On Soul Jazz Records.
2 Likes
Wes Montgomery - Maxiumum Swing: The Unissued 1965 Half Note Recording, Resonance Records (2023)
A bit pricey unfortunately.
3 Likes
Oh, I might be in for this one. The original Verve Smokinā At The Half Note is arguably one of the best live jazz albums of the era.
Ā£60 + though and for a single disc is a bit much.
No, itās a three record set debuting for RSD later this month. I looked it up.
Well that is certainly better value although I donāt think I can bring myself to cue up outside a record shop so will have to wait.
Yeah, I wonāt do the RSD thing. Waiting in line for something they might not have anyway, while the entertainment (some local band) blasts crappy music in your ears at 100+ db. No thanks.
I do have a friend who goes, and he picked up the Eric Dolphy 3-LP set for me last time.
1 Like
Can he be my friend too.
Ha, he just told me heās done with RSDā¦too much of a PITA. Weāre on our own now.
Just found a seller on eBay that has 6 copies for Ā£65.99 inc post.
Iām sure it will show up on Discogs to if I want it, without having to resort to sellers abroad (UK, etc).
1 Like
Durand Jones & The Indications - 7" Too Many Tears/Cruisin To The Parque Ft Y La Bamba, Colemine Records (2023)
Iāve been waiting for a reissue of this for a couple of years original pressings go for Ā£30+. Itās the B-Side Iām after I already have the version with just Aaron Frazier singing which on itās own is a stupendous soul track but the version featuring Y La Bamba is about as good as contemporary soul music gets.
The A-Side Too Many Tears I have on their American Love Call record which is a modern classic they seemed to have lost their way a little their last record Private Space isnāt as good and neither are Aaron or Durandās solo efforts.
Grant Green - Remembering, Wax Time (2023)
Hopefully one day Blue Note will choose to reissue this excellent recording of standards from 1961 previously only released on vinyl by Blue Note in Japan in 1980 and 1981.
This DMM GZ Media might be worth a punt at Ā£18 unless of course you have a CD player.
1 Like
Be careful with Wax Time. They have a reputation for very poor sound, and many ā including Michael Fremer ā are pretty sure they cut their vinyl reissues from CDs.
5 Likes
Iāve two or three Wax Time releases Iāve bought out of curiosity and for very little over the past 10 years and they are about 50/50 some ok and others not.
Iāve no doubt that theyāre cut from a digital file and to be fair they donāt claim to be anything other than that they are what they are and in the case of some titles pretty much the only available copies.
Some of these labels donāt even cut from digital files. They literally cut from off-the-shelf CDs. When the āremasteredā vinyl includes the bonus tracks and same track order of a CD thatās a pretty good clue. For the older music in the public domain this happens. The labels might own the tapes and the high-res digital files made from them, but thereās nothing stopping the shady reissue labels from using off-the-shelf CDs to do their own thing.
Buyer bewareā¦
3 Likes
Definitely agree Josquin. Iām often warning menbers here about these shister Public Domain labels.
Even if they used good sources I personally would still avoid as their pocketing profit none of which is going to the artists estate and beneficiaries.
Basically there semi legal bootlegs, and the record market is increasingly being flooded with them.
I certainly wouldnt dream of recommending or highlighting anything from these PD labels.
Specialist re issue and collectors label Ace have a lot to say about it;
From the FAQ in their website
Why are you guys so expensive?
In these straitened times everyone is looking for a bargain. When it comes to the world of re-issues, there is a flood of CDs out there utilising recordings made prior to 1963 that are now free of copyright. Good news for the bargain hunters amongst you, as dozens of independent labels scramble to release ever-cheaper compilations of old masters.
One of the reasons why these CDs are so cheap is that no royalty is paid to the artists or producers of the masters utilised and so your bargain is in part funded from money that would normally be paid to the talented people who created the music in the first place.
Another major saving in the cost of production is the audio is lifted from other companiesā releases, including those of Ace. In doing this, the labels exploiting the copyright law are saving themselves the trouble and expense of dubbing original 45s and 78s, cleaning them up and EQing the resulting masters to make them sound good. By the very nature of their business these companies are unlikely to have access to master tapes and essentially they are dependent on companies like Ace to produce high quality audio that they can steal. In gaining access to masters, we can maintain high standards of audio and often turn up great previously unreleased material.
So the money you save in buying these CDs is in part due to theft of top quality digital masters from the companies who have done all the groundwork in locating and post-producing the audio.
Ace also releases music that was recorded after 1962 and this has to be licensed from legitimate copyright holders. These companies cannot be expected to look kindly on us if we issue their pre-1963 recordings without paying for them. So, on that practical basis alone, we cannot benefit from the free ride on royalties, even if we wanted to. And we donāt want to, as we own many pre-1963 recordings on which we continue to pay artist and producer royalties.
As owners we are contractually liable to artists and producers for royalties, since early contracts did not make allowance for expiry of copyright. In any case, as most of these artists are US-based (where the copyright term is longer than in Europe) they would expect to be paid royalties anyway. It would not be helpful for our relationship with them to withhold royalties on sales outside the US.
So we still pay royalties to artists and producers of pre-1963 recordings, not only because we think we should, (and we have numerous examples of gratitude from older artists for whom even the smallest amount due is extremely welcome) but also because we are running a business and have practical considerations to take into account.
Furthermore the copyright in the songs embodied in the masters is protected for 70 years after the death of the songwriter, and without being recorded the income from these songs would be very limited. So the artists and record companies who provide the vehicle for income to the songwriters are denied the same copyright protection and ability to earn.
We like to think that we issue well-annotated, good looking CDs that sound as good as they can and the truth is, it costs money. We have been running a business since 1976, so have a pretty good idea of what it takes to survive in a tough market place and we fully intend to do so as honestly and fairly as we can.
So we aināt cheap, but thatās because we aināt cheapskates.
Ace are referring to CDās but those PD labels are also pressing vinyl from their crappy rip off CDās
5 Likes
I suppose that we should brace ourselves for a flood of āout of copyrightā Beatles material very soon.
3 Likes
Kerchingggg!