RECORD REVIEWS
From 1962 until now, and counting all formats except downloads, there have been no fewer than 62 releases of Herbie Hancock’s debut album, Takin’ Off—more than any of his other albums except Maiden Voyage (1965) and Head Hunters (1973). This issue’s Recording of the Month comes from an ambitious project referred to by Blue Note Records as the Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series, which is distinct from the company’s Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series, described in Sasha Matson’s interview with company President Don Was in the May 2019 Stereophile. From May of this year through April of 2020, the Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series LPs are being released in batches, and each batch has a different theme. The first theme—Blue Note Debuts—is intended to highlight inaugural albums by then-new artists, or records by established artists who were making their Blue Note debuts. Other Blue Note Debuts reissues include Grant’s First Stand by Grant Green, Open Sesame by Freddie Hubbard, Doin’ Allright by Dexter Gordon, and Johnny Griffin’s Introducing Johnny Griffin. Future batches of LPs in the Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series will carry the themes Blue Grooves, Great Reid Miles Covers, Blue Note Live, and Drummer Leaders.
As with the Tone Poet Series, reissues in the Blue Note 80 Series are all-analog in every instance where an analog master tape is available. Such is the case with this most recent reissue of , which was sourced from Rudy Van Gelder’s original master tape. The vinyl is 180g, with Kevin Gray as mastering engineer. There are a few technical distinctions between the two series: Tone Poet reissues are produced by Joe Harley, pressed in the US at RTI, and packaged in deluxe gatefold jackets, while Blue Note is priced at $25, compared to $35 for the Tone Poet LPs.
