romualdo Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 Are the currently circulating Vee Jay CD's from a legitimate source? In the US, Koch legitimately released many of them around 2000 but ones (non Japanese)listed from the mid 2000's (esp UK & Europe)appear to have the Vee Jay label. When you go to the Fresh Sound site (Absolute Distribution)they actually have the Vee Jay label as a separate category. Are these the same thing & is the Fresh sound site selling these as genuine/non bootlegged releases (as they have been advertising Mosaic sets etc)or are they up to their usual tricks. I have a Wayne Shorter Vee Jay CD but in the finer print, Blue Moon is mentioned confirming a Spanish con job. Bit confused here?? Can anyone shed some light on this. Of particular interest is the Lee Morgan double "Here's Lee Morgan". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmonahan Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 Don't know about Fresh Sound's new issues, but I guess I must be alone on the Board in liking the Blue Moons. Leaving aside the (probably big) issue of provenance, they had pretty good sound (to my old ears), included alternate takes, and even offered the original album covers. And they appear to have reissued most of the Vee Jay jazz catalog at a pretty good price. Since no one else did it (until Mosaic put a few out on two sets), it was nice to have them, and I still do, and I still listen to them. gregmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 In the discographies of the two Mosaic box sets with VeeJay recordings there was a note that the Fresh Sound reissues were not properly licensed and thus not listed. OTOH those CDs add bonus material and have better sound than the CDs released in the US by Koch and some other company, which simply reproduced LPs, AFAIK. Without Fresh Sound, this music would hardly be available. Too bad the Mosaics had to be withdrawn from the catalogue so fast ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 Don't know about Fresh Sound's new issues, but I guess I must be alone on the Board in liking the Blue Moons. Leaving aside the (probably big) issue of provenance, they had pretty good sound (to my old ears), included alternate takes, and even offered the original album covers. And they appear to have reissued most of the Vee Jay jazz catalog at a pretty good price. Since no one else did it (until Mosaic put a few out on two sets), it was nice to have them, and I still do, and I still listen to them. gregmo You're not alone! I enjoyed them too! Stuck with their reissues from VeeJay. Fine sound, alternate takes. That was good enough here. Also enjoyed their CD reissues of rare items like The Cool Gabriels, Rocky Boyd, Anthony Ortega, Jomar Dragon and others... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 Also enjoyed their CD reissues of rare items like The Cool Gabriels Damn - passed on that one at £5 the other day. The Rocky Boyd is good, I agree.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ayers Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 IIRC the Mosaics were withdrawn becasue the license had expired and been sold to Blue Moon. The Mosaic sound is the usual clear and dry, nothing special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romualdo Posted July 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 IIRC the Mosaics were withdrawn becasue the license had expired and been sold to Blue Moon. The Mosaic sound is the usual clear and dry, nothing special. So it appears that Fresh Sound/Absolute Distribution has licenced the Vee Jay material Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 I'll just disagree a bit with David. . . I think the Mosaics sound best of any of the other issues I've heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Wood Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 Agreed.Agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 (edited) IIRC the Mosaics were withdrawn becasue the license had expired and been sold to Blue Moon. The Mosaic sound is the usual clear and dry, nothing special. So it appears that Fresh Sound/Absolute Distribution has licenced the Vee Jay material The VeeJay/Blue Moon came out in 1997. The Mosaic box was released three or four years later! I remember getting those Vee Jays CDs from Spain since they added so much material to the original LP releases. When the Mosaic box was issued later, I decided not to acquire it since it contained only a few additional takes. And the sound of those CDs was very acceptable even if not up to the Mosaic remxes. Edited July 20, 2011 by brownie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ayers Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 IIRC the Mosaics were withdrawn becasue the license had expired and been sold to Blue Moon. The Mosaic sound is the usual clear and dry, nothing special. So it appears that Fresh Sound/Absolute Distribution has licenced the Vee Jay material The VeeJay/Blue Moon came out in 1997. The Mosaic box was released three or four years later! I remember getting those Vee Jays CDs from Spain since they added so much material to the original LP releases. When the Mosaic box was issued later, I decided not to acquire it since it contained only a few additional takes. And the sound of those CDs was very acceptable even if not up to the Mosaic remxes. Ah well, so what was the company that reissued them after the Mosaic? They did them in 24 bit, IIRC. I had the impression that the license had passed to thme after Mosaic's expire - maybe I got that wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 I'll just disagree a bit with David. . . I think the Mosaics sound best of any of the other issues I've heard. But at what marginal cost difference? Don't know about Fresh Sound's new issues, but I guess I must be alone on the Board in liking the Blue Moons. Leaving aside the (probably big) issue of provenance, they had pretty good sound (to my old ears), included alternate takes, and even offered the original album covers. And they appear to have reissued most of the Vee Jay jazz catalog at a pretty good price. Since no one else did it (until Mosaic put a few out on two sets), it was nice to have them, and I still do, and I still listen to them. gregmo You're not alone! I enjoyed them too! Stuck with their reissues from VeeJay. Fine sound, alternate takes. That was good enough here. Also enjoyed their CD reissues of rare items like The Cool Gabriels, Rocky Boyd, Anthony Ortega, Jomar Dragon and others... I also like the Blue Moon Vee Jay's. Those are what I have as my Vee Jay core. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romualdo Posted July 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 Maybe I should buy some of these more recent Vee Jays & check them out for myself Even if they happen to be of Spanish origin the sound quality should be still good There was a mention that the Koch issues from 2000 may have been taken from vinyl (but these CD's also included the alternate takes!!). Can anyone else confirm that? The caveat in the Mosaic box mentions that certain labels were not to be listed due to their dubious origins - don't think it was referring to Koch - this was an above board label. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 Felse, to me the difference was significant, not marginal, and I paid that price long ago. I'd do it again as well. I'd like to have extra copies of these to give to someone else who's a fan. Maybe one day in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 Felse, to me the difference was significant, not marginal, and I paid that price long ago. I'd do it again as well. I'd like to have extra copies of these to give to someone else who's a fan. Maybe one day in the future. Lon, by marginal I didn't mean insignificant, it was just my finance/econ double major-speak coming through. The original prices for the Mosaic Vee Jay's were of course, reasonable. Some of the later resale prices I've seen are staggering. Glad you got them back then, and glad you're happy with them! I'm sure they're very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 Sorry, I misread that. If the recent releases are from the master tapes, then that's a good thing for jazzkind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmonahan Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 Sorry, I misread that. If the recent releases are from the master tapes, then that's a good thing for jazzkind. Yes, I think the gist is that the Vee Jay stuff is well worth having, and it is good to see that it's being reissued by somebody somewhere. gregmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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