Released in May 2026 and first time on SACD.

The promotional blurb reads as follows;
"..To commemorate this milestone [The 100th Anniversary of his birth], three titles will be released as hybrid SACD editions using newly remastered audio prepared by renowned mastering engineer Kevin Gray for Blue Note's popular reissue series "Tone Poet" and "Classic Vinyl". All of these titles will appear on SACD using these remastered sources for the first time."

I'm not confidently sure what this means, but I'm leaning in the direction of the source used by Kevin Gray being the master created from the original track reels (transferred in 24-bit to digital) by Rudy Van Gelder around the turn of the century.

Certainly no sonic marvel, but The SACD sounds pretty good, especially given that it was recorded way back in 1949/1950.

Downunderman:

According to Blue Note, the Tone Poet LP version of Birth of the Cool "...was mastered by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) from the original analog phono reel master tapes."

The term 'phono reel' was unfamiliar to me. A user on the Steve Hoffmann discussion board explained: "The actual MASTER of tracks [released as 78 RPM singles were] designated as "phono reels". Birth of the Cool began life as single tracks in 1949-1950, there was no "album", so these tracks would all have been stored on phono reels."

The source for this SACD should be the same 'phono reels' that Kevin Gray used for the Tone Poet vinyl release. The Tone Poet sounds very good.

The previous hi-res version of Birth of the Cool came out in 2013 in 24/192, and I don't know what source was used for that release.

Thanks Mark.

Amazing that the label allowed 75+ year old tapes out of their sight and into outside hands to be mastered........and remarkable they were still in good enough condition. Kevin Gray must have been over the moon.