Ellington - Blanton - Webster reissue

[J.A.W.]

Sigmund posted this over on the Blue Note board:

"On April 1, BMG will reissue a three cd set of 74 master tracks taken from the Duke box. Title: Never No Lament."

Finally, I'd say.

[Muskrat Ramble]

Anyone know how the sound from that Duke box would compare to the existing 3CD Blanton-Webster Band set on Bluebird/RCA? (Because the sound on the latter is rather poor most of the time.)

[J.A.W.]

Haven't heard the Duke 24CD box, but it appears to have (much) better sound than the old Blanton - Webster 3CD-set, though there seems to be a lot of distortion in parts of the box.

[AfricaBrass]

This is great news!

I have been waiting for years to get this stuff. I held off on buying the old version because of the sound quality and I couldn't afford the complete RCA box set.

Thanks for the info!

[Bev Stapleton]

I'd be interested to hear reactions to the sound on the first disc or so.

I have the box and something went very wrong at this point in the remastering. There's an unpleasant spitting sound at peaks which doesn't affect any other area of this marvellous box.

I'm no audiophile and am usually tolerant of most recordings. But the defect here really spoils my enjoyment of this superb music.

[Muskrat Ramble]

Come to think of it, I think Proper did one of their famous box anthologies of the Duke that features some (all?) of the material in question. Perhaps someone could fill us in on the details, particularly sound quality. I really find it hard to stand that outrageously tubby bass on the current RCA Blanton-Webster set, particularly when you compare it to other recordings from around the same time. Listen to superb Cab Calloway disc on Columbia called "Are You Hep to the Jive?" for a most telling comparison. Night and day.

[David Ayers]

There was a 40 CD History box of Duke which I didn't buy and which *may* still be in print. It cost about $60-70 over here and was outrageous value.

What I would really like is for the Centennial set to be reissued in an economy version (cardboard sleeves etc) and at a lower price. This happens all the time these days in classical music and I would have thought it is something jazz labels could do.

[mr jazz]

the RCA box cds of Blanton-Webster sound better than the original 3cd release. I remember several folks praising the dreyfus jazz cds. One is called take the A train and the other, I think, is Perdido. I haven't heard the dreyfus reissues so can't offer an opinion

[J.A.W.]

I have Ko-Ko, Dreyfus FDM-36717-2. It has 19 tracks that were recorded between March 6 and October 1, 1940, and the sound is excellent.

[Roger Hiles]

I thought the remastering of this material from the Centennial box set was a big improvement on the old 3 CD set, but others swear by the Dreyfuss releases.

CD Universe pre-order price is $29.19.

Here's the track listing:
1. Cotton Tail
2. Never No Lament
3. Bojangles (A Portrait Of Bill Robinson)
4. Harlem Air Shaft
5. At A Dixie Roadside Diner
6. All Too Soon
7. Rumpus In Richmond
8. Sepia Panorama
9. There Shall Be No Night
10. Five O'Clock Whistle
11. Flaming Sword, The
12. Warm Valley
13. Across The Track Blues
14. Sidewalks Of New York
15. Girl In My Dreams
16. Take The "A" Train
17. Sophisticated Lady
18. I Got It Bad & That Ain't Good
19. Clementine
20. Jump For Joy
21. Moon Over Cuba
22. Chelsea Bridge
23. Perdido
24. I Don't Mind
25. Someone
26. My Little Brown Book
27. Johnny Come Lately
28. Sentimental Lady

[mr jazz]

Ko Ko is the correct title. Tower Gerrmany has the best price on dreyfus I believe and there is a link to order in english. I haven't pulled the trigger but just might.

[clandy44]

I think the sound on Centennial is excellent-better than the Blanton Webster box I have. Only the packaging on the Centennial is sub-par.

[mr jazz]

you are correct sir re Centennial. A packaging idea that sounded great but wasn't road tested. I pulled all the cds out of their holders and put them into 12 double cds

[clandy44]

Mr Jazz-Interesting. I bought some heavy duty paper holders and slipped each cd into the paper sleeve and then into the cardboard sleeve. Bit of a mess, but Duke is "ours" (my office is about one block from where he grew up) and I wasn't about to be deterred by the stupid packaging. It's all about the music-of course, I have a photo (bought from Mosaic) of Duke in my living room-that took some convincing of my better half.

[david rickert]

I'm sure the sound will be better, as will the packaging. The old CD set cover was horrible. It probably won't be a jewel case, either.

[BruceH]

by Bev Stapleton [/i]

I have the box and something went very wrong at this point in the remastering. There's an unpleasant spitting sound at peaks which doesn't affect any other area of this marvellous box.

I'm no audiophile and am usually tolerant of most recordings. But the defect here really spoils my enjoyment of this superb music.

I couldn't agree with you more, Bev. The sound on the early stuff in this box was a BIG disappointment, especially considering how much it cost.

The Proper box has a great lineup of material, but the sound is spotty. Some tracks okay, some not too great but kind of acceptable, a few downright annoying. The annoying ones sound like alternate masters or takes----there's echo where you don't expect it, different overall feel, that sort of thing. Just some track though. Still worth it for the rock-bottom price IMHO (I got mine for $18.98). If your car has a CD-player, it's just the thing for along trip; one of the bum tracks comes on, you just hit skip.

[J.A.W.]

Originally posted by mr jazz
Ko Ko is the correct title. Tower Gerrmany has the best price on dreyfus I believe and there is a link to order in english. I haven't pulled the trigger but just might.

I didn't know there is a Tower in Germany. I bought mine on-line from www.amazon.de

[David Williams]

Originally posted by Bev Stapleton
There's an unpleasant spitting sound at peaks which doesn't affect any other area of this marvellous box.

I think they used damaged masters, and didn't put enough effort into tracking down decent copies - they do exist, as a couple of John R. T. Davies compilations of this stuff I have seem to demonstrate.

[Bev Stapleton]

Originally posted by BruceH
by Bev Stapleton [/i]

I couldn't agree with you more, Bev. The sound on the early stuff in this box was a BIG disappointment, especially considering how much it cost.

I only have problems with the first disc and a bit of the Blanton-Webster sessions. The first 7 discs caused me no problems.

One other irritation - the track 'June' at the end of disc 12 skips all over the shop half way through on my copy. It's a lovely track too!

Some rushing on this issue, methinks.

[BruceH]

Originally posted by Bev Stapleton


Some rushing on this issue, methinks.

Indeed! My copy has what I can only term jagged, brittle, shred-the-speakers sound on the early Cotton Club/jungle-music discs. I wish the producers of this box had taken their time and done it right.

[Claude]

I don´t own the old Blanton-Webster 3CD set, but I remember it´s sound being marred by the use of noise elimination processes that suck the life out of every music signal.

(Nobody uses this stuff anymore, except Ron McMaster who apparently remastered the new Grachan Moncur Mosaic set with a SonicSolution console, freeing the sound of tape hiss ... and instrument´s overtones :mad: )

[montg]

Here's the full listing for this (taken from the Barnes and Noble web site). I'm probably in the minority but I hope they don't use the remastering by Lasker from the Centennial Box. The loud and high passages were marred by distortion on a number of tracks. If anybody has the Lasker remasters, listen to the end of Jack the Bear, for example. Splat.
Hopefully sombeody else has taken a crack at remastering these gems.

DISC 1

1. You, You Darlin'

2. Jack the Bear

3. Ko-Ko

4. Morning Glory

5. So Far, So Good

6. Conga Brava

7. Concerto for Cootie

8. Me and You

9. Cotton Tail

10. Never No Lament

11. Dusk

12. Bojangles

13. Portrait of Bert Williams

14. Blue Goose

15. Harlem Air-Shaft

16. At a Dixie Roadside Diner

17. All Too Soon

18. Rumpus in Richmond

19. My Greatest Mistake

20. Sepia Panorama

21. There Shall Be No Night

22. In a Mellotone

23. Five O'Clock Whistle

24. Flaming Sword

25. Warm Valley


DISC 2 1. Across the Track Blues

2. Chloe

3. I Never Felt This Way Before

4. Sidewalks of New York

5. Flamingo

6. The Girl in My Dreams...

7. Take the "A" Train

8. Jumpin Punkins

9. John Hardy's Wife

10. Blue Serge

11. After All

12. Bakiff

13. Are You Sticking?

14. Just A-Sittin-And-A-Rockin'

15. Giddybug Gallop

16. Pitter Panther Patter

17. Body and Soul

18. Sophisticated Lady

19. Mr. J.B. Blues

20. Ko-Ko

21. Bojangles

22. Sepia Panorama

23. Jumpin' Punkins

24. Jump for Joy


DISC 3 1. Chocolate Shake

2. I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good

3. Clementine

4. The Brown Skin Gal in the...

5. Jump for Joy

6. Moon Over Cuba

7. Five O'Clock Drag

8. Rocks in My Bed

9. Bli-Blip

10. Raincheck

11. What Good...?

12. I Don't Know What...

13. Chelsea Bridge

14. Perdido

15. C Jam Blues

16. Moon Mist

17. What Am I Here For?

18. I Don't Mind

19. Someone

20. My Little Brown Book

21. Main Stem

22. Johnny Come Lately

23. Hayfoot, Strawfoot

24. Sentimental Lady

25. Slip of the Lip...

26. Sherman Shuffle

[Mnytime]

I have the Centennial Box and I agree there are some distortion issues but on the whole it's a great set. I recall reading somewhere John R. T. Davies saying he thought they used faulty source material for some of the tracks on the Box.

Does anyone have any idea who is remastering the new Blanton/Webster set or are they just using what was in the Big Box?

[BeRiGaN]

Originally posted by Claude
I don´t own the old Blanton-Webster 3CD set, but I remember it´s sound being marred by the use of noise elimination processes that suck the life out of every music signal.

(Nobody uses this stuff anymore, except Ron McMaster who apparently remastered the new Grachan Moncur Mosaic set with a SonicSolution console, freeing the sound of tape hiss ... and instrument´s overtones :mad: )
This one was done before Nonoise, and cedar were used, wasn't it? I seem to recall a Jelly Roll Morton cd from 1990 being the first nonoise cd..... At least their is no mention of it being used on my set...the sound does suck, no doubt! Hiss, yet so filtered sounding! No wonder it has been in print for the last 16 years!:mad:

[kh1958]

I'm got the old 3CD set also. The music is great, but there is really an unpleasant quality to the sound. So I have rarely listened to it. Instead, I head for Fargo, North Dakota, or perhaps my lp set of the 1943 Carnegie Hall concert (no Blanton, but still a great concert). I know I've never heard anything else like strayhorn's "Dirge" on the last recording.

[jones]

Does anyone know if the sound issues mentioned above have been fixed on this one? Much obliged.