George Russell's Widow on Amazon

[paul secor]

I heard a George Russell track on the radio this morning. It was from a collection of Russell recordings on the Rare Live Recordings label. I checked on Amazon and it was in stock, but I saw this review:

By A. Russell (Boston) - See all my reviews

(REAL NAME) This review is from: Things New-Unissued Concerts 1960 & 1964 (Audio CD)

This is an unauthorized recording. My husband, the late George Russell, did not give permission for this CD to be released. It is, in effect, stolen intellectual property, and the sound quality is unacceptable. If you support musicians, don't buy this shoddy merchandise.

I usually steer clear of unauthorized recordings and definitely did in this case. Does anyone know if it's unusual for a musician or a family member of a deceased musician to post do not buy reviews? That one was the first I've ever seen.

Edited August 16, 2011 by paul secor

[clifford_thornton]

I've never heard of that, but it reminds me of Sue Mingus on a lesser scale. Seems like a reasonable request.

[Chicago Expat]

I believe Laurie Pepper (Art's widow) was so infuriated by some labels releasing unauthorized albums of Art's music basically downloaded the music, copied it, then reissued it herself under her own label.

I'm sure I'm mangling the facts of the story, but I'm not too far off.

[king ubu]

That Russell boot is sorry-assed indeed.

The material is around and it would of course be great if it was released officially. As long as it's not, there will be folks trading it and folks buying the lacking boot (wrong info, less material in lesser sound quality than is around).

I'd buy a well-done, official 2CD (or even 3CD) set of the existing Russell material from the early 60s in a whim!

[sonnymax]

...It's basically some guy downloading it from dimeadozen and making a CD out of it and, of course, trying to profit from it...

Not quite. If you're unfamiliar with the "Andorran Connection" in jazz reissues, you might want to do a topic search on this board.

[B. Clugston]

...It's basically some guy downloading it from dimeadozen and making a CD out of it and, of course, trying to profit from it...

Not quite. If you're unfamiliar with the "Andorran Connection" in jazz reissues, you might want to do a topic search on this board.

What I meant was it's the same effect as downloading from dimeadozen and making a CD out of it, etc.. What was actually done, I don't know.

Actually I believe some of the newer European "labels" do just that: download from dimeadozen and a make a CD. The "Andorrans" seem quite refined by comparison.

[sidewinder]

Actually I believe some of the newer European "labels" do just that: download from dimeadozen and a make a CD. The "Andorrans" seem quite refined by comparison.

Some of those weird new 'UK' labels seem to be doing that. For example that Harold Land Live in Vancouver material was up on dime before the retail CD came out. Sucks !