Great discussion, I have about 500 Japanese Jazz records, mostly Blue Notes, King pressings rule, they are the best. I am happy that I started with Japanese pressings early, I got many of them cheap compared to today. Still you get a lot for your money. I just compared a black b Blue Note Joe Henderson against a Japanese Toshib from the mid 80´s, the Japanese sounds as good, if not better and is totally quiet. The OG mono are not to beat, but next in line are Japanese pressings for me. I toured japan twice as a musician, I LOVED IT, I had a great time, japan is amazing and the people LOVE music and you get a lot of respect. I met Bob Cranshaw at the airport in Nagasaki and he loved it too, as a musician in Japan you are a King and you can buy King pressings 🙂
really enjoyed this discussion. Particularly cool and interesting to hear that the Japanese are more concerned with the record sounding good and the music being crisp and clear, more so than being overly concerned about master tapes being used.
Great video. I love it Ken when you get a bit cranky! I find Japanese reissues to be a good compromise for titles that are too rare and expensive as originals but have not been done by Tone Poets, Craft, AP etc. Would have liked to ask how Japanese collectors feel about 45 rpm reissues.
Ken an awesome job on putting this together. Can't wait for part 2. I have many Japanese issues Jazz lps and CD's. Every week I get Jazz loves Japan email.
Not sure why my comment was instantly deleted. But in short, there is a mastering engineer from JVC Mastering Center in Japan named 小鉄徹 (Toru Kotetsu). He did some Three Blind Mice reissues and has a series from DIW called 円盤新世紀 (Enban shin seiki) that states the use of original master tapes. I wonder if Inohara-san could share some information on Toru Kotetsu and some of his pressings. I've been following Jazz Blues Japan for awhile now and don't think I've seen anything about Kotetsu or the DIW reissues. There is an interview on Kotetsu by Cowboy Up, but I don't know Japanese. Great video by the way!
Very interesting! 😊 I'm no audiophile, for which I'm grateful. It frees me to enjoy music with my 1 working ear, without any miniscule pickiness! Thanks for the information, at any rate! It's useful!
Superb Ken. 3 great guests on excellent subject matter. Particularly interesting to hear Takashi's opinions. As someone in Europe who is often priced out of the US original/early-pressings market, Japanese pressings have been a high quality and affordable alternative for me and learning more about their history has been intriguing. Looking forward to another installment! Thanks
Ken, Excellent, excellent panel discussion on jazz and the Japan pressings. I lived over in Japan for 1.5 years back in the late 1990s. Can confirm everything Michael said about the tons and tons of vinyl shops over there. I was very lucky to meet a Japanese vinyl collector who showed me the ropes over the course of quite a few weekends. After having looked for so many US pressed Blue Note titles for years, I was blown away by the sheer number of titles available in Japan. Its also important to note that Japan was and is the largest music market on the planet per capita. If you remove the per capita limitation, Japan is 2nd only to the US on total music sales, so Japan is a huge market for all types of music. Secondly the Jazz market in Japan always has dwarfed the Jazz market in the US. If you have a part B of the discussion; here are a few topics to add for the list. 1. Prestige MJ, SMJ, VIJ, VIJJ prefix numbers pressed by Victor Music. 2.Contemporary titles pressed by King Records. 3. the BLP series of Blue Notes flat profile titles pressed by Toshiba-EMI. 4. The King Records BST heavy weight pressings. 5. The special runs of titles made for the DAM (Daiichi Audio Members) club in Japan. 6. King Records Laboratory standard series where lacquers were cut with all EQ and compression removed from the signal path. Most were classical but a few were jazz titles. I could go on and on but that is a start.
@@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455 Ken, if the others are willing, sure I will join in. Think it would be important to cover some of the history on Japan pressing plants. The Americans were not the first there to work with the Japanese. The British were there first; EMI and Decca. The American record companies were 2nd along with the Germans and Dutch labels. From a global perspective, its also important to understand how the global record companies were bought up and how that affected Japan pressing plant operations.
I can't believe I haven't seen this video before. I used to live in Tokyo and have that time to thank for my getting into jazz. All those great jazz coffee shops and jazz bars and the jazz/blues section in the numerous Tower Records were as big as the rock and pop here in Dublin. Disc Union was a great place to shop too.
Such a great chat, was too short. But great questions, followed Takashi for a while. Had many Japanese pressings some have been great. Others not so good with regards to sounding a little thin or lacking on bass. However the condition is always excellent. Blue note masterpiece collection 150 sound great. Some other pressings around late 70s into 80s were translucent, like the super vinyl of the day. Outstanding quality. I’ve got 2 Coltrane LPs - Giant Steps &Coltrane Sound. Both mono pressings from the jazz analogue premium collection (2019) From a digital file and were supervised by Nesuhi Ertegun. Sound excellent and best I’ve heard these albums. The packaging is also outstanding. A question I would like to put forward if I may. A lot of the Japanese use JBL ( blue face monitors) also as Takashi mentioned, Shure carts. My experience with Shure is they are usually a bit more detailed / responsive in the bottom end. I was just wondering maybe the way the Japanese have mastered jazz over the years, is system depended. As a lot of systems tend to go JBL or other Horn loaded equivalents. Just a thought.
I just came back from Tokyo and Osaka. I bought about 15 OG Blue Notes and Prestige. Disk Union in both cities, all neighborhoods, were not "cheap," but in every single case I paid substantially less than Discogs is asking. And the condition of the LPs is outstanding. I'm talking OG Soultrane, OG Bud Powell, OG Horace Silver. Etc. Not trivial albums.
That was so interesting Ken. Really enjoyed it. When talking record sound quality especially the Japanese pressing, would it be correct to assume the average Japanese stereo system would be better than North America?
Interesting discussion. A few points. My understanding is the King BN's which sound excellent were all done from 1 to 1 tape copies of the masters. They're not perfect. I had a King/BN of Jackie McClean's "Bluesnik" that had the channels reversed and was bettered by the BlueNote Classics recently. I've read many of the Early 90's EMI Toshiba Blue Note RI LPs were cut from digital. Don't know if this is true. Also in the 90's Fantasy did a series of Prestige and New Jazz titles only for the Japanese market but were pressed here on the US. None of these titles appeared in the regluar US OJC run to my knowledge. I have a few of these.
I loved this round table discussion, Ken. Very insightful was in Japan last summer searching the vinyl stores. One source your contributors did not mention was Book Off. It's a type of thrift store (found all over Japan) and although disorderly (jazz is rarely filed under the right section) you can find some real bargains there. You'd love it!
Good point! Yes, BookOff stores are an incredible source for used Jazz records. And here’s a tip; the ones furthest away from big train stations have the best selections at the lowest prices. As an aside, I posted two videos about my experiences with BookOff stores on my channel. Please check them out! Entitled, “Book stores often have great deals on used vinyl records in Japan” and “BookOff in Ogikubo”
Here's the thing about Toshiba/EMI and King Japanese reissues: they may be from a copy tape, but that copy tape was from 30-40 years ago. I'd rather something from a fresher copy tape made in 1975, than something from a degraded master tape in 2024.
Are you positive that the Disk Union Mono Blue Note reissues are digitally sourced, Takashi? The obi on top says “FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES.” Maybe Kevin Gray could chime in, or Rich could ask him.
There is an interview you can find on TH-cam where Kevin does say that they used a digital source. The way those records were marketed seems to have been dishonest.
@@davidphillips6543 - If that’s the case, it would be worse than “MoFigate” where the company always merely implied that their vinyl product was always from the actual master tape - whether it be analog or digital.
Yes it's on TH-cam and elsewhere on the Internet, it's been public info for about a year now. The Disk Union digital mastering engineer sent Kevin Gray digital files to cut from.
@@irawong Thank you for sharing this video, I hadn't seen it, very interesting! I personally feel that the Classic Records reissues form the early 2000s did a better job of reproducing the deep grooves and the labels (paper, ink, and color), but both jackets are nice, and I'd say I usually prefer Gray's mastering (DBLP) to Grundman's (Classic).
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yes ! that was wonderful !!!! thank you ! many details i did not know ..... all the best from Berlin/germany
Great discussion, I have about 500 Japanese Jazz records, mostly Blue Notes, King pressings rule, they are the best. I am happy that I started with Japanese pressings early, I got many of them cheap compared to today. Still you get a lot for your money. I just compared a black b Blue Note Joe Henderson against a Japanese Toshib from the mid 80´s, the Japanese sounds as good, if not better and is totally quiet. The OG mono are not to beat, but next in line are Japanese pressings for me. I toured japan twice as a musician, I LOVED IT, I had a great time, japan is amazing and the people LOVE music and you get a lot of respect. I met Bob Cranshaw at the airport in Nagasaki and he loved it too, as a musician in Japan you are a King and you can buy King pressings 🙂
really enjoyed this discussion. Particularly cool and interesting to hear that the Japanese are more concerned with the record sounding good and the music being crisp and clear, more so than being overly concerned about master tapes being used.
wow, worlds collide! I follow both Richard and Takashi, great to see all these guests together on this topic
Great video. I love it Ken when you get a bit cranky! I find Japanese reissues to be a good compromise for titles that are too rare and expensive as originals but have not been done by Tone Poets, Craft, AP etc. Would have liked to ask how Japanese collectors feel about 45 rpm reissues.
Thanks. But I cut out the really cranky stuff!
Ken an awesome job on putting this together. Can't wait for part 2. I have many Japanese issues Jazz lps and CD's. Every week I get Jazz loves Japan email.
Hi Ken This was a very good and nice discussion on Jazz in japan. I like Japanese pressings.
Not sure why my comment was instantly deleted. But in short, there is a mastering engineer from JVC Mastering Center in Japan named 小鉄徹 (Toru Kotetsu). He did some Three Blind Mice reissues and has a series from DIW called 円盤新世紀 (Enban shin seiki) that states the use of original master tapes. I wonder if Inohara-san could share some information on Toru Kotetsu and some of his pressings. I've been following Jazz Blues Japan for awhile now and don't think I've seen anything about Kotetsu or the DIW reissues. There is an interview on Kotetsu by Cowboy Up, but I don't know Japanese. Great video by the way!
Sorry, that may have happened when I had to change my password. Thanks for the excellent info!
@@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455 All good! I look forward to another discussion on this topic!
Awesome! Thank you, Ken for inviting Takashi, his channel should be more known as it is a very valuable resource for Japanese pressings.
Yes, let's do this again. Brilliant presentation. Educational & engaging with relaxed collectors 👍🏼
That was great, Ken. Thank you. Taking notes for that trip to Japan, hopefully in the near future.
Fantastic. You’re going to love Japan Ken.
Very interesting! 😊 I'm no audiophile, for which I'm grateful. It frees me to enjoy music with my 1 working ear, without any miniscule pickiness! Thanks for the information, at any rate! It's useful!
Fantastic, now I have to go dig out some of my Japanese pressing and give them a spin. Great stuff again Ken. 🫡
Superb Ken. 3 great guests on excellent subject matter. Particularly interesting to hear Takashi's opinions. As someone in Europe who is often priced out of the US original/early-pressings market, Japanese pressings have been a high quality and affordable alternative for me and learning more about their history has been intriguing. Looking forward to another installment! Thanks
Ken, Excellent, excellent panel discussion on jazz and the Japan pressings. I lived over in Japan for 1.5 years back in the late 1990s. Can confirm everything Michael said about the tons and tons of vinyl shops over there. I was very lucky to meet a Japanese vinyl collector who showed me the ropes over the course of quite a few weekends. After having looked for so many US pressed Blue Note titles for years, I was blown away by the sheer number of titles available in Japan. Its also important to note that Japan was and is the largest music market on the planet per capita. If you remove the per capita limitation, Japan is 2nd only to the US on total music sales, so Japan is a huge market for all types of music. Secondly the Jazz market in Japan always has dwarfed the Jazz market in the US. If you have a part B of the discussion; here are a few topics to add for the list. 1. Prestige MJ, SMJ, VIJ, VIJJ prefix numbers pressed by Victor Music. 2.Contemporary titles pressed by King Records. 3. the BLP series of Blue Notes flat profile titles pressed by Toshiba-EMI. 4. The King Records BST heavy weight pressings. 5. The special runs of titles made for the DAM (Daiichi Audio Members) club in Japan. 6. King Records Laboratory standard series where lacquers were cut with all EQ and compression removed from the signal path. Most were classical but a few were jazz titles. I could go on and on but that is a start.
Sounds like u should join us
@@kenmicallefjazzvinylaudiop6455 Ken, if the others are willing, sure I will join in. Think it would be important to cover some of the history on Japan pressing plants. The Americans were not the first there to work with the Japanese. The British were there first; EMI and Decca. The American record companies were 2nd along with the Germans and Dutch labels. From a global perspective, its also important to understand how the global record companies were bought up and how that affected Japan pressing plant operations.
What a great and informative discussion - well done! Thanks a lot, Ken 👏
I can't believe I haven't seen this video before. I used to live in Tokyo and have that time to thank for my getting into jazz. All those great jazz coffee shops and jazz bars and the jazz/blues section in the numerous Tower Records were as big as the rock and pop here in Dublin. Disc Union was a great place to shop too.
Thank you!!!
Such a great chat, was too short. But great questions, followed Takashi for a while. Had many Japanese pressings some have been great. Others not so good with regards to sounding a little thin or lacking on bass.
However the condition is always excellent. Blue note masterpiece collection 150 sound great.
Some other pressings around late 70s into 80s were translucent, like the super vinyl of the day. Outstanding quality.
I’ve got 2 Coltrane LPs - Giant Steps &Coltrane Sound. Both mono pressings from the jazz analogue premium collection (2019) From a digital file and were supervised by Nesuhi Ertegun. Sound excellent and best I’ve heard these albums. The packaging is also outstanding.
A question I would like to put forward if I may.
A lot of the Japanese use JBL ( blue face monitors) also as Takashi mentioned, Shure carts.
My experience with Shure is they are usually a bit more detailed / responsive in the bottom end.
I was just wondering maybe the way the Japanese have mastered jazz over the years, is system depended. As a lot of systems tend to go JBL or other Horn loaded equivalents. Just a thought.
I just came back from Tokyo and Osaka. I bought about 15 OG Blue Notes and Prestige. Disk Union in both cities, all neighborhoods, were not "cheap," but in every single case I paid substantially less than Discogs is asking. And the condition of the LPs is outstanding. I'm talking OG Soultrane, OG Bud Powell, OG Horace Silver. Etc. Not trivial albums.
That was so interesting Ken.
Really enjoyed it.
When talking record sound quality especially the Japanese pressing, would it be correct to assume the average Japanese stereo system would be better than North America?
Interesting discussion. A few points. My understanding is the King BN's which sound excellent were all done from 1 to 1 tape copies of the masters. They're not perfect. I had a King/BN of Jackie McClean's "Bluesnik" that had the channels reversed and was bettered by the BlueNote Classics recently. I've read many of the Early 90's EMI Toshiba Blue Note RI LPs were cut from digital. Don't know if this is true. Also in the 90's Fantasy did a series of Prestige and New Jazz titles only for the Japanese market but were pressed here on the US. None of these titles appeared in the regluar US OJC run to my knowledge. I have a few of these.
Elite discussion. An Avengers-equivalent in jazz vinyl joining forces
Ha!
I loved this round table discussion, Ken. Very insightful was in Japan last summer searching the vinyl stores. One source your contributors did not mention was Book Off. It's a type of thrift store (found all over Japan) and although disorderly (jazz is rarely filed under the right section) you can find some real bargains there. You'd love it!
Good point! Yes, BookOff stores are an incredible source for used Jazz records. And here’s a tip; the ones furthest away from big train stations have the best selections at the lowest prices. As an aside, I posted two videos about my experiences with BookOff stores on my channel. Please check them out! Entitled, “Book stores often have great deals on used vinyl records in Japan” and “BookOff in Ogikubo”
Thank you, amazing!
Here's the thing about Toshiba/EMI and King Japanese reissues: they may be from a copy tape, but that copy tape was from 30-40 years ago. I'd rather something from a fresher copy tape made in 1975, than something from a degraded master tape in 2024.
Thank you!
With you on that. The same is true for Prestige. A lot were reissued in the mid 70s in mono, sound great and are as cheap as chips.
Are you positive that the Disk Union Mono Blue Note reissues are digitally sourced, Takashi? The obi on top says “FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES.” Maybe Kevin Gray could chime in, or Rich could ask him.
th-cam.com/video/rBgy36AgTcQ/w-d-xo.html
There is an interview you can find on TH-cam where Kevin does say that they used a digital source. The way those records were marketed seems to have been dishonest.
@@davidphillips6543 - If that’s the case, it would be worse than “MoFigate” where the company always merely implied that their vinyl product was always from the actual master tape - whether it be analog or digital.
Yes it's on TH-cam and elsewhere on the Internet, it's been public info for about a year now. The Disk Union digital mastering engineer sent Kevin Gray digital files to cut from.
@@irawong Thank you for sharing this video, I hadn't seen it, very interesting! I personally feel that the Classic Records reissues form the early 2000s did a better job of reproducing the deep grooves and the labels (paper, ink, and color), but both jackets are nice, and I'd say I usually prefer Gray's mastering (DBLP) to Grundman's (Classic).
Japanese value things original. Same applies to every style of music. Original, original, original.