Fer Urbina

The little I've listened to and the fact that they've not bothered to include discographical info leads me to think that this are early-90s masters, for whatever that may be worth. Except the four Retrospective and two White Country Blues CDs, the rest average 20 tracks per disk, which should be under 60 minutes of music. Messed up with love carries 16 tracks. Other than that, it's great music, but not having the discographical info is a drag (although some is available on Wikipedia and discogs.com). F

Sorry, yes, I meant it includes composer and publisher credits, but neither dates of recording, nor personnel. F

Got it from Amazon.de. CDs come in individual sleeves, plus a thin booklet with no discographical info, only publishing credits and a few introductory paragraphs about each disk. Then again, the price is what it is. F

Source: http://www.gould68.freeserve.co.uk/wes3.htm The page carries a picture from the recording session. F

IIRC, things only got bad for JSP when Bear Family sued for their ripping of the Carter Family set. More, here. Edit to add that some of their sets seem to have been legit (in the EU), like the ones remastered by JRT Davies (and Ted Kendall?). And in case you are in (or passing through) London should note that Fopp in Cambridge Circus is known to have offered them for £9 or even £6 each. F

Amazon UK is offering this 16-CD Earth Wind & Fire set for £30. (Edit to add) And the Philadelphia International 20-CD set for the same price. F

I'd ask Mark Cantor (http://www.jazz-on-film.com/contact.html#contact) F

Teddy Charles did some.

CDs received in perfect package and condition. Thanks!

PM sent re: Pete Brown: From the Heart (Verve/Universal, UCCV-8365) Ray Crawford: Smooth Groove (Candid/Teichiku, TECW-20494) Joe Morello: Collections (Intro/Toshiba, TOCJ-9453) F

Interesting. I only have L'Intégrale des Albums Originaux (2010) and won't be able to compare CD-to-CD till September. I don't know the second Intégrale (2003), the one I guess you have. I know the first one, a 10-CD set from 1988, and the latest one should sound better (and has more music). I'm no audiophile, and especially with Brel I admit I don't pay too much attention to the sound. I hope no one is too disappointed with this, or that any problems maybe overcome with a bit of EQ-ing. F

I've also got a friend who'll be grateful F

PM coming RE: Shorter, Kelly, Brown, Joneses.

extremely tempting ... but then I have the small "Intégrale des album originaux" .. hm ... Same here. However, I've had the box in my hands and it looks terrific (10-inch square, IIRC). And although it's probably not the best way to judge this, I've listened to some mp3 and the sound is better to my ears. Of course there are complaints about this not being really complete and all that, but still... F

The latest Jacques Brel intégrale, Suivre l'étoile, 21 CDs, for €50 at Amazon France. F

That said, High Fidelity magazine reviewed "Basie/Bennett Roulette 25072", together with In Person, in their July 1959 issue. I can't find a review of Strike Up the Band. You're both probably right. F

Yeah, I saw that in my own copy. Trouble is Bennett/Friedwald appear to have it backward according to other sources, among them this Roulette discography: http://www.bsnpubs.com/roulette/roulettea.html That's why I'm wondering if anyone can confirm. I'm not so sure, catalogue numbers don't necessarily imply order of release. I was going to look on Billboard online, but it looks like they've removed most of the issues. F

According to Bennett himself in his autobiography with Will Friedwald, it was originally released as Count Basie/Tony Bennett: Strike Up the Band and later "the album appeared under an endless number of titles, including Basie Swings Bennett Sings." F

Seems to be download only. It's on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon UK. F Ah, that's why I couldn't find it... thanks. You know, there's something that completely befuddles me. Why does iTunes offer things in one country, but not another. That Griffin box set isn't available on American iTunes. I've seen that kind of thing before, as well. It just doesn't make any sense. I'd grab that sucker in a heartbeat, especially at THAT price. They do have the Complete Sessions with Griffin and Lockjaw for $25, but not this one. Very annoying. Annoying yes, but legal. Those recordings are PD in Europe, but not in the US. According to law, you shouldn't be able to buy or import this kind of European reissues in the US (including the Fresh Sounds, etc.). Jazz is not important enough for anyone to stop that, but I think it's quite more difficult to find some EU Sinatra.reissues on that side of the pond. F

Seems to be download only. It's on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon UK. F

It seems that the "Enlightment" label is releasing a number of boxes of pre-1962 (inclusive) recordings, some only as mp3 downloads. They've done Quincy Jones, Roland Kirk, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Earl Hines (1951-1961), Art Farmer, Odetta, Mose Allison, Pete Seeger (x2), Ramsey Lewis, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean (x2), Johnny Griffin, I don't have any idea re: sources and sound quality. F

That was reissued as CD2 of Best of the Best. F

Both of those are far from any sort of confirmation. FWIW Scott Elias of Random Act was a good friend of Drew. Another friend and fellow pianist, Tom Becker, has also reported his passing. F

Although not in the best sound (Live in Australia) or the best of the tour (Live in Paris - according to Will Friedwald, IIRC), I have a soft spot for small-group Sinatra. And on those, the duets with just piano or just guitar are worth a listen. Here's a bit of footage. There were plans for a studio recording with Red Norvo and the sextet, but it never came about. As for the rest, there are 2-CD sets of early Sinatra (with and without Dorsey), and I agree on Live at the Sands (try to sing along the beginning of "Don't Worry About Me" breathing when he does...) and the Capitols. There used to be an official no-frills box with all the albums... ah, it's called the Capitol Concept Albums. F

It's been confirmed by Scott Elias of Random Act Records. Fellow pianist George Colligan has written this very insightful blog in his memory. F