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Looks like an opportunity missed on the Bessie then. I notice now that the individual titles of the Armstrongs replicate the Columbia Masterworks issues of decades ago, at least for the first six or seven discs. Those masterings are ancient. I've ordered the Charlie Christian as I missed it first time round, and might get the Ellington if they really are remastered, as I have all but one of the albums already and really only want Drum and Bal Masque without the overdubs.

Although the Second Disc post reads: "Virtually all of the CDs in the Complete Album Collection jazz series have been newly remastered by multiple Grammy-winning engineer Mark Wilder." So I'm not sure. At least the price is right: £32.84 for 10 discs at Amazon UK.

Now up for preorder at Amazon. Released October 29. More details at The Second Disc.

The Second Disc is reporting four new(ish) sets from Sony Legacy: Louis Armstrong, The Complete OKeh, Columbia and RCA Victor Recordings 1925-1933 (OKeh/Columbia/RCA/Legacy 8869794565 2, 2012) Louis Armstrong & The Hot Fives – Volume 1 (1925-1926) Louis Armstrong: The Hot Fives & Sevens – Volume 2 (1926-1927) Louis Armstrong: The Hot Fives & Sevens – Volume 3 (1927-1928) Louis Armstrong & Earl Hines (1927-1928) Louis in New York (1929) St. Louis Blues (1929-1930) You’re Driving Me Crazy (1930-1931) Stardust (1931-1932) Swing, You Cats (1932-1933) Laughin’ Louie (1933, 1932, 1930) (Already reported at Organissimo here.) Charlie Christian, The Genius of the Electric Guitar (Columbia/ Legacy 88697 93035 2, 2012) The Master Takes: Benny Goodman Sextet – 1939 / with The Alternate Takes The Master Takes: Benny Goodman Sextet – 1940 / with The Alternate Takes The Master Takes: Benny Goodman Sextet – 1940-41 / with The Alternate Takes The Master Takes: the Metronome All Star Nine – 1940, Benny Goodman And His Orchestra – 1939-1941, The Sextet Breakdowns & False Starts, The Sextet Rehearsal Sequences, March 13, 1941 Jam Session (More sensible packaging than the original issue, as shown at Amazon.) Duke Ellington, The Complete Columbia Studio Albums Collection 1951-1958 (Columbia/ Legacy 88697 93888 2) Masterpieces By Ellington (1951) Ellington Uptown (1952) Blue Rose – Rosemary Clooney and Duke Ellington and His Orchestra (1956) A Drum Is A Woman (1956) Such Sweet Thunder (1957) Ellington Indigos (1957) Black, Brown And Beige feat. Mahalia Jackson (1958) Duke Ellington at the Bal Masque (1958) Duke Ellington’s Spacemen: The Cosmic Scene (1958) (A Drum is a Woman at last! Hope they remove the fake audience from Bal Masque.) Bessie Smith, The Complete Columbia Recordings (Columbia/ Legacy 88725 40310 2, 2012) The Complete Recordings Vol. 1 (1923-1924) (2 CDs) The Complete Recordings Vol. 2 (1924-1925) (2 CDs) The Complete Recordings Vol. 3 (1925-1928) (2 CDs) The Complete Recordings Vol. 4 (1928-1931) (2 CDs) The Complete Recordings Vol. 5 (1931, 1933, unissued takes, St. Louis Blues soundtrack, Ruby Smith Dialogue/An Interview with Chris Albertson)( 2 CDs) More details at Second Disc.

I don't think that adds up, Ubu. Hip-o Select hasn't released a jazz boxed set since the Wes Montgomery one, almost a year ago, so it's getting less active if anything. The Chick Webb set under discussion is Universal material, which suggests Mosaic is still getting that material. And the Granz Jam Sessions set came out years before Hip-o Select was conceived. But a Hip-o/Mosaic merger could indeed be fine. With Cuscuna in control, the mastering would probably be more Mosaic-inclined, while we would get more compact/attractive packaging.

Another fan of Ghost World here. Scarlett Johanssen's performance as the main character's friend was a revelation -- until then I had no idea she was that good an actress.

The Steve Race is fun but it's more a pop album with jazz elements than a jazz album. On the other hand, where else could you hear Tubby Hayes soloing on Z Cars?

The new titles are now on HMV at the preorder prices of £6 for single CDs and £9 for doubles. Search string here. BTW I just had some very good customer service from HMV. The new Vocalions went up yesterday at rrp, so I queried it (rather crossly as this has happened before). HMV replied today to say they were checking the release dates and immediately the prices were reduced.

Just finished a couple of Simon Brett Fethering mysteries: The Shooting in the Shop and Bones under the Bach Hut. The former disappointed, but the latter is one of his best and quite brave towards the end in some of the opinions he expresses. Now reading Big Money by P.G. Wodehouse, and it's a corker: rather anarchic and irreverent but very witty; not too much romance (so far). Wodehouse at his best really. Must read something literary soon...

The former. But aside from their music choices, there was all sorts of "easy listening" (hate the term by the way) woven into the fabric of popular culture, on films, TV, advertising, so it gets under your skin. Jazz entered my life by the same route. The Big Ben Banjo Band and Val Doonican was not their cup of tea, nor is it mine. But then music like that has little to do with Martin Denny, Jackie Gleason or funky KPM library music. It's about finding good music in unexpected places, not deliberately gravitating towards shit. Aspirational/confrontational probably isn't the right way to express what I mean. So I'm sorry for all the headaches. Entertainment versus art perhaps? Acceptance versus rebellion?

I don't think I understand what an aspirational pop music fan is or was in the seventies/eighties. No, I'm sure I don't. There was a comma in there. They were (i) aspirational as opposed to confrontational and (ii) liked light, fun pop music as opposed to heavy, worthy rock. Two separate things but a common combination in suburban families.

See my post yesterday in the Vocalion thread. Fortysomethings like me love this stuff. Because when we were growing up it, and music like it, was always in the background, it's more evocative of our childhoods than the "cool" rock and roll we were supposed to like. Plus, our parents were aspirational, pop music fans. We didn't want to rebel against them like the previous generation did (and had to) against theirs; we wanted to emulate them.

Closing on December 4.

See, I would think that is where grey money would be spent, on the Fifties and Sixties rock'n'roll and soul of their youth, not easy listening or light music, which surely teenagers would have scorned at the time. I'm only 43, and not yet grey, and I suspect it's actually my generation who are buying Vocalion schmaltz, even though it may have been old people who bought it at the time. I recently attended a concert by the KPM All-Stars, library music composers who wrote themes such as Grandstand. The latter brought the house down and pretty much everyone in the audience was my age. There's a repeat of a documentary, The Joy of Easy Listening, tomorrow night on BBC4 -- it's flawed (they should have made it in the Nineties during the easy revival when everyone mentioned was still alive), but if you can spare the time it's worth watching for an insight into its appeal among my generation.

Cheers. It's whatever floats your boat at the end of the day.

Where is the audience for this? There is tons of this sort of the stuff on the Vocalion site. We were told at the time that this was ephemeral music with no staying power; but it still seems to be popular. Hidden away across England there must be rooms like this where Manuel (Que?) remains supreme: Prepare to be shocked but I buy rather a lot of this stuff. I got into music as a child partly from being interested in the so-called Great American Songbook, which branches off into jazz, vocals and light orchestral music. Plus I was at the right age for the lounge/easy listening revival of the Nineties. I'm not sure why others buy this music, but it seems to be popular, and I'm glad. Radio 3 plays quite a bit of light music, there have been Proms devoted to it and bandleaders like John Wilson who recreate historic orchestrations have a huge following. All sorts of music was once disparaged as ephemeral -- even jazz -- but I can't think of any that doesn't now have a following of some sort -- and that's good. That's not my living room btw -- all that shagpile would be a Mecca for moths in London.

No idea. Amazon's own prices on Vocalions are often on that mad scale, or they don't stock them at all. Be careful you order through crazygreen8 and not Amazon! Even spookier, they also just released a new Manuel and his Music of the Mountains. It's too late to predict Team GB's results in the Olympics unfortunately. Any tips on this week's lottery numbers?

Vocalion charge £1.75 to post one CD, plus 25p extra for each CD on top of that. So I'd recommend waiting until the next sale and buying it as part of a batch. You could buy it from Vocalion via their crazygreen8 marketplace outlet on Amazon, but the price difference is just 49p (£4.25 including postage here).

BTW, lots of back-catalogue Vocalions are just £6 at hmv.com at the moment, free shipping within the UK. Including many of last year's batch of jazz issues, eg, Dankworth, Skidmore, Maupin, Cameron, Rich/Clare/Bellson. Loads of classical, library and British dance bands too. Full label search string by price order here.

The forthcoming Vocalions? Watch out for them appearing on hmv.com, which usually (though not always) has dirt-cheap preorder prices. Once the release date has passed they go up to RRP. But if you mean the Hawkins -- it's £2.99 at Vocalion -- how cheap do you want it?

It's not all. Heading on the home page now reads "soul and jazz" and includes these other releases: Harold McNair: Harold McNair & Flute and Nut The Joe Harriot Quintet: Movement & High Spirits Johnny Dankworth: What the Dickens! & Off Duty! Freddy Cole: One More Love Song & Right from the Heart A smaller haul than last time, but choice material just the same.

Now on the homepage: those three releases under the heading "soul". Is that it I wonder?

The first of those jazz releases promised for May has appeared: Max Middleton, Robert Ahwai, Dick Morrissey & Jim Mullen: Another Sleeper & Cape Wrath There are these (jazz-related?) soul releases too: Father's Children: Father's Children Chain Reaction: Indebted to You I expect the full list will be on the Vocalion homepage before long.

No worries. I hear what you're saying and completely agree -- compression is an horrendous development of recent years. However, these Tatum sets *are* significantly quieter than almost all of my other CDs. For such a classic series of sessions, it deserves better, but as I say, at least it's cheap.

Why not turn up the volume? They don't sound bad. You know, I hadn't thought of that. Seriously, I really have to crank it up to hear these. It shouldn't be necessary. The low price makes up for it though.