Daniel A

Thanks, Bob! I read somewhere that someone compared the Japanese and UK CD reissues and concluded that they were identical; Anyway, ”100% Proof” was in boxy-sounding mono on both. Original vinyl will be out of range or me, so I’ll probably go for the UK version of ”Mexican Green” as it still seems easy to get hold of and the 70s LP reissue of ”100% Proof”. I’ll keep an eye for the Laurie Johnson album as well.

I always meant to pick up ”100% Proof” and ”Mexican Green” but never came around to do it. In fact, I still have to hear hem for the first time. Considering the (lacking) availability of different issues, what would be the way to go with ”100%”? Is the 70s Philips reissue OK? At least I suppose it’s in stereo…

I remember a strange incident from the time when I played in a student big band. Someone wanted to book the band for a private party. Just a quick phone call, and then everything was settled. Unfortunately quite a few of the regular members of the band couldn’t make it this particular night, so we had to hire six or seven would-be professionals from the Royal Academy of Music, to fill out the band. When we got to the dining hall where the party was supposed to take place about an hour before we were scheduled to play, the place was completely empty. Not only weren’t there any guests, but also no staff, just a big, empty place which for some mysterious reason stood unlocked. One of the hired guys - these days one of the better-known jazz trumpeters in the country - stepped out on the empty bandstand and looked out in the dark. And suddenly the floor is collapsing under his feet! It turned out that below the bandstand there was some kind of storage space, accessible through a number of top-hinged doors. All the doors had been left open, so the stage appeared to be a few feet wider than it in fact was. When he stepped on one of these doors it instantly collapsed, he dropped his trumpet - which was in a soft case - and almost in slow-motion we watched him land on the floor; on his feet, but also on his soft case. He opened it and took out the trumpet. The bell was completely flat. He panicked and started to try to bend it into shape. It didn’t look good at all. Meanwhile, someone made a few phone calls to try to find out where the party was. It turned out there was in fact no party at all. The organizers disputed that there had been an agreement. They had realized that the concept was too expesive and had scrapped the whole thing. So the hired guys got their 50 Euro each for turning up and everybody went away to have a lousy Friday night at home. Afterwards I learned that the trumpeter had his horned fixed, but somehow thought it was never the same and eventually got himself a new instrument.

I wouldn't be surprised if putting up countless subsidiaries (presumably with complicated ownership relations) makes it easier to escape responsibility for copyright/IP infringements. Why would they do that? They have nothing to fear as long as they abide by the EU regulations regarding the 50-year copyright limitations! I may be wrong, but I'm under the impression that it's unclear if these labels have cleared the rights for covers, are paying royalties for compositions etc., rights which are not limited to 50 years after the release of the recording. Also, several of these labels have also been releasing stuff recorded after 1960.

I wouldn't be surprised if putting up countless subsidiaries (presumably with complicated ownership relations) makes it easier to escape responsibility for copyright/IP infringements.

As far as Venus CD:s are concerned (I don't have an SACD player), I totally agree with Claude. If you're a fan of the featured artists the music is mostly fine, however.

Nice find, Aric. Hank deploys a somewhat un-funky organ sound on that album, but his solos are nice (although only two on organ from what I can remember). He has played organ on a couple of other sessions through the years, as well as electric harpsichord and a few other oddities. You may find some of these sessions in the AAJ Hank Jones discography here: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician_discography.php?id=8166

I would buy Soul Station again if they'd use the ugly Liberty cover with the train station.

Yesterday I opened the set and found some five or six discs with glue residue; the sleeves for those discs were also the ones which had splitting seams. Double-CD sleeves fared better. Anyway, I used a microfiber cloth and some isopropyl alcohol solution and managed to remove the residue.

Hej från en huvudstadsbo till en annan! It seems I had perhaps overstated this issue, but I just learned from the person who did these comparsions that at least two 4xxx titles were identical with the McMasters, Art Blakey's 'Indestructible' and Staley Turrentine's 'Look Out'. As far as I know a bunch of 4xxx titles were tested but far from all, and there isn't (yet) an overview.

You're a wise man as always, Lon. Not really thinking about it, I just assumed that it would be worth more if it's sold as sealed, but this time it's probably the other way round!

Thanks! So if it looks like the Glenn Gould box it's likely to be rotten?

Is there any way to identify the defective sets by looking at them from the outside, without breaking the seal? I got a sealed one as part of a deal, and I'm still not sure if I should keep it or re-sell it. Wouldn't want to sell it and then learn that it was one of the bad sets, though.

A former member of these forums has analyzed a few TOCJ-4xxx discs and found several of them to be bit-identical to the 80s McMasters. Can't say if it's statistically significant, but apparently it's not always a good idea to spend a lot of money on old TOCJ:s.

Hi everybody! I've actually managed to get Swedish distribution through Sony Music, and downloads are now also available from the European Amazon sites, Itunes and a few other places. Those using Spotify may listen to the album there. Of course the album still doesn't sell at all, despite a few positive revews in Swedish daily papers, but at least we're out there. A few jazz club gigs are planned for February/March 2010. I can consider myself lucky to have these great muscians at hand, and although it may not be the greatest musical achievment put on record I'm happy it came out as good as it did. Anyone interested in a copy of the album may of course contact me directly.

Give "A Tribute to Someone" off My Point Of View another spin. He does sound almost exactly like Bill Evans on it, which was his intention. I always thought early Herbie Hancock, not least on "A Tribute to Someone" sounded a bit like Victor Feldman (that's what Miles thought too, I suppose).

This one?

I'm not sure hank did too well during those years. Brownie met Hank in Paris and has posted about that here. If I remember correctly Hank slept in an empty room at a hospital.

Good point. Last time there was a format shift (LP to CD) the industry tried to increase its margin by setting the list price of CDs much higher than LPs. While downloads are not exactly more expensive than CDs, they should at least be a bit cheaper. The fact remains that the compact disc is considered as outdated as VHS cassettes in most quarters. And while people still want to take music with them in their Ipods, soon streaming will be the only viable option at home. Why waste time on downloading anything if it's instantly available for streaming, which it soon will be. "Spotify" (or similar services) is the next logical step.

If Duke Pearson may be considered obscure, 'Angel Eyes' is probably his most obscure date as a leader, so maybe this is of limited interest, but since someone brought it up...

Sorry for being unprecise! What I wanted to point out was that the title track on Angel Eyes is identical to 'Angel Eyes' from Hush. Even the redoubtable Michael Fitzgerald seems to have missed that in his otherwise very accurate Duke Pearson discography.

Hi guys! Duke Pearson himself later said that the producer, Fred Norsworthy, sold the trio session to Polydor without Pearson's consent and that he didn't get paid for it. There was another album recorded by Norsworthy for Jazzline as a feature for trombonist Willie Wilson (by suggestion from Pearson) - it didn't get released until 1970 as "Dedication" on Prestige with Pearson as leader. The track 'Angel Eyes' was recorded on January 12, 1962 during the session for Hush (and also released on the Jazzline album Hush), all other titles are from a session on August 1, 1961.

This may stem from the two different releases of the album back in the day, on Columbia and Philips.

Happy birthday, Clifford!

My Japanese 2006 reissue of Freddie Hubbard's "Polar AC" lists the following composer credits, all of them wrong: Polar AC (Chris Kenner) People Make the World Go Round (David Matthews) Betcha By Golly, Wow (Clifford Brown) Naturally (Fritz Pauer) Son of Sky Dive (Chick Corea)