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Charlie Parker: A Studio Chronicle 1940-1948


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  • 4 months later...

So, to revisit this topic, what's the deal with the JSP set? It seems to be available everywhere in the US.

I was thinking about getting either it or the Savoy and Dial Master takes 3 CD set. In either case I was also going to get the Verve Master takes set.

Any opinions? Is everything on the Savoy/Dial Set also on the JSP set?

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  • 1 month later...

Legal there, not legal here. Their sound in the last few years has either been stolen or mediocre.

Chuck,

It seems that a lot of people disagree with your assessment of the label. (On the sound, not on the legality.) Reviews I've read suggest this set has better sound than the Savoy/Dial set.

I will probably pick this up over the next few weeks and offer my comments.

Guy

Edited by Guy
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Legal there, not legal here. Their sound in the last few years has either been stolen or mediocre.

Chuck,

It seems that a lot of people disagree with your assessment of the label. (On the sound, not on the legality.) Reviews I've read suggest this set has better sound than the Savoy/Dial set.

I will probably pick this up over the next few weeks and offer my comments.

Guy

Chuck did say their sound in the last few years-- and judging by my discs and previous discussions here, most agree. They typically just steal another mastering. That doesn't mean THIS set is bad....

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Legal there, not legal here. Their sound in the last few years has either been stolen or mediocre.

Chuck,

It seems that a lot of people disagree with your assessment of the label. (On the sound, not on the legality.) Reviews I've read suggest this set has better sound than the Savoy/Dial set.

I will probably pick this up over the next few weeks and offer my comments.

Guy

Chuck did say their sound in the last few years-- and judging by my discs and previous discussions here, most agree. They typically just steal another mastering. That doesn't mean THIS set is bad....

Many of the JSPs of the last 10 years have come from "stolen" masters. Things seem to have changed very recently BUT the AMG review does say Ted Kendall did the set. He's a good engineer but he had to work from commercial 78s (or cop remasterigs from other sets) while Savoy had the session acetates. The Savoys sound wonderful. I just don't understand buying this music from a company not bound by original contracts with the artists.

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I just don't understand buying this music from a company not bound by original contracts with the artists.

This makes sense to me, generally speaking.

The 3-disc Savoy/Dial Master Takes set can be had for $17.97 at yourmusic.com, no shipping and no further purchase requirements.

They don't have the Verve Master Takes metal box, though it is available at BMG for a pretty decent price too.

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Legal there, not legal here. Their sound in the last few years has either been stolen or mediocre.

Chuck,

It seems that a lot of people disagree with your assessment of the label. (On the sound, not on the legality.) Reviews I've read suggest this set has better sound than the Savoy/Dial set.

I will probably pick this up over the next few weeks and offer my comments.

Guy

If that opinion stating this set has better sonics is from this Amazon review:

I own both the Complete Dial and Savoy recordings, and the sound on this set blows both of those away. As another reviewer pointed out, the first disc contains a bit of hiss, but other than that, this is the best sounding CP I have heard.

I'm not sure I'd but much stock in it.....seeing that he seems to equate a "bit of hiss" with bad sound.....I should hope there's a bit of hiss!

All the same, the earliest material included here is worth having in some form, and is not duplicated in the other releases up for comparison.

JSP has been a maddening crazy quilt of stolen AND original remastering work of late. See the thread on the new Fats Waller set (apparently the 1st of what is promised as a "complete" Fats Waller) for an example of the positive in recent releases......despite some reservations about Kendall's transfer work (I wonder if JSP subjects submitted masters to some of their own handiwork?). Under no circumstances should you pay money for JSP's Bunny Berigan set (stolen from the Mosaic set, minus the previously unissued takes they unearthed). They also have numerous Blues sets out that are (often rather poor sounding) rip-offs of the transfer work of previous releases.

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Apparently yourmusic carries the Savoy + Dial Masters box, which makes it marginally cheaper than the JSP. So my question is what's on the latter that's not on the former? How many tracks feature both Diz and Bird that aren't on the Savoy + Dial box? How much early stuff? How essential is the early stuff?

Guy

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  • 1 month later...

I've listened to this whole set and definitely recommend it as a fantastic value. I don't hear any noise on most of the tracks, which suggests that it's been subject to substantial noise reduction; that said, I'm quite satisfied with what I hear. The documentation inside the set is somewhat meager and includes some errors.

Guy

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Sometimes I wonder if some reviewers say "better sound" when they hear less tape hiss - this is not necessarily the case with vintage recordings, but the easiest way to make a judgement.

It's no bigdeal to steal an existsting mastering and de-hiss it so it sounds different. It may sound more "digitally remastered", but not better as far as room ambience and detail is concerned.

I have the Savoys on LP and think they sound great - I bought cheap de-hissed CDs for my wife when she started taking alto sax lessons,which sound inferior but display less surface noise.

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