Analogue Productions Bringing 25 Classic Blue Note Jazz Albums to Super Audio CD

Earlier today Analogue Productions, the audiophile reissue specialist label owned by Chad Kassem, announced that they are bringing 25 classic albums from the Blue Note catalog to Super Audio CD disc. The albums are being licensed from Blue Note Records, the famed Jazz label owned by EMI/Capitol Records.

Kassem is well known for his Acoustic Sounds web site which offers classic albums in audiophile formats such as Vinyl LP and Super Audio CD, among others. He also has championed live recordings of blues artists over the years as well as audiophile reissues such as the upcoming Blue Note SACD series on his Analogue Productions label. Earlier SACD titles on that label included both Jazz recordings as well as the reissue on Hybrid Stereo SACD of the entire collection of original master recordings by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Blue Note Albums Return to Super Audio CD
High Fidelity Review readers will recall that Blue Note issued several albums in Super Audio CD a few years back including the hit album Come Away With Me by Norah Jones. Included in that earlier set of SACDs was the album “Blue Train” by John Coltrane. Blue Train is also included in the Analogue Productions deal with Blue Note.

For this series of releases, audiophile remastering specialists Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray will be at the mastering console. Hoffman and Gray have worked on a number of Super Audio CD audiophile discs in the past including the Creedence Clearwater Revival and Jazz titles on Analogue Productions as well as SACDs from Cisco Records and Audio Fidelity. Hoffman provided more details on the upcoming project on his Steve Hoffman web forum today.

In terms of the Blue Note albums coming to Super Audio CD, all 25 are now available for pre-order on the Acoustic Sounds web site starting today at a list price of $30 each. The upcoming SACDs are as follows:

Analogue Productions – Blue Jazz Hybrid Stereo SACD Releases

  • Lou Donaldson – Blues Walk (Analogue Productions CBNJ 81593 SA)
  • Cannonball Adderley – Somethin’ Else (Analogue Productions CBNJ 81595 SA)
  • Art Taylor – A.T.’s Delight (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84047 SA)
  • Kenny Dorham – Whistle Stop (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84063 SA)
  • Horace Silver – The Tokyo Blues (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84110 SA)
  • Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Moanin’ (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84003 SA)
  • The Three Sounds – Bottom’s Up (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84014 SA)
  • Lee Morgan – Lee-way (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84034 SA)
  • John Coltrane – Blue Train (Analogue Productions CBNJ 81577 SA)
  • Ike Quebec – It Might As Well Be Spring (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84105 SA)
  • Dexter Gordon – Go (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84112 SA)
  • Joe Henderson – Page One (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84140 SA)
  • Ike Quebec – Soul Samba Bossa Nova (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84114 SA)
  • Kenny Burrell – Midnight Blue (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84123 SA)
  • John Patton – Along Came John (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84130 SA)
  • Jackie McLean – Capuchin Swing (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84038 SA)
  • Jackie McLean – Jackie’s Bag (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84051 SA)
  • Grant Green – Green Street (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84071 SA)
  • Hank Mobley – A Caddy For Daddy (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84230 SA)
  • Dexter Gordon – Dexter Calling (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84083 SA)
  • Lou Donaldson – Here ‘Tis (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84066 SA)
  • Grant Green – Idle Moments (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84154 SA)
  • Fred Jackson – Hootin’ ‘N Tootin’ (Analogue Productions CBNJ 84094 SA)

Analogue Productions – Blue Jazz Hybrid Mono SACD Releases

  • Paul Chambers – Whims of Chambers (Analogue Productions CBNJ 1534 SA)
  • Sonny Rollins – Vol. 2 (Analogue Productions CBNJ 1558 SA)

More to Come?
Even in a reissue program like this one with 25 classic titles coming to Super Audio CD there will always be questions about other albums. Some people asked if there’s a chance that Analogue Productions might be convinced to expand their Blue Note SACD Reissue Series.

Since this deal was just announced earlier in the week, it’s probably too early to have that discussion. Still Chad Kassem is a big fan of this material and my chat with him leads me to believe that if the sales are there on the first 25, he’s willing to consider doing more. Now that’s an exciting thought. We will certainly keep an eye open as the work on this series begins.