Album Reviews

Blue Note's new "Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series" is part of the company's 80th anniversary celebration. Wayne Shorter's Etcetera is the first release in the series. Joe Harley, well known among audiophiles for his work with AudioQuest both as a press liaison (among other tasks) and especially for the series of all-analog AudioQuest LPs he produced back when vinyl was "dead", "hand picked" these "Tone Poet" titles and oversaw their production.

Harley is also half of the Music Matters team that has produced a rich catalog of Blue Note reissues and he's been closely associated with Charles Lloyd, who some years ago anointed him the "Tone Poet". Blue Note President Don Was was so impressed with the Music Matters reissues he invited the "Tone Poet" to oversee a deluxe Blue Note reissue series named for him. Quite an honor! Every record in the series will be cut, like this one, using the original analog master tape (other than in the few cases where the original recording was not analog).

Perhaps we will never know why this 1965 Rudy Van Gelder recording was not released until 1980. (as Blue Note LT 1056) It's certainly not because of the group featuring Herbie Hancock, Cecil McBee and Joe Chambers, nor, despite the somewhat dismissive album title, because the music sounds "tossed off" as in "etcetera". Perhaps it was shelved because it's not a funky "toe-tapping" session? It is a showcase for Shorter's compositional talents, including the gorgeous ballad "Penelope" and for this listener, the way drummer Chambers locks in with Hancock throughout, but particularly on "Toy Tune", side one's closer, where RVG's recording captures well the dynamics of his insistent accents. If you've been steeped in Shorter's epic Emanon , the title tune's opening saxophone pronouncement will sound somewhat familiar before the group launches.

Side two opens with Gil Evans' "Barracudas (General Assembly)" the unreleased history of which makes for quite a story that won't be told here, and closes with Shorter's serpentine "Indian Song", in which all four insistently and pleasingly "uncoil". I could swear I hear references to The Markett's "Out of Limits" and the "Mission Impossible" theme, but that's probably just my imagination (running away with me).

This is an interesting RVG Blue Note recording in that it's relatively dry compared to most and more importantly the piano is remarkably well-recorded compared to some of RVG's "swampier" sounding keyboards. Also Joe Chambers' drum kit seems more closely miked than usual and because of the dryness has an appealingly direct and dynamic quality.

Per Don Was's direction, everything about this reissue series closely mirrors the Music Matters releases that so impressed Was (gatefold laminated "Tip On" jacket, black and white Francis Wolff session photographs, Kevin Gray mastering from original tapes and RTI 180g pressing) except for the $35.00 price, which is is $15.00 less than what Music Matters charges, but then Was gets an "insider's" licensing discount!

An auspicious start for what is sure to be a vital "must have" series. Actually I know for a fact it is a "must have" series: the first run quickly sold out, which was beyond the label's expectations for such a costly package. Not surprising to "us" because we know that quality sells. The Tone Poet series will include 18 titles released this year taken from the Blue Note and Blue Note associated labels like Solid State. A review coming soon of the second "Tone Poet" release, Chick Corea's Now He Sings, Now He Sobs.