Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep with the record.

— Paul, Vinyl Curator

Kenny Burrell

Midnight Blue

c. 1963-1966 · Blue Note BLP 4123 · Mono · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	Blue Note
Catalogue number	BLP 4123
Year	c. 1963-1966
Mono / Stereo	Mono
Country	US
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz - Soul Jazz/Blues
Producer	Alfred Lion
Musicians	Stanley Turrentine (tenor sax), Kenny Burrell (guitar), Major Holley Jr. (bass), Bill English (drums), Ray Barretto (conga)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  BNLP 4123-A EAR VAN GELDER
Side B:  BNLP 4123-B EAR VAN GELDER

Condition

Cover: NM-
Vinyl: NM

Variant chronology

1963 - US Blue Note BLP 4123, deep-groove New York labels, mono
1963 - US Blue Note BLP 4123, flat New York labels (no deep groove), mono  <- this copy
1963 - US Blue Note BST 84123, New York labels, stereo
1966 - US Blue Note BLP 4123, reissue, mono
1966 - US Blue Note BST 84123, reissue, stereo
1967 - US Blue Note BLP 4123, reissue, mono
1967 - US Blue Note BLP-4123/84123, BST 84123, reissue, stereo
1970 - US Blue Note 84123/BST-84123, reissue, stereo
1971 - US Blue Note BLP 4123/84123, BST-84123, reissue, stereo
1973 - US Blue Note 84123/BST-84123/BLP-4123, reissue, stereo
1977 - US Blue Note 84123/BLP 4123/BST 84123, reissue, stereo
1979 - UK Blue Note BNS 40015, reissue, stereo
1979 - Japan Blue Note GXK 8116, reissue, stereo
1982 - US Pausa Records PR 9000, reissue
1985 - US Blue Note digital remaster reissue (4BN 84123)
2005 - US Blue Note BLP 4123, Classic Records 200g reissue, mono
2008 - US Blue Note BN 4123-45, 12-inch 45 RPM single-sided test-pressing reissue, stereo
2012 - Japan Blue Note DBLP-025, reissue, mono
c. 2021 - US Blue Note Essential Vinyl Series reissue, stereo

This Pressing

NY USA Blue Note label, flat (no deep groove), Plastylite ear and Van Gelder stamp in the runout - places this copy within the 1963-1966 New York-label pressing window, not demonstrably the first stamping.

The Album

Recorded in a single session at Van Gelder Studio on January 8, 1963, Midnight Blue found guitarist Kenny Burrell paring his working group down to a spare, blues-drenched quintet, deliberately omitting piano so his own chording could carry the harmony. Burrell had already built a reputation as one of the most versatile guitarists in jazz, equally comfortable in bebop, soul-jazz and blues settings, and this date leaned hard into the blues and Latin-tinged grooves that were then reshaping Blue Note's commercial sound. Tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine's warm, vocalized tone became the record's second voice, while Ray Barretto's conga added a subtle Afro-Cuban lift that distinguished tracks like Chittlins Con Carne and Wavy Gravy from straight 12-bar blues. The album's unhurried, late-night mood and its emphasis on feel over flash made it an immediate favorite with listeners beyond the jazz-specialist audience, and it remains Burrell's most enduring and best-selling Blue Note session. Critics have long cited it as a high-water mark of early-1960s soul jazz, prized for its economy, groove and the chemistry between Burrell and Turrentine. It cemented Burrell's standing as a leader in his own right after years as an in-demand sideman, and its title track and Chittlins Con Carne have become minor blues-guitar standards. The record's blend of blues authenticity and jazz sophistication continues to be cited as a touchstone of the genre.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Chittlins Con Carne (Burrell)
2. Mule (Major Holley Jr.)
3. Soul Lament (Burrell)
4. Midnight Blue (Burrell)

Side 2

1. Wavy Gravy (Burrell)
2. Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You (Redman-Razaf)
3. Saturday Night Blues (Burrell)

The Label

The labels on this copy carry the full BLUE NOTE RECORDS INC • NEW YORK USA address with no Liberty-era text, pressed without a deep-groove ring on either side. Plastylite, the New Jersey plant that pressed Blue Note's records, ran deep-groove and flat dies concurrently between 1961 and 1965, so the absence of a groove does not by itself place a copy after the first pressing run. The runout carries the Plastylite ear, placing the pressing at that plant, which pressed Blue Note's records until mid-1966. Within the BLP 4123 pressing history this is a New York-address pressing of that 1963-1966 span, standing alongside - not necessarily after - the deep-groove copies of the same label design.

Fidelity

The runout carries the same Van Gelder lacquer cut and Plastylite-ear pressing used throughout the New York-label era of this title, so this copy's sound is unchanged from any other NY pressing of 1963-1966 regardless of the presence or absence of a deep groove. Collectors on the forums rate all Van Gelder/ear-stamped mono New York pressings of this record as sonically superior to the later Liberty/United Artists reissues and to the stereo edition, valuing the warmth and impact of the mono cut. Within the fidelity hierarchy for this title, NY-label ear pressings from this window sit together near the top, ahead of the post-1966 Liberty-era and 1970s reissues and the 1985 digital remaster; modern audiophile remasterings use fresh transfers and surpass all vintage mono pressings technically while trading away the vintage mono character.

Notes

This copy carries the original New York address Blue Note labels, with no Liberty-era text, and a flat (non-deep-groove) stamping on both sides. Deep-groove and flat dies were run concurrently at the plant that pressed Blue Note's records between 1961 and 1965, so the flat label alone does not make this copy later than the deep-groove copies. The runout retains the Van Gelder stamp and the Plastylite ear, so the disc was pressed before Blue Note's pressing left that plant in mid-1966. The record dates to the New York-label era between 1963 and 1966; it is a NY USA Blue Note pressing of that span, not demonstrably the very first stamping.

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