Cool Struttin'

Recording history and tape provenance

Clark, heavily influenced by Bud Powell, made eleven albums under his own name between 1957 and 1961 before dying in January 1963 at just 31. The album's four lengthy performances – the title track, "Blue Minor," "Sippin' at Bells" (a Miles Davis composition), and a nine-and-a-half-minute closing take on the 1929 standard "Deep Night" – give the whole quintet room to stretch out in a way shorter, more compressed hard bop sessions don't always allow. The cover, designed by Reid Miles from a Francis Wolff photograph, actually depicts Alfred Lion's wife Ruth rather than any musician on the record – one of the more famous instances of a Blue Note cover image having nothing literally to do with the session inside.

Mono was the primary format at the time of the original release, but stereo pressings have been favored in most reissue programs in the decades since. Original first pressings of this title are now exceptionally scarce and expensive – LondonJazzCollector's detailed survey of high-value Blue Note originals ranks Cool Struttin' as the second most valuable title in the entire catalog by collector auction activity, with clean original copies routinely fetching well over $2,000.

Given how scarce and expensive genuine first pressings have become, it's worth knowing that not every alternative to a true 1958 original means giving up Rudy Van Gelder's original mono mastering. One detailed collector account describes tracking down and purchasing what the collector identifies as a "third or fourth" Liberty-era pressing of BLP 1588 – meaning a repress from well after Blue Note's sale to Liberty Records in the mid-1960s, at least eight years removed from the original release – that still carries the original Van Gelder mono cutting, evidenced by the RVG stamp in the dead wax. This kind of later pressing, while still a genuine collector item in its own right, is typically far more attainable than a true first pressing while preserving the mastering generation that matters most to many listeners.

Two separate Music Matters editions of this title exist and shouldn't be confused with each other: an earlier, limited 2×45rpm edition (numbered, limited to 3,500 copies, mastered by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman at AcousTech, pressed at RTI), and a later, separate single-LP 33⅓ edition, also mastered by Kevin Gray. Promotional copy circulating for Music Matters' 33⅓ series in general makes a striking claim about how much better their newer 33⅓ mastering sounds compared to their earlier 45rpm work – but that specific comparison, as written, describes a side-by-side test using Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue as the reference title, not Cool Struttin' itself, and the same promotional text appears to be reused across product pages for multiple different Music Matters 33⅓ titles. This guide isn't treating that as a confirmed comparison of Cool Struttin's own two editions specifically, since the source doesn't actually make that direct comparison for this title.

Worth knowing before assuming Music Matters titles automatically outperform the Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition on this or any title: a detailed, volume-matched shootout by an independent record store owner directly compared Blue Note Classic/80th Anniversary pressings against their equivalent Music Matters editions across three specific titles (Hank Mobley's Soul Station, Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder, and Joe Henderson's Page One – not Cool Struttin' itself, so this is general context rather than a direct claim about this title). The reviewer found the two series essentially indistinguishable once volume-matched, attributing an apparent Music Matters advantage to the Music Matters pressings simply being cut a few decibels louder – a well-documented psychoacoustic effect where louder audio is perceived as better even when the underlying fidelity is equivalent. Both series share the same mastering engineer (Kevin Gray) working from the same original tapes, which the reviewer argues makes a dramatic quality gap between them implausible on its face. This doesn't mean Cool Struttin's own two Music Matters editions and Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition are proven identical – that specific comparison wasn't tested – but it's a reasonable caution against assuming the price gap between a $200+ Music Matters copy and a $25–35 Blue Note Classic copy reflects an equivalent gap in sound quality.

Sound quality by pressing

The Blue Note BLP 1588 (mono) / BST 81588 (stereo), 1958 original are the true first pressings – exceptionally scarce and among the most expensive Blue Note originals in the entire catalog. Later pressings under the same catalog number include a distinctive 1973–75 dark blue label variant carrying "A Division of United Artists Records, Inc." text, pressed by All Disc Records (identifiable via "22" and "66" codes in the runout); one documented copy of this era even shows a corrected matrix etching, with a crossed-out "B" and a squared "A" stamped below it.

A later Liberty-era pressing with retained RVG mastering is a genuine, more attainable way to hear Van Gelder's original mono cut without paying first-pressing prices – see above.

The Music Matters 2×45rpm (limited, 3,500 copies) is mastered by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman at AcousTech Mastering, pressed at RTI on 180-gram vinyl, in an extra-thick gatefold jacket with session photography. The Music Matters 33⅓ (single LP) is a separate, later Music Matters edition of this title, also mastered by Kevin Gray.

The Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, pressed at Optimal in Germany – the most accessible modern option carrying Gray's mastering.

Buyer's guide by budget

$$$: The Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition – all-analog Kevin Gray mastering at standard pricing.

$$$$: A later Liberty-era pressing confirmed to carry the original RVG mono stamp, or a Music Matters 33⅓ edition.

$$$$$: The Music Matters 2×45rpm edition, or an original Blue Note BLP 1588/BST 81588 pressing if you can find and afford one – both represent the top and most expensive tiers of this particular title's market.

Pressing tier summary

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' (Blue Note 1588) Liberty Mono Pressing": https://dgmono.com/2019/05/09/vinyl-spotlight-sonny-clark-cool-struttin-blp-1588-liberty-mono-pressing/
• The 'In' Groove, "Blue Note Classic LP's VS Music Matters Jazz Review and shootout + Mike Rambles A Bit": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xES9Wdojec8

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