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Last night (i.e., December 4, 2024), a select group of journalists gathered at the All Blues listening bar in New York City’s Chinatown, where we were treated to an exclusive preview of Analogue Productions’ special 180g 1LP edition of Miles Davis’ Birth of the Blue, which is set for release on December 13, 2024. Music historian Ashley Kahn, producer and archivist Steve Berkowitz (seen addressing the crowd at the top of this story), and Chad Kassem of Acoustic Sounds/Analogue Productions all held court regarding the history and recording processes behind the album. (You can read our initial report about this historic LP’s impending release here on AP on November 14, 2024.) Catch the All Blues vibe in the photo below.

Birth of the Blue finally assembles, in a single release, music recorded in 1958, one year prior to the landmark August 1959 Columbia LP Kind of Blue, featuring the storied lineup of Miles Davis on trumpet, John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Julian “Cannonball” Adderley on alto saxophone, Bill Evans on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums.

That linchpin album’s four tracks — “On Green Dolphin Street,” “Fran-Dance,” “Stella by Starlight,” and “Love for Sale” — have, over the years, appeared in their original form on different compilations, including 1959’s Jazz Track, 1973’s Basic Miles, and 1974’s 1958 Miles (all on Columbia).

In his usual manner, Kassem and his team at Analogue Productions took great care to match the music’s importance with the highest production aesthetic possible. The original 3-track recording session tapes were mixed down to a new 30ips quarter-inch stereo master tape by senior mastering engineer Vic Anesini at Battery Studios in New York City. (It’s long been reported that Sony would never allow that tape to leave their premises in NYC; this loaner ends that rumor.)

From that stereo master tape, Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab cut the lacquers at 33⅓rpm using Doug Sax’s custom all-tube system and cutting lathe. The lacquers were plated and pressed on 180g vinyl at Quality Record Pressings (QRP) in Salinas, Kansas. A Stoughton Printing tip-on gatefold jacket and artwork seeks to replicate the Columbia Records look from 1959 — and it succeeds admirably, as seen above.

“This represents the highest-quality mastering, highest-quality liner notes, highest-quality transfers, high-quality jackets, [and] highest-quality pressings,” Kassem said regarding the release, his brainchild. Kassem (center) is seen above at All Blues, flanked by Kahn (left) and publicist Matt Hanks (at right).

Hear some of BotB for yourself, via our YouTube clip of “Love for Sale,” above.

Equally revelatory was All Blues owner Yuji Fukushima’s vintage audio system — much of it manufactured in the late ’50s, when turntables, tube amps, and horn-loaded speakers held sway with much of the music-buying and nascent audiophile public. Fukushima’s system included a pair of holy-grail EMT 930ST turntables (with built-in EQs) outfitted with EMT tonearms and Denon DL-103 MC cartridges. A McIntosh C22 preamp, McIntosh MC275 power amp, Marantz 7 preamp, and Marantz 8 power amp drove JBL Hartsfield D30085 and JBL Paragon SN 848 loudspeakers. (Yuji is seen above, amidst his system. The system itself is below.)

Once the music began playing over the world class vintage system, I was transported to my earliest hearing of Basic Miles. It was 1979, after a chance encounter with Miles Davis himself on 78th Street in New York’s Upper West Side ignited a lifelong passion. I sought out every recording, eager to immerse myself in his musical brilliance.

The solos featured on Birth of the Blue are a revelation, comparable to the historied performances found on Kind of Blue. While the latter is a masterpiece of careful composition and execution, Birth of the Blue embraces a more spontaneous and improvisational approach — a blowing session. Evans and Coltrane’s solos on “Stella by Starlight” are particularly noteworthy, as are Adderley and Cobb’s masterful contributions throughout the album. Miles’ muted trumpet, as always, is arrayed in all its splendor.

Once home, promo copy of the LP in hand, I played it on my system. Birth of the Blue’s sonics were superior to my crusty copy of Basic Miles, and Kahn’s liner notes transported me back to the late 1950s, a time of boundless possibility and musical innovation.

More comments to come once we’ve spent more time with this important LP!

Birth of the Blue will be made available in both limited-edition blue vinyl and black vinyl options for an SRP of $40, and it can be preordered directly from Acoustic Sounds here.

Author bio: Former musician, former artist, and former legal wastrel Ken Micallef has written numerous hi-fi equipment reviews for Stereophile and Analog Planet, and his byline has also appeared within Mojo, Electronic Musician, and The Grammys. You can also find him at YouTube (Ken Micallef Jazz Vinyl Audiophile).