Big Beat Steve

I was just kidding somewhat. I know overseas takes longer and I am quite prepared to accept this (and can live with the inevitable inconsistencies in transit time over which you have no control).

I am sure my copy will take a "wee" bit longer but I am not complaining. Though I hope this "1st class" doesn't apply to overseas shipments or else it might end up in some sack in the belly of some coal steamer somewhere on the seas.

The website of a German weekly has a talk between a prominent German rock musician and Bear Family founder Richard Weize on exactly this topic of online availability of "all" music at your fingertips today. Unfortunately it is behind a paywall so for now I cannot comment further but the title of it all sums it up IMO: "Spotify has no soul".

This seems to be a further evolution of that imprint I have not seen on any of mine (which range up to a (P) and (C) date of 2011). The reason I was asking was that I am trying to find out how to possibly tell them apart from the outside. The one I have doubts about has a Rickmansworth, Herts. address on the inlay. All those that are real CDs have a different address (PO Box 611, Pinner, no county given) . BUT - one other CD with the Rickmansworth address that I have has an O.K. real CD too. So the Rickmannsworth address is not a sure indicator of a CD-R either. Strangely those other Acrobats I own and that have their back inlay shown on Amazon too ALSO have the Rickmansworth address there whereas my copies have the Pinner address. So there seem to be several (re-)pressings floating around. Which makes me believe that one and the same CD release from them may exist in both forms. Not easy to settle ...

Sh.t .. you're right .. and serves me right for having fluffed that one by not looking closer. Credit to whom credit is due. I bow my head in shame ... People being what they are, I'd guess that as soon as there is a discernible trend that might render "current electricity unusable" there will be enterprising individuals or businesses out there to occupy that niche market of coming up with "adaptations" that make all this work again. I like the idea of preserving physical copies of the music not so much as owners but as "guardians" in the long run. No doubt many diehard collectors (even in many other fields of collecting) see themselves in that role. Besides, if you look closer (at whatever is collectible), a lot is passed on from one collector/guardian generation to the next. Not everything gets thrown out by the heirs, and not all of those collectors sit on what they got just like setting hens.

Not all of those in the R&B field and related reissues, at least not since the original releases on 78. (And no, some reissue on some long-deleted P-Vine vinyl from the 70s/80s - or similar labels - that was exceedingly hard to get in almost all parts of the globe doesn't count and attitudes to the tune of "ha, your fault if you weren't around when they were current in places were they COULD be bought or if you aren't willing to shell out top ripoff money from secondhand sellers today" are just laughable). Again, I'd I not condone sellng CD-Rs underhandedly at all but I cannot see any fault with those Acrobats I've bought even among fairly recent reissues (2010/2011 dates in the fine print), except one single one - the Macy's label compilation. And even there I canot find anything wrong with the booklet (which isn't copious anyway), and I wonder if maybe the problem with the CD-Rs is that these are REPRESSINGS (the booklet to the Macy's has a 2003 date whereas it is 2011 on the back insert. OTOH the similarly designed Atlas label compilation also has a booklet date of 2003 and a 2010 date on the back insert in the jewel case but this one definitely is not a CD-R but the real thing (as are the others I have from that label). Not that nice for sure that they resort to CD-Rs but hasn't this been a problem even with major label reisues such as OJCs? At any rate, as for the Macy's, I know I'd pick up a Vol. 2 (if they ever did one) focusing on Macy's country output and filling gaps in reissues available elsewhere without flinching - CD-R or not. To the best of my knowledge BACM (another CD-R reissuer but they admit it and they are a special case anyway) have not done a Macy's compilation so far. Unimportant reissues to others wondering about this label? Maybe - but then it's - AGAIN - just a matter of different strokes and tastes. So what, then? BTW, @all: What's the label address in the fine print at the bottom of the back inlay of your CD-Rs?

That's the point.

Common business sense having gone out the window? I fully understand your feelings.

Yes, I had been wondering too ("Chi-oya" as in "Chi-nese" was my guess as I think this would be the ITALIAN pronounciation). Now I know it is "Joya", as in "Sherrill".

So this is Ted Gioia in person ... nice to be able to put a face to a name. I am glad I OWN the music to be able to play the soundtrack to his Swing to Bop and West Coast Jazz books - to me, two of the bestest jazz books I have in my collection. I LISTENED to his talk while editing some Word file. So no paddlewheeling here. As for what he said - spot on IMO , and I think others said it before in some other thread here re-ongoing availability of items you want via streaming and downloading. Aside from all desires to own the PHYSICAL product, market forces about focusing on the big and most profitable sellers being what they are, relying on online availability might very much slim the offering down eventually and destroy awareness of what there is and was out there - both for collecting/preserving and for creating exposure to newer artists.

Honestly, I cannot see anyting wrong with the quality (paper and contents) of their booklets among those CDs I have from Acrobat when compared to other comparable reissue labels, particularly from the UK. Admittedly they all are early post-war R&B and one straddles the fence towards swing. And like I said above, only one of them (one of the label compilations) appears like the CD is actually a CD-R. I checked once again this morning but apparently I do not have any of the jazz reissues mentined in this thread but as for sales figures, I really wouldn't say that Peppy Prince, for example, is likely to outsell Tubby Hayes. So I'd doubt the jazz reissues are more prone to CD-R-ing because they sell that poorly.

This sounds seedy indeed. However, I just checked the 8 or 9 Acrobats I have and while ONE (which wasnt the most recent one I've bought) looks doubtful the others do look like the real thing with the release no. in the fine print on the back too - just ike other regular CDs bought in recent years.

As for studio recordings (which as far as I know account for the bulk of their reissues), the applicable European laws about recordings falling into the public domain are and remain (at least as of now) not retroactively applicable. I.e. whatever was first issued sometime before some date in 1962 (when the new 50-year law was passed in 2012) REMAINS in the public domain and exempt from royalties due. If it's in the public domain in Europe and complies with the laws of the country/continent where the label is located it is not a bootleg. Making the items for sale in the US where the laws may be different is something to take up with the resellers in the US, not with the label.

Same impressions here. Sound is quite OK for me, and they go in their reissues where most of the others do not dare or care to tread so I have often found reissues with them that fill gaps in my collection (R&B, mostly). Presentation is very nice and experts in this field (Dave Penny, Philip J Tricker, Opal Louis Nations etc) have been involved in most cases. One word of caution, though: I have a number of label compilations by them (Melodisc, Atlas, Derby, Macy's etc.) that have GREAT stuff for MY tastes but as this music comes from rare and obscure 78s where often only fairly worn copies were available as source material the sound is what it is - pops, crackles and hisses included. I really cannot judge how much more cleaning up could have been done there without sacrificing some of the range and flattening the sound but these limitations (that exist with reissues on certain other labels too - early post-war indie source material often seems to be harder to clean up than even 20s acoustially recorded tracks, it seems) should be taken into account. I for one do NOT mind too much about such shortcomings at all (and make no excuses about it) but if you're a stickler for highest of hi fidelity then do steer clear.

Another of those cases where as a casual observer you had no idea he was still around. RIP. I had been aware of him since the days of the "Leading Brand" LP on Red Lighting where he was co-billed with Earl Hooker (but not that much more than that, I must admit).

Same here too. Thanks. Paid yesterday, shipping notice today. Good service. Now let's hope the postal services do their part of the job too.

This thread has prompted me to pull out the one below for listening (a reissue of his 1960 Jaro LP) which was the first KD LP I ever bought (back in the early 80s - not that I have a really huge part of his leader dates anyway). A very enjoyable session, brings back memories of past listening sessions (and the excellent liner notes by Mark Gardner sum up the gist of what the Austin Chronicle bio linked above says) .

Have you tried Amazon? It's on several of their European sites, including co.uk.

Surprise ... the mailman delivered the parcel with the book on my doorstep today. Ordered on Saturday night from the publisher in Italy via Amazon and here it is today. This sure was FAST ... Whew ... as it is a holidays present this is going to be TOUGH wait until Christmas Eve ...

If the booklet is as good as that of most of the other releases it should be an asset. (I found the one of the Illinois Jacquet/Leo Parker "Toronto 1947" release a bit of a letdown as the text offered relatively little that was new at all but those of the other Uptowns I have bought over time are real gems IMO, including the one of the 1958 Dodo Marmarosa CD, of course)

Wishful thinking hoping for ALL-new discoveries. Same here (before I found out about the duplications at home), but I'l be looking forward to the Uptown anyway (received my order confirmation a couple of minutes ago).

Now at home and checking through my LPs. On looking closer, no. 21 to 26 on disc 1 and no. 3 to 13 on disc 2 look like they correspond to the "Piano Man" LP on Phoenix Jazz LP20 released in 1978 (the tracks on disc 2 also are on Raretone 5020). All from MacGregor transciptions (late 1946) according ot the liner notes of the Phoenix Jazz LP. Tracks 19 and 20 on CD 1 are also on Raretone 5020 (Experiment in Bop). According to these 2 LPs the lineup looks like Dodo (p), Barney Kessel (g), Gene Englund (b) for #19-20 on CD1 and #3-13 on CD 2. #21-26 on CD 1 have Lucky Thompson (ts), Dodo (p), Red Callender (b), Jackie Mills (dr). I for one remain interested in the rest anyway which look new to me. And the above may have been improved sonically too - who knows?

The tracklist is in the opening post. Sounds intriguing ...

Sent him a mail 2 hours ago to say I'd like to buy a copy and am hoping for confirmation on this now too.

Watched it yesterday (for the first time). Fascinating but mindboggling that all the interviewees except Sonny Rollins and Benny Golson are dead now. Time flies ... But my, did I have trouble understanding Art Blakey and (often) Dizzy Gillespie ...No comparison with Johnny Griffin or Hank Jones or a couple of others ... Seeing how many of the musicians (and helpers) involved also seemed to have taken snapshots there should be material out there for ANOTHER volume of "behind the scenes" shots (if they can ever be located). Starting with the pics taken by Milt Hinton's wife.