tony.

For some reason I couldn't get the link to work here so here's the bit about the reissues you may have. Not sure if this guy is 100% correct in his assessment.

18.�French Reissues, Pathe Marconi. A reissue series done in 1983 by the French EMI affiliate. Given the dating of the King reissues, this is probably the first reissues done when the tapes passed into the hands of EMI. Easily identified by the Pathe Marconi logo on the bottom middle of the back of the jacket. Sealed they have a banner around the jacket. These were fairly widely distributed in the U.S., and are still relatively easy to come by, but some unknowledgeable retailers will try to get premium prices (in the $30 range), thinking them comparable to Japanese reissues, to which sonically they are far inferior. I have only two; Dexter Gordon's "A Swingin Affair" (4133) and Art Blakey's "A Night in Tunisia" (4049). The jackets have 61stStreet addresses, but the facsimile labels have the 63rdStreet address.

19.�Manhattan Records, Division of Capitol, French reissues. This was the first major U.S. distributed reissue of Blue Notes since the mid-70's, undertaken in 1984. The records were made by EMI France, and are all DMM. They came in an inner sleeve printed with "The Blue Note Story," an essay about Blue Note by Michael Cuscuna, and some came with a giant circular poster, depicting the Blue Note label on one side, and a collage sort of picture on the other with sketch drawings of musicians who have recorded on Blue Note. There is at least one title in this series, Freddie Hubbard's Here to Stay (4135), which sort of counts as a original pressing, in that it was originally unreleased, and appears in this series for the first time with the originally intended art work. (Unfortunately, it is marked with the evil "digitally remastered.") Sonically, these are among the worst Blue Notes, (save those in 20), with all the ills one would expect with DMM mastering. Acquire only if cheap, and you really want the music.

John, here's (http://kleene.ss.uci.edu/~rmay/Bluenote.html) the link - I was just looking for it myself! No, I don't agree with him at all. These French pressing are, on the whole, very good indeed IMO. I never think twice about buying them, they are very good records. I must have 20-30 of them.

Tony.

i agree with Tony about the sound - I got pretty much the whole set - 150 or so of them - in the 80's

T

i agree with Tony about the sound - I got pretty much the whole set - 150 or so of them - in the 80's

The covers are generally hard card, the story on the sleeves is very informative, if you dont know about the label, and the pressing are, as stated, flat and generally sound OK. I do think other reissues sound better,such as the Japanese, but you only notice this in comparison, and it does not mean these sound bad, only that others can sound better - listen to these on their own and they sound great, and can be a nice and cheap way into diocovering blue note muisic