jean-pierre coursodon Posted January 3, 2009 Report Posted January 3, 2009 Hi! I have just joined the group and this is my first post, but I have been a jazz fan for over half a century, which gives you an idea of my age (what was called modern jazz when I was young has been called classic jazz for quite a while!) I recently purchased several box sets of European origin -- 4-disc sets and 10-disc ones. The best thing that can be said about some of them, especially the membran products, is that they are cheap. The worst ever is a ten-disc Thelonious Monk set that comes without a booklet or any personnel or recording dates information whatsoever except for a list of song titles on the back of each sleeve -- and some of those titles are wrong (also, you'll learn that "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" was written by Monk!) As for contents, Discs #8 and #9 are particularly weird. On #8, Track 6 is identified as "More Than You Know" but is a different tune (I forget which), and Track 7 is not a Monk recording at all (it's "There Are Such Things" from the December 2, 1955 Rollins quartet session with Ray Bryant on piano). Then on Disc #8 we have most of the famous Miles Davis December 24, 1954 session , but what is identified on the sleeve as "Swing Spring" turns out to be the version of "Surrey With the Fringe on top" from Miles Davis's May 11, 1956 session with Red Garland, not Monk, on piano. (coincidentally, Miles quotes "Surrey" at the beginning of his second solo on "Swing Spring." Could there be a relation?) Oh yes, and Disc #10 is called "Friends play Monk" but they don't tell you who those friends are. Good for blindfold tests I guess.. I also got two Quadromania sets. The Milt Jackson one, called "La Ronde Suite," is interesting but the discography is weird. Membran has included the contents of "Concorde" and "Django" -- the most famous of the MJQ early LPs -- but instead of personnel and dates just mentioned in the discography booklet: "No detailed information available"!...A Barney Kessel Quadromania is pleasant enough, but half of Disc 3 and several cuts of Disc 4 are not Kessel but an obscure rhythm guitarist called Al Hendrickson, who I was not eager to discover. Of course the major problem with those boxes is that you don't know what's in them until you buy. And you get what you pay for. Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted January 3, 2009 Report Posted January 3, 2009 Yeah, you get what you pay for. And they're cheap enough to make buying them, warts and all, a good proposition to explore the work of someone you aren't familiar with. If you hit on someone you become really enthusiastic about, it's no problem to chuck the Quadromania set into the dustbin and buy a more expensive, better sounding, more comprehensive, better packaged set from someone else. That's what I'm going to do with Cab Calloway soon. But buying something by someone whose work you're already familiar with (as I did with Gene Ammons) is a very poor idea; as you've found out. MG Quote
Dave James Posted January 3, 2009 Report Posted January 3, 2009 Welcome. One of the Board moderators will soon be forwarding you the Organissimo virtual frat paddle with which you must spank yourself the same number of times that corresponds with your membership sequence. In your case, that would be 11,568. This will complete the registration/initiation process. Thank you for choosing Organissimo. Up over and out. Quote
Ken Dryden Posted January 3, 2009 Report Posted January 3, 2009 Fortunately, many of us have been around long enough to acquire music issued in Membran compilations in legit form on LP and CD (a few on 78s). I have no interested in buying such compilations, regardless of price. That goes for douche bags remixing historic jazz recordings with their insipid turntables and b.s. poetry, too. Quote
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted January 3, 2009 Report Posted January 3, 2009 Fortunately, many of us have been around long enough to acquire music issued in Membran compilations in legit form on LP and CD (a few on 78s). I have no interested in buying such compilations, regardless of price. That goes for douche bags remixing historic jazz recordings with their insipid turntables and b.s. poetry, too. Well, bully for you, old boy! MG Quote
jean-pierre coursodon Posted January 3, 2009 Author Report Posted January 3, 2009 Fortunately, many of us have been around long enough to acquire music issued in Membran compilations in legit form on LP and CD (a few on 78s). I have no interested in buying such compilations, regardless of price. That goes for douche bags remixing historic jazz recordings with their insipid turntables and b.s. poetry, too. I have been around long enough and know the risks of buying inexpensive foreign compilations. I got the Monk out of curiosity more than anything else. I thought I would share my experience just in case someone might be tempted to purchase that trash. After all there was a thread on this site about box sets. Sorry if I appeared to be naive and uninformed. Is it the custom on this site to put down newcomers (this is my third post)? Quote
mjzee Posted January 3, 2009 Report Posted January 3, 2009 Is it the custom on this site to put down newcomers (this is my third post)? Please stick around. There are a lot of nice posters, too. Pretty soon you'll learn the lay of the land. Quote
Ken Dryden Posted January 4, 2009 Report Posted January 4, 2009 I did not intend my post to be insulting about anyone buying Membran products, if I were just starting out as a jazz fan, I might have tried some of them myself. As you gain knowledge you learn to avoid certain labels and counterfeit reissues under new names. I've been collecting for over 35 years, yet that is insignificant when compared to Chuck Nessa, Chris Albertson and many other folks who post in this bulletin board. Heck, some of them have been active as writers, producers, label owners, etc., longer than that. The insult toward DJ remixers of timeless jazz recordings was intentional. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted January 4, 2009 Report Posted January 4, 2009 Don't blame Ken. He be OK! Stick around. We are all OK. Quote
Ken Dryden Posted January 4, 2009 Report Posted January 4, 2009 If I can ever get back to work on my writing... Ready for the next post to read: Glad you recognize that your writing needs work... Quote
AllenLowe Posted January 4, 2009 Report Posted January 4, 2009 don't let it get to you - it's the Organissimo hazing - Nessa still gets flashbacks. But a little PTSD is a small price to pay for Chewy's incisive postings - Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted January 4, 2009 Report Posted January 4, 2009 don't let it get to you - it's the Organissimo hazing - Nessa still gets flashbacks. But a little PTSD is a small price to pay for Chewy's incisive postings - So Chewy is a reward for reading my crap? Quote
gmonahan Posted January 4, 2009 Report Posted January 4, 2009 don't let it get to you - it's the Organissimo hazing - Nessa still gets flashbacks. But a little PTSD is a small price to pay for Chewy's incisive postings - So Chewy is a reward for reading my crap? Yup. Quote
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.