Columbia box of 25 classic jazz albums

[crisp]

Sony's relentless repackaging of extant CDs continues apace.

I just came across this French boxed set of 25 previously released jazz CDs in replica CD sleeves. I have about half the titles, but it's such a nice package (and cheap), I'm tempted. It gets a UK release on October 4.

Le programme:

1. Louis Armstrong : Plays WC Handy

2. Sarah Vaughan : Sarah Vaughan In Hi-Fi

3. Art Blakey : The Jazz Messengers

4. Billie Holiday : Lady In Satin

5. Miles Davis : Kind Of Blue

6. Dave Brubeck : Time Out

7. Duke Ellington - Count Basie : The Count Meets The Duke

8. Helen Merrill : Parole e musica

9. Charles Mingus : Tijuana Moods

10. Chet Baker : Chet Is Back!

11. Thelonious Monk : Monk’s Dream

12. Sonny Rollins : Sonny Meets Hawk!

13. Martial Solal : At Newport '63

14. Paul Desmond - Gerry Mulligan : Two Of A Mind

15. Benny Goodman : Together Again!

16. George Benson : It's Uptown

17. Nina Simone : Sings The Blues

18. Art Tatum : Piano Starts Here

19. Erroll Garner : Concert By The Sea

20. Herbie Hancock : Head Hunters

21. Stan Getz : The Best Of Two Worlds

22. Jaco Pastorius : Jaco Pastorius

23. Weather Report : Heavy Weather

24. Wynton Marsalis : Standard Time Vol. 1

25. Charlie Parker : Bird

[A Lark Ascending]

The major record labels seem to have laid off all their engineers, A&R people etc but retained the packaging designers.

There could be a TV series in this - a 21st century spin on 'Mad Men'.

[jazzbo]

I already have all those!

[papsrus]

Pardon the dumb question, but what's the theme here? Seems a little scattered. Having Louis Armstrong plays W.C. Handy and Heavy Weather in the same box set doesn't really do it for me.

[colinmce]

Seems to be "a history of jazz on Columbia in the LP era", or like, a sampler of Columbia's diverse roster of jazz legends. Of course, there are the RCA titles mixed in ...

[porcy62]

Nice selection, unfortunately that Marsalis...

[mellowT]

I like the French price much better.

[ejp626]

I already have all those!

Don't quite have all, probably more like 75%. However, of the ones I don't have, I would only be interested in 2, so I think this is not the box for me...

[A Lark Ascending]

There seems to be something of the preparing gourmet meals in the kitchens of the Titanic about all of this vanity box set lunacy.

[RiRiIII]

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/jazz/detail/-/art/Jazz-La-Discotheque-Ideale-25-Original-Alben/hnum/3677580

42 Euro! I am tempted too...

[Claude]

Nice selection, unfortunately that Marsalis...

I like his early stuff.

The worst disc in that box is the "Bird" soundtrack, because of how it was made (Bird solos overdubbed with new band). Good idea for the movie soundtrack, useless as a CD.

[Ted O'Reilly]

Nice selection, unfortunately that Marsalis...

I like his early stuff.

The worst disc in that box is the "Bird" soundtrack, because of how it was made (Bird solos overdubbed with new band). Good idea for the movie soundtrack, useless as a CD.

I understand your point about the "Bird" soundtrack, but, it's still something of a guilty pleasure. I shouldn't like it, but...

[Van Basten II]

Most of these sets are aimed at those who don't have no jazz recordings but are looking to acquire quickly some "classic recordings", of course we are not the target audience , the fact that the music goes all over the place is actually a good thing since it will give a decent sample of what the music was in different eras for those who know little about it.

Edited September 3, 2010 by Van Basten II

[JohnJ]

Only have six of these and it is so cheap that I decided to order this from Amazon France. The delivered price works out at around $2.50 per CD and I should be able to sell the used versions of the ones I have for more than that to Disk Union here in Tokyo.

[crisp]

There's a sequel on the way: Amazon link. Release date is June 6.

Album listing from this page:

#1 Duke Ellington/ Ellington Uptown

#2 THE Dave Brubeck QUARTET/ Jazz Goes To College

#3 Louis Armstrong/ Satch Plays Fats

#4 Miles Davis/ 'Round About Midnight

#5 Various Artists/ The Sound Of Jazz

#6 Charles Mingus/ Mingus Ah Um

#7 Paul Desmond with Strings/ Desmond Blue

#8 Sonny Rollins & Co./ The Bridge

#9 Thelonious Monk/ Underground

#10 Freddie Hubbard/ Straight Life

#11 George Benson/ Beyond The Blue Horizon

#12 THE Mahavishnu Orchestra/ Birds Of Fire

#13 Clifford Brown/ The Beginning And The End

#14 Chet Baker/ She Was Too Good To Me

#15 Gerry Mulligan & Chet Baker/ Carnegie Hall Concert I, II

#16 Herbie Hancock/ Trust

#17 Wayne Shorter/ Native Dancer

#18 Jim Hall/ Concierto

#19 Return To Forever/ Romantic Warrior

#20 Stanley Clarke/ School Days

#21 Weather Report/ 8:30

#22 Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucia/ Friday Night In San Francisco

#23 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack / Round Midnight

#24 Carmen McRae/ Carmen Sings Monk

#25 Wynton Marsalis/ Standard Time Vol.3 The Resolution Of Romance

[Rooster_Ties]

Aack!! - more Wynton!

[paul secor]

Pass and Pass.

[JSngry]

#16 Herbie Hancock/ Trust

That's the Herbie/Elis Costello collaboration, right?

#24 Carmen McRae/ Carmen Sings Monk

Not sure how well this sold as an RCA/Novus release originally, or how available its been since then, but... I'm not at a a Carmen McRae fan, yet I'd highly recommend this one. Very nicely done on all counts and on all fronts.

[BruceH]

Thing is, the few albums in this set that I don't already have in one form or another are ones I'm not that interested in anyway. (Wynton, Weather Report...) So for me there's not much point.

[JSngry]

Ellington Uptown must be more popular and/or critically regarded than I thought...it's good (three is no truly bad Ellington) and even interesting in spots ("Sontorversial Suite) is fun every few years or so), but other than the version of A-Train, really nothing on there that I'd not put in the middlest of the middle of the whole Ellington Worthiness Scale...and even then, I think A-Train worked better as an edited version focusing on Betty Roche's vocal that was on some Columbia Greatest Hits package than it does as a full-lenght album track.

I mean, really - do people crave "Skin Deep"? Or what? I don't get it...

[Niko]

laugh at me, but i have only 5 from the first box and 4 from the second...

[king ubu]

#24 Carmen McRae/ Carmen Sings Monk

Not sure how well this sold as an RCA/Novus release originally, or how available its been since then, but... I'm not at a a Carmen McRae fan, yet I'd highly recommend this one. Very nicely done on all counts and on all fronts.

That's a wonderful album!

It was out in the Bluebird First Editions CD series.

Will have to get a few single ones from both boxes, but have most of what I need, I think.

Is the Clifford Brown "Beginning and End" still around? Don't think I've ever seen it in the past 15 years... was it part of Henri Renauds "Jazz Originals" series? Or one of the red-framed "Masterpieces"?

[Chuck Nessa]

There was some problem with the initial issue of the McRae Monk record. The lyrics were by an old friend in Chicago. A lawsuit was filed by someone claiming Ben Sidran was the only lyricist authorized by the Monk Estate. Don't know how the suit was resolved.

[crisp]

Over in the box bargains thread, matteson has posted details of a forthcoming blues box in this series. Listing here.

Now, in spite of having a lot of jazz CDs, I don't have any blues, and I think perhaps I ought to. There are a lot of strong names here, but to me most of them are just names, nothing more. Can any of the blues experts on the forum recommend this selection?

1) Bessie Smith: The Bessie Smith Story

2) Big Bill Broonzy: Big Bill Blues

3) Little Richard: Little Richard And Buck Ram

4) Mahalia Jackson: Live At Newport 1958

5) Chuck Willis: Wails The Blues

6) Elvis Presley: Elvis Presley For LP Fans Only

7) Jimmy Witherspoon: In Person

8) Robert Johnson: King Of The Delta Blues Singers

9) Sonny Boy Williamson And Memphis Slim

10) Aretha Franklin: Unforgettable – A Tribute To Dinah Washington

11) Son House: Father Of Folk Blues

12) Johnny “Guitar” Watson & Larry Williams: Two For The Price Of One

13) Champion Jack Dupree: Anthologie Du Blues Vol. 1

14) Otis Span: The Biggest Things Since Colossus

15) Johnny Winter: Johnny Winter

16) Percy Mayfield: Sings Percy Mayfield

17) The Johnny Otis Show: Live At Monterey!

18) Willie Dixon: I Am The Blues

19) Hubert Sumlin & His Friends: Kings Of Chicago Blues

20) Taj Mahal: The Real Thing

21) Muddy Waters: Hard Again

22) Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble: Texas Flood

23) Keb’ Mo’: Just Like You

24) Etta James: Life, Love & The Blues

25) Buddy Guy: Blues Singer

[Hot Ptah]

Over in the box bargains thread, matteson has posted details of a forthcoming blues box in this series. Listing here.

Now, in spite of having a lot of jazz CDs, I don't have any blues, and I think perhaps I ought to. There are a lot of strong names here, but to me most of them are just names, nothing more. Can any of the blues experts on the forum recommend this selection?

1) Bessie Smith: The Bessie Smith Story

2) Big Bill Broonzy: Big Bill Blues

3) Little Richard: Little Richard And Buck Ram

4) Mahalia Jackson: Live At Newport 1958

5) Chuck Willis: Wails The Blues

6) Elvis Presley: Elvis Presley For LP Fans Only

7) Jimmy Witherspoon: In Person

8) Robert Johnson: King Of The Delta Blues Singers

9) Sonny Boy Williamson And Memphis Slim

10) Aretha Franklin: Unforgettable – A Tribute To Dinah Washington

11) Son House: Father Of Folk Blues

12) Johnny “Guitar” Watson & Larry Williams: Two For The Price Of One

13) Champion Jack Dupree: Anthologie Du Blues Vol. 1

14) Otis Span: The Biggest Things Since Colossus

15) Johnny Winter: Johnny Winter

16) Percy Mayfield: Sings Percy Mayfield

17) The Johnny Otis Show: Live At Monterey!

18) Willie Dixon: I Am The Blues

19) Hubert Sumlin & His Friends: Kings Of Chicago Blues

20) Taj Mahal: The Real Thing

21) Muddy Waters: Hard Again

22) Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble: Texas Flood

23) Keb’ Mo’: Just Like You

24) Etta James: Life, Love & The Blues

25) Buddy Guy: Blues Singer

This is a rather random collecion. Some of the albums are pretty good, but few are among the artist's best work. Some of the albums are odd obscurities in the artist's output (such as the Spann and Little Richard). The Muddy Waters album is one of the three studio recordings that he made at the end of his life, which were well received, but it does not contain any of his classic sides, which were recorded much earlier.

This would be the equivalent of a set of jazz albums with Miles Davis represented by "Water Babies", Count Basie by his small group "Basie and Zoot" album on Pablo, Dexter Gordon by his late Columbia album "Gotham City"--that is the kind of collection it is. Not exactly bad music, but not a representative collection of the best of the genre, or the best by the artists.