I don't doubt that! It would be interesting to know about the rights. It was pretty unusual, I think, for artists to own their masters at that time. The movie "Ray" made a big deal out of Ray Charles owning his masters at ABC/Paramount. I haven't read any biographies of Charles, so I don't know how accurate the movie was about that. For all his legendary status, Tea wasn't exactly a chart-topper, so it seems to me like it would be unusual for him to be able to make that kind of deal, but you never know.
Regardless, I'm definitely looking forward to hearing the music--Bobby Hackett with him on it too!
I don't personally believe that Joe Teagarden has the rights to this Verve lp, but that he is just putting it out because he wanted to have a "prize" recording to offer and he's mad at how his dad's work has been stiffed by some majors and bootlegged all over the world.