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robert h.
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Posts posted by robert h.
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I dunno. Still feels like when the industry tried to replace LP's with cheaper to produce cassettes in the 70's, using the same argument about portability, etc. LP's didn't go away until a superior archival form (CD's) was rolled out.
Different era and different situation. People WANTED CD's - no more popping and crackling, no more side changes, smaller size, programmability (choice!) and portability were the motivators. To 99% of consumers, it was a very clear improvement with plenty of pentup demand.
If people want choice and service instead of product, why did CD's outsell album downloads 18-1 in '06? (and based on that stat, it mystifies me when you state that downloading has already replaced albums. Not sure what you base that statement on, but facts don't seem to be involved).
In every case of a tecnological replacement, the obsolete format experiences it's HIGHEST level of sales when it has been replaced and is obsolete! Think about it - VHS players hit their sales peak in 2003 - when it was obvious to even the most jaded that the VHS format had been replaced by DVD. Why? Because at that point the obsoleted product is a cheap commodity and all barriers to purchase are gone.
Even single track downloads didn't outsell CD albums - though I grant you downloads make more sense for single track disposable pop for the youth culture catered to by that market.
Again, LP's WAY outsold CD for at least the first 5 years after CD was introduced! You know as well as I do that replacement doesn't happen all at once - but that doesn't mean that it's not fully underway.
I'll grant you that I'm part of the "older demographic" being so easily dissed in your discussion.
You are perhaps a bit too sensitive. It wasn't dissing, but simply stating the truth - the CD buying demographic has skewed very heavily 40+ male, and is getting older all the time. Those folks are simply not buying new releases - they are buying the same older stuff they bought 30 years ago, and buying it over and over and over...until they get off that wagon.
Me, I still consider myself People, and I want PRODUCT. I want albums. And I want them on CD. And, based even more on my rock/pop/soul interests than my jazz interest, I have trouble believing I'm all that alone in this.
Unfortunately, the sales numbers tell the truth. You're not alone, but there's not enough of us to make for a very viable market.
And I think there's still many of millions of dollars to be made for the companies who can grasp and properly address THAT reality.
Unfortunately, there are not. That is why those companies are exiting the business and going where the dollars are.
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2006 US sales numbers from an article in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer - album downloads- 32 million. Album CD sales 588 million. Don't buy the hype of the inevitability of downloads needing to replace CD's. Downloading is a singles, pop, disposable phenomenon.
It's not "inevitable" that downloading will replace CD's - IT'S ALREADY HAPPENED.
What you are seeing is the transition taking place. The physical product is being sold only to older demographic who are hanging on to the product they have been accustomed to, primarily carrying legacy musics, which they tend to enjoy buying over and over again.
Reality is quite simple. People today do not want product. They want CHOICE and SERVICE. They don't want albums. They want tunes. And they want them delivered to the carrier they choose.
The reason the industry is undergoing this transition is primarily that it has historically viewed itself as a provider of consumer packaged goods - marketed as such. Today, music is not a CPG, it is a service product and the labels have yet to fully come to terms with that.
Verve downsized for a simple reason. Sales could no longer support the staff size. Unfortunately, as the core buyers of physical product continue to age, there is simply not enough to support the staff size. Those that understand the new model will be successful.
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The Soft Machine catalog on Epic ( 3 to 7 ) was done in 2005 by Sony Japan in excellent DSD sound. It's doubtful that these are an improvement, they may very well be the same remastering (if lucky). Unfortunately, 3 is still not really great sounding - the story is that the masters are actually long lost. The first Soft Machine was redone last year in Japan with simply outstanding results and is also a great record.
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Quick correction here. None are new K2 remasters, all are reissues of previously available K2's. Most have not been available for close to a decade, though. For example, I picked up the K2 of Rollins' Next Album (a monster, stupidly overlooked record) around 1998. Great remaster - who cares if it's recent or not? Get them, they are great, and won't be around for long this time either!
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I was just as cynical as the next guy about this, but found myself buying it Tuesday regardless.
Glad I did.
It's superb, and the sound is absolutely great. A revelation, lots of fun.
And it really puts us on notice that the remastering of the Beatles catalog coming next year, assuming it hits the same sonic standard, will be fantastic.
Thumbs up on this all the way.
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otoh, writers should be encouraged by the fact that at least a portion of their potential audience will be informed & concerned enough to expect a well-researched & well-written book, unless they're hoping for the opposite so they can get by with writing slop.
Knowing that expectations ae high tends to lead one to either excellence or evasion. Thankfully, Tom sounds like he's in the former category.
Informed and concerned yes, but trying to discredit a book before it's even been seen or read is hardly a case of "expectations", it's just plain being a blowhard and tossing negativity without reason.
Members of the audience have a right to expect discussion based on actual knowledge of the work being discussed, generally obtained by actually reading it or, at minimum, having some first hand exposure to it.
This is the same kind of rubbish that goes on continually at the whiner's forum (www.stevehoffman.tv) - endless complaining and bitching about every single little trivial thing, even about stuff that not only has yet to be released - but has yet to be created!
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Oh Bertrand! More prognostication?! :-) (gave up on the icon after two minutes of trying, it's not important)
Not to be too coy, but maybe that info did reach me (and check the acknowledgements page when you get a copy). It's true I didn't have much to do with the Veteran Lee Morgan Research Corps - they were at home, I don't know, maybe preparing for publication - but I was visible enough.
In fact, that kind of mechanism (who ow[n]ed what / paid for which / why and how it affected Lee's art) is central to the thing; I draw some conclusions about Lee's (rather fishy, it has to be said) legal arrangements, and while they might not be final, and they might not prove to be 100% accurate, they at least some conclusions. I know that's not how these books usually work, but I did say… Hope you like it, anyway.
No more, promise. (Recent threads show that writer-talks-to-board-about-own-work doesn't make for palatable reading.)
ta
Tom
[edited in failed attempt to sort out sodding icons]
I think this entire unfortunate thread simply demonstrates that the arm chair critics who haven't ever read/heard before they start the sniping should take foot out of mouth, take a few pills and chill out before indulging their negativity.
And some posters should quit while they are ahead once it's been pointed out that they haven't a clue.
It's all too easy for some folks on the internet to kick someone else's work around without the slightest justification. They think that they will never be caught out on it because of the anonymity of the internet.
Thanks for coming on here to make sure that your work doesn't get scuttled by some anonymous, cowardly sniping from behind a screen. I find it unfortunate that some people feel a need to attempt to dismiss a work before it's even had a chance to be seen. It must be incredibly discouraging to read this type of thread and in general these people discourage others from attempting to do this kind of work. I'll be buying the book and enjoying it.
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Matthews now gone...but two added!!
BILLY HARPER "Capra Black" oop japanese import on the Bomba label, jewel case, $15
DAVID MURRAY "3-D Family" new 2006 remaster HatHut slipcase $10.
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If someone was really willing to do all the work there might be a chance to score review copies. If I ever retire this would be a fun project.
Well, I dunno - seems to me there's three elements to this.
1 Sources of information - we're talking about informal as well as formal info, here; not just confirmed release dates but anticipated releases. That implies someone close to the industry - in Japan, Europe, North America, South Africa and Australasia (and probably other places where jazz records are made). If not a someone, a consortium of someones.
2 Ease with the technology of running a site.
3 Willingness to a) slog the info into a reasonably standard form, and b) check reissues for whether they're as originally issued or have bonus tracks (and what the hell do you do about the multipliciy of Japanese editions?)
To me, this doesn't really look like one person, retired or not, at all. Lord knows how Jazzmatazz was so good.
MG
Once it's up the first time, updating is work, but not that onerous.
Informatyion on Japanese releases is SUPER easy to find, and Jazzmatazz didn't report terribly much on Japanese stuff.
Nor did Jazzmatazz report AT ALL on South Africa, Australasia, or other basically non-markets where there is virtually no new product different from the main markets. Similarly, Jazzmatazz did not report hardly at all on UK or Eurpoean releases - in those markets, there is a bit of reissue stuff that comes out different from North America.
Jazzmatazz did report on bonus tracks when they were known. This kind of stuff comes on new release announcements (solicitations) from record companies and distributors.
Yes, it can be a bit of work keeping track of all the small labels, but once it's established, the information comes easily to the inbox and it's just an updating and sorting exercise.
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1. "THE STRAIGHT HORN OF STEVE LACY" which seems pretty self-explanatory - Roy Haynes on drums, no piano, Charles Davis on bari - OOP Candid label mini-lp $12
2. RONNIE MATTHEWS "Doin The Thang" on Prestige with Freddie Hubbard and Charles Davis again on the baritone - OOP mini-lp $12
3. GARY BARTZ "JuJu Man" rare 1970's quartet date on the Catalyst label, not one of those dumb crossover dates but a red hot blowing date - rare Japanese reissue , OOP, jewel case $15
Shipping is $3.50 and paypal is the method preferred - thanks!!
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Everything is relative - compared to Rollins in the same period, or Getz, or even Stitt, he was - and compared to the Coltrane of a few years later with Giant Steps, he was too.
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All of a sudden, in 1957 everything came together at once. Coltrane himself taked about it occasionally in interviews. It had a lot to do with getting off drugs and his short time with Monk.
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Anyone who has heard this stuff wouldn't pay a nickel for it. There's not enough time to listen to all the good music. This stuff is just really, really bad - Trane was a terrible player in this period. It's unfortunate this stuff gets released, but some will pay for it I guess.
I find it interesting to track the development of Coltrane; how someone who was "a terrible player" turned into one of the greatest musicians on the 20th centuary. Not the standard thing for a musician in any genre, is it?
I guess you've never tried to play an instrument.
Musicians don't just pick up an instrument and become great overnight - it takes years of hard work to get there. Great musicians are 20% talent and 80% hard work, and Coltrane was no exception, indeed, it actually tok him longer to really get there - he only really become a great, or even very good player in his 30's - even his early to mid 50's stuff shows him struggling with intonation and his conception, which was far from fluid. Once he got it together, he took off. He was practicing upwards of 8 hours a day to do it.
It most definitely IS the standard thing for every player in every genre. They all start out as terrible players.
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Anyone who has heard this stuff wouldn't pay a nickel for it. There's not enough time to listen to all the good music. This stuff is just really, really bad - Trane was a terrible player in this period. It's unfortunate this stuff gets released, but some will pay for it I guess.
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well, I was gonna buy the whole lot, but it's Wednesday, so I figure the sale is over -
no smarty pants, still have them available, but a few I've listed on Ebay, so if anyone's looking send me a message, thanks.
By the way - you need to increase your reading comprehension. I said - Probably will leave this up for a day or two..so you "figure" wrong, or your attempt at humor is on a par with John Kerry's ...as in...not.
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Williams Magical Trio sold.
Adding Japanese 24 bit remaster in jewel case STAN GETZ "Award Winner" which is mint and sounds great - $15.
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Could you provide the catalog numbers for the Japanese mini LP titles please?
Steve Lacy TECW-20492
Roland Kirk PHCE-3087
Ronnie Matthews VICJ-60675
The Coleman Hawkins is sold.
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I haven't heard the new box. I sent a copy to a friend as a gift, and he really likes the sound. . . but he's no audiophile. . .he's a trumpeter.
Well, if one must be drawn into the never ending and very pointless sonic debate:
The DCC's sound a bit too fat and warm - artificially, although it is very seductive for folks with 'cold' or 'hard' sounding systems, which I'm guessing they were remastered to suit - more customers in that era fit that bill.
I have the XRCD's - they are superb, I would consider them the best all around.
The new RVG's are outstanding, much more depth and detail than the DCC and a great listening experience, but they don't do enough to displace the XRCD.
The older K2's are pretty good and stand up well to the above versions.
Those are basically the better choices. I doubt anyone would be displeased with any of them and certainly it is silly to think there is an 'upgrade' from any.
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Offering a bunch of titles in my near to year end shelf cleanup:
1. FREDDIE McCOY "SPIDERMAN" rare Japanese pressing - cool cover - guess who is on it? long OOP - nice quartet date - $20
2. RASHIED ALI "Live At Tonic" Louis Belogenis on tenor, Wilber Morris bone crushing bass, awesome DIW Japanese pressing, spirit of Coltrane for $16.
3. FRANK WRIGHT "Church Number Nine" rare French reissue of hot, hot bassless quartet date with Noah Howard on alto, Bobby Few (piano) and Mohammed Ali on drums. Very hard to find, produced in miniscule quantities, OOP and quite good sound. $25 gets it.
4. KENNY BARRON/JOHN HICKS QUARTET "Rhythm A Ning" OOP Candid titles, nice for $12
5. JAMES WILLIAMS "Meet The Magical Trio" OOP $10
6. ERIC ALEXANDER "Alexander The Great" with Charles Earland smokin on the B-3. $10.
7. BYARD LANCASTER "It's Not Up To Us" reissue on the Water label in fine sound $10.
8. DAVID S. WARE "Balladware" 2006 new release - Ware's quartet tackles - as the astute reader might realize already - ballads. $10.
9. GERI ALLEN "Timeless Portraits And Dreams" 2006 Telarc release, with extra bonus disc/track, primarily a trio with Mr. Ron Carter and Jimmy Cobb still kickin' away. $10.
10. COLEMAN HAWKINS "Alive At The Village Gate" Japanese 24 bit remaster with 2 bonus tracks, super date with the hawk giving some great extended solos from 1962. $16.
11. GARY BARTZ "JuJu Man" rare 1970's quartet date on the Catalyst label, not one of those dumb crossover dates but a red hot blowing date - rare Japanese reissue , OOP, $20.
All the above are in jewel cases;
JAPANESE MINI-LP COVERS:
1. "THE STRAIGHT HORN OF STEVE LACY" which seems pretty self-explanatory - Roy Haynes on drums, no piano, Charles Davis on bari - OOP Candid label $18
2. ROLAND KIRK" Reeds and Deeds" . OOP Mercury remaster - nice one for $20.
3. RONNIE MATTHEWS "Doin The Thang" on Prestige with Freddie Hubbard and Charles Davis again on the baritone - OOP $15.
Shipping is usually $3.50 for one or two, a bit more for 3 and up. Paypal preferred. I'll probably leave these up here for a day or two only - Thanks!
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With so many choices lately of Miles reissues (am interested in: the "in" series,Walkin',etc),can any body compare soundwise the following (best to worst):
Concord's new Prestige box
Original OJC cd/20 bit digipack
K2 20 bit remaster (50th anniversary)
XRCD JVC
SACD
All audio comments appreciated.I have the K2's and am considering upgrading to the XRCD's,is it worth the $$ ?
I think at this stage, the notion of "upgrade" is a fallacy - all of them sound different, all of them sound very good. What compels you to throw your money at these once again?
You will get different. You will not get some arbitrary notion of 'better'.
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I agree - AAJ is next to useless. I think this site is the logical venue for this information - I have no idea how much work is involved, but I would be happy to give it a crack!
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I think at this stage, it's pretty obvious, the site is abandoned and dead.
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As Kevin said, if a Conn is still in print at this stage, it can only because it has sold poorly hence there is still stock in the warehouse. None of these titles are big sellers and pressings are limited.
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It just doesn't matter that much to me! I'm not consumed with audiophilic passion for this sort of thing. I personally would guess that Maureen and Rudy are handling these masters quite well, and wouldn't necessarily trust what Hoffman says otherwise.That's fine, Lon. But it would be an opportunity to get an opinion of someone "who's actually heard/handled" the master.
The rest of us don't have that luxury...
Couldn't agree with you more about the Hoffman site - a vanity board to promote a talented, but marginally productive engineer that purports to make him into something bigger than the music. Lots of just flat out wrong information and a very heavily thought controlled environment - I've never seen so many moderators at any site, anywhere. There's a cult like atmosphre with a very heavy emphasis on ensuring nothing makes the host look slightly bad or conflicts with the view he promotes, in his own interest. And it's VERY middle aged male oriented, lots of girlie pictures and juvenelia amongst the avatars, the range of musical taste is very narrow also - as is Hoffmans.
Too bad sites like that gain such a following, it shows the need for certain people to find a place where there's a leader that makes them feel like they belong - the Monnie cult of audio, in my opinion.
I know a few 'name' mastering engineers who simply cringe at the mention of Hoffman's name - a guy who spends more time promoting and glorifying himself than the music.
Read the Hoffman board with a HUGE grain of salt, it is extremely heavily censored and only exists to promote Hoffman.
verve downsized
in Re-issues
Posted
YES! This is for several very interesting reasons:
1. CD's are much higher priced in Japan - higher margin.
2. CD's in Japan are produced in very small quantities - 3,000 to 5,000 usually - hence, they don't need to see as much (particularly given the higher margin).
3. The Japanese have figured out that they can sell these high quality reissues worldwide, because of the perceived higher quality and because they are limited - so selling 5,000 at a relatively high price is not a problem.
4. Since the Japanese don't need to sell high numbers , they can aim at niche markets that American companies economically can't hit.
The other sad fact is - American companies can't and won't produce to the same quality level as the Japanese. Remember a few years ago Verve tried to do mini-LP's domestically - they failed, first because they couldn't get them done to the same quality level as the Japanese, second, because they couldn't do it profitably.
Final reason - the Japanese music fan is simply much more intellegent and discerning than the average Amercan buyer! It is a sad truth that great American music is much more popular in Japan and France than it is in America. There is simply a much bigger market for American music in Japan than there is in America, and more knowledgeable buyers. Even jazz fans - the jazz market in America, small as it is, is also stiflingly limited in range - why has Sonny Rollins' Next Album been wonderfully remastered in Japan and not in Amerca? Quite simply - because the bulk of Amerca's small cadre of jazz buyers get off the boat around 1965 or so. Regrettably, jazz in America has not done a great job of creating a market or promoting a wider range of it's music.