Impulse! Mini-LP Re-Issues -- New Batch!

[Hutch]

Anybody pick these up yet? I purchased 3 of them on CD Universe.com at $8 a pop! I got Ayler, Kuhn/McFarland and Shepp.

[J Larsen]

There's also an Earl Hines and Pee Wee Russel in the new batch. These look good. I'm pleasantly surprised.

[BruceH]

I just bought the Earl Hines today. It's basically Hines with the Ellington band. Excellent album.

[Parkertown]

Can someone post or direct us to a listing of these?

[Hutch]

www.impulserecords.com

[jpmosu]

The Kuhn/McFarland is better than I expected. "Chamber jazz" dates don't always work for me. But the first three cuts, in particular, are really quite beautiful.

I may need to pick up the Hines and Russell this afternoon.

I'm also glad that the mini-lp sleeves have been abandoned here and, even more important, the prices have been reduced from the earlier Verve "LPR" titles!

[Hutch]

i have a friend who owns the original LP of the Kuhn release and he told me that it's one of his desert island picks -- up there with "kind of blue" -- is it that good?

[jpmosu]

Hmmmmmm...

"Kind of Blue--good" places a record in pretty select company. So, the Kuhn/McFarland is not even close to that level for me, personally, but it's a very pleasant surprise and well worth 12 bucks!

[AfricaBrass]

I didn't know Pee Wee Russell's Ask Me Now was being released.

I LOVE that album!

:D

[John L]

The Ayler marks the first CD release of "Drudgery." :cool:

[J Larsen]

BTW, I just picked these up - haven't played them yet but FWIW, they're not mini-lp sleeves. They're digipacks. Digipacks are my least favorite packaging, but I'm just happy that 1) Impulse finally got around to freeing some good records from the vaults and 2) they made them mid-priced releases. Is someone over there finally starting to get it????

[jlhoots]

I picked up the Shepp, Russell, Hines & Kuhn / McFarland.
Glad to see them all back in circulation.
BTW, pick up Robert Hilbert's book on Pee Wee if you see it.

[RDK]

Haven't looked at the Verve site in quite a while, but geez! what a mess that is to navigate. I never would have found the listing of all the new Impulse releases if not for the direct link someone posted above... :confused:

[AfricaBrass]

Originally posted by J Larsen
2) they made them mid-priced releases. Is someone over there finally starting to get it????

I'm shocked! Who would have thought a week and half ago that Verve would be getting their act together and Blue Note would be the bad guy.

[Claude]

In Europe, all Impulse! CDs have been sold at midprice ($10-12) for years, except US imports.

[D.D.]

Originally posted by couw
here's a complete listing of all verve Mini-LP reissues:

http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/series.asp?sid=7


according to amazon.de these will be released 8 April in Europe

Thanks for the link, couw. Looking forward to these.
I am interested in Hines, Shepp, Hall, Ayler, Szabo, Ray Brown and Kuhn. Bravo to Verve for selecting such a diverse artistis from its catalog!

What shall I expect from Ray Brown ('Jazz Cello') and Gabor Szabo ('High Contrast') CDs? I have only one CD with Szabo as a sideman (Paul Desmond 'Skylark') and enjoy his work on it a lot...

As for packaging - I like the mini-LP style, it allowed to save a lot of storage space...

[Noj]

I never thought I would be a harp fan, but I will pick up the Dorothy Ashby based on how much I enjoy an album of hers I have on Atlantic. Great stuff!

[J Larsen]

Originally posted by Noj
I never thought I would be a harp fan, but I will pick up the Dorothy Ashby based on how much I enjoy an album of hers I have on Atlantic. Great stuff!

My mother's father was a Clint Eastwood style tough guy. 6'2", about 210 lbs (all muscle), college football star, bud drinking, western movie watching, the whole nine yards.

I'll *never* forget the look that came over his face upon learning that my father played the harp.

[BruceH]

Originally posted by jpmosu

I'm also glad that the mini-lp sleeves have been abandoned here and, even more important, the prices have been reduced from the earlier Verve "LPR" titles!

Amen to that! At $11 and with packaging that makes sense, these are a lot closer to being a "must."

[vibes]

Originally posted by BruceH


Amen to that! At $11 and with packaging that makes sense, these are a lot closer to being a "must."


Are they in plain jewel cases now? I thought these were going to be like all the others...:confused:

[Parkertown]

Thanks to Hutch and couw for the links!

I'll miss the mini-lp look on these though. Digipacks? humph...

[J Larsen]

Originally posted by vibes
Are they in plain jewel cases now?

Nope. Digipaks. Digipaks have to be one of the worst ways to package a cd. They're fragile and they don't look good. At least they're cheap.

[Adam]

What is the Shepp like?

[jpmosu]

Originally posted by Adam
What is the Shepp like?

Yeah--I'm curious, too.

What I've read is that it's kinda free and kinda funky, but I'd love to hear some opinions on this title.

john

[Hutch]

i heard at least one of the tracks is akin to a blaxploitaion soundtrack! that's big re-invention for shepp.

[Jug21]

Originally posted by Parkertown
I'll miss the mini-lp look on these though. Digipacks? humph...

Mini-Lp-Format here in Austria - at least the Dorothy ASHBY title!
So maybe they made only the IMPULSEs in digipaks?

----------
added on 03-14-2003

no digipaks in Austria anyway - all the IMPULSEs have the
Mini-LP-Format

[J Larsen]

Well, I've only listened to the Shepp once, but here are my initial impressions:

Yes, the first track is some funky R&B, and quite good for what it is. Actually, the whole album has a bit of a "vibe" to it, but the funk factor drops significantly after the first track. I didn't find this to be such a huge surprise coming from Shepp - after all, he had gotten pretty soulful and somewhat funky in the past on tracks like "Mama Too Tight" and "Get Your Heart Right". He plays piano and sings (pretty well, BTW) on a track called "Steam" which he revisited on his "Live in NY" album from last year (or was it 2001?). One of the tracks has a little kid singing on it - I personally could do without the pre-pubescent vocals. All in all, it's a pretty good record that I have to say I enjoyed more than I expected to on my first listen. Is it essential Shepp? Probably not. BUT, there are FAR more worse ways than better ways to drop a ten spot. If you're a big Shepp fan, I'd say it's worth getting just to satisfy your curiosity.

[Jug21]

Vocal on "Steam" is by

JOE LEE WILSON


The child singing on "Quiet Dawn" is Waheeda Massey, the daughter of the composer. flügelhornist & lyricist of that song:
CAL MASSEY

[J Larsen]

Thanks Jug - Shepp sang Steam at the "Live in NY" concert (which I attended). I assumed it was him singing on Attica Blues. My bad.

[Mnytime]

You can currently get these from CDUniverse for $8.38.

[PDEE]

Originally posted by Parkertown
Thanks to Hutch and couw for the links!

I'll miss the mini-lp look on these though. Digipacks? humph...

Mini LPs And Digipaks Humph Humph Humph....

But the price is right

[Usual Channels]

It's funny--I LOVE digi-packs! Especially the impulse ones. It's my favorite CD packaging design! Granted, when the little grabber thing in the middle breaks you're screwed... Still, I've never had one break on my Impulse titles. They seem stonger.

I'm kind of surprised that "Music is the Healing Force" was released, as "New Grass" was originally listed as in the works. Does anyone know the story? I've only heard a clip of NG, and it was unbelievably fun/catchy. Can't wait to pick up "Healing Force"...

[DIS]

Excuse my ignorance, please, but whatsa digipack? Can material be transferred to a jewel case?

[Edward]

DIS,

A digipak is basically CD housing in the form of a cardboard folder. As all of the artwork is on the cardboard folder, the only think that you can transfer to a traditional jewel case is the compact disc itself. All of the John Coltrane Impulse reissues, for instance, are housed in digipaks. The CD itself either sits in a plastic tray (exactly like the one found in a jewel case) that has been attached to the digipak or is slid into one of the panels of the digipak. The now defunct Verve Elite series used the latter approach, which was quite irritating as the CD's tended to get scratched when you pulled them out or slid them back in. Most people I know house their Verve Elite CD's in something other than the packaging in which they arrived.

[Hutch]

just got in my 3 new impulse re-issues from CD universe.

kuhn/mcfarland: i like it, it's chamber jazz alright. a lot of strings with some nice soloing from kuhn and ron carter. it's moody and at times dark.

shepp: funky, especially the opening track. a lot of vocals and narration. the only disappointment was the long track (6+ minutes) of massey's daughter's vocals... borders on irritating.

ayler: sounds like good ol' ayler with vocals from mary maria. some strange bagpipe playing and a nice long blues track at the end.

[John L]

Originally posted by Usual Channels
I'm kind of surprised that "Music is the Healing Force" was released, as "New Grass" was originally listed as in the works. Does anyone know the story? I've only heard a clip of NG, and it was unbelievably fun/catchy. Can't wait to pick up "Healing Force"...

I was surprised too. They have been "planning" a release of New Grass for several years now. It is (was?) to be a 2-disk set because they found a lot of additional material in the vaults.

Oh well, I am still happy as I like "Music is the Healing Force" better than "New Grass."

[reg]

Originally posted by couw
here's a complete listing of all verve Mini-LP reissues:

http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/series.asp?sid=7


according to amazon.de these will be released 8 April in Europe

looking at this page reminded me that i had got Afro by dizzy gillespie. anyone else who bought this, what do you think of the sound quality? i was quite disappointed with it (high notes).
the jazztet album is a good one.

[jpmosu]

Originally posted by reg


looking at this page reminded me that i had got Afro by dizzy gillespie. anyone else who bought this, what do you think of the sound quality? i was quite disappointed with it (high notes).
the jazztet album is a good one.

I agree on both points: The Jazztet disc is great (no surprise there) and, the upper register on *Afro* sounds completely distorted (and I'm no audiophile). The latter (only because of the poor sound) was a disappointment to me.

But I'm diggin' Archie Shepp's *Attica Blues.*

[Usual Channels]

Hey John L: I had no idea about the bonus material/double disc prospects!!! I hope this comes out...

I'm warming up to "Music...Healing Force." While I think the material is awfully uneven, the sound of Ayler's sax on this record is just unbelievable! It's so gritty, and he seems to be playing much more in the lower register. Cool.