Recording history and tape provenance
Clark was heavily influenced by Bud Powell and made eleven albums under his own name between 1957 and 1961. He died in January 1963 at 31.
The album has four long performances. They are the title track, "Blue Minor," Miles Davis's "Sippin' at Bells" and a nine-and-a-half-minute "Deep Night," a standard from 1929. The length gives the quintet room that shorter hard bop sessions do not.
The cover, designed by Reid Miles from a Francis Wolff photograph, shows Alfred Lion's wife Ruth rather than any musician on the record.
Van Gelder ran mono and stereo tapes simultaneously on Blue Note sessions from March 1957 until late 1958. Mono was the primary format at release, and most reissue programmes since have used the stereo tapes.
Original Blue Note pressings (1958)
First pressings are exceptionally scarce. LondonJazzCollector ranks Cool Struttin' second in the whole Blue Note catalogue by collector auction activity, with clean originals routinely past $2,000.
Later pressings under the same catalogue number include a dark blue label from 1973 to 1975. It carries "A Division of United Artists Records, Inc." text and was pressed by All Disc Records. The "22" and "66" codes stamped in the runout identify it. One documented copy of that era shows a corrected matrix, with a crossed-out "B" and a squared "A" stamped underneath it.
Liberty-era pressings with the RVG cut
Not every alternative to a 1958 original means giving up Van Gelder's mastering. Deep Groove Mono describes buying what the collector identifies as a third or fourth Liberty-era pressing of BLP 1588.
That copy still carries the original Van Gelder mono cut, shown by the RVG stamp in the dead wax. It dates from at least eight years after the original release, after Blue Note's sale to Liberty.
These pressings cost a fraction of a first pressing while keeping the mastering generation that matters most to many listeners. The RVG stamp is the thing to check.
Music Matters editions
Two Music Matters editions exist and are easy to confuse. The 45rpm edition is a numbered 2LP limited to 3,500 copies. Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman remastered it at AcousTech from the Van Gelder master tapes, and it was pressed at RTI (Record Technology Inc.).
The 33⅓ edition came later, in the 2014 series marking Blue Note's 75th anniversary, cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio.
Music Matters' promotional copy claims the newer 33⅓ mastering improves on their 45rpm work. That comparison, as written, uses Midnight Blue as its reference title, and the same text appears across several Music Matters 33⅓ product pages. It is not a comparison of this album's two editions.
Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition (2021)
The Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original tapes. Retailer listings carrying Blue Note's description give the pressing as 180g at Optimal.
The 'In' Groove ran a volume-matched comparison of Classic Vinyl against Music Matters on three other titles, not this one. The two series were essentially indistinguishable once matched, with the apparent Music Matters advantage tracing to a louder cut.
Both series come from the same engineer and the same tapes, which that reviewer argues makes a large gap implausible. It is general context, since this album was not among the titles tested.
The price gap is real, with Music Matters copies well past $100 against roughly $30 for a Classic Vinyl copy. Whether it buys sound or packaging is untested for this title.
Buyer's guide by budget
$$$: The Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition, Kevin Gray's mastering at ordinary pricing.
$$$$: A Liberty-era pressing with the RVG stamp confirmed, or the Music Matters 33⅓ edition.
$$$$$: The Music Matters 45rpm, or an original BLP 1588 or BST 81588.
Pressing tier summary
| Tier ⇅ | Pressing | Cat# | Year ⇅ | Format | Source / Mastering | Notes | Market ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | Music Matters 45rpm | BST 81588 (MM) | – | Stereo, 45rpm, 2×180g | Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman, AcousTech. Pressed at RTI | Numbered, 3,500 copies | – |
| A | Blue Note original | BLP 1588 / BST 81588 | 1958 | Mono and stereo, 33⅓ | Rudy Van Gelder | First pressing. Second most valuable title in the catalogue by auction activity | $42VG+ $55NM $61M |
| A | Music Matters 33⅓ | BST 81588 (MM) | 2014 | Stereo, 33⅓, 180g | Kevin Gray, Cohearent Audio | Separate, later single-LP edition | – |
| A | Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition | BST 81588 | 2021 | Stereo, 33⅓, 180g | Kevin Gray, all-analog. Pressed at Optimal | Same engineer and tapes as Music Matters. Not tested in the volume-matched comparison | – |
| B | Liberty-era pressing with RVG stamp | BLP 1588 | c. 1966 onwards | Mono, 33⅓ | Rudy Van Gelder, original cut retained | Check for the RVG stamp in the dead wax | – |
| – | United Artists-era dark blue label | BLP 1588 | 1973–75 | 33⅓ | Not credited | Not rated. Pressed by All Disc Records, "22" and "66" runout codes | – |
References
- Wikipedia, "Cool Struttin'": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_Struttin%27
- LondonJazzCollector, "Rare Blue Note: what's the collector alternative?": https://londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/rare-blue-note-whats-the-collector-alternative/
- Deep Groove Mono, "Vinyl Spotlight: Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin' (BLP 1588) Liberty Mono Pressing": https://dgmono.com/2019/05/09/vinyl-spotlight-sonny-clark-cool-struttin-blp-1588-liberty-mono-pressing/
- Elusive Disc, "Sonny Clark – Cool Struttin', numbered limited edition 180g 45rpm 2LP": https://elusivedisc.com/sonny-clark-cool-struttin-numbered-limited-edition-180g-45rpm-2lp/
- Elusive Disc, "Sonny Clark – Cool Struttin' 180g LP" (Music Matters 33⅓): https://elusivedisc.com/sonny-clark-cool-struttin-180g-lp
- The 'In' Groove, "Blue Note Classic LP's VS Music Matters Jazz Review and shootout": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xES9Wdojec8