Cheap box sets from Sony/BMG int'l
Moderators: Mr Awesomer, JesseMiner, CafeSavoy
Cheap box sets from Sony/BMG int'l
These are almost a year old now, but I haven't seen them mentioned on this forum. Last summer Sony/BMG Int'l released a batch of cheap CD collections, perhaps in response to the unauthorized European collections that flood the market. These are 3 and 4 cd sets with Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington. There are also a number of single-cd collections (less interesting). Curiously, the collections are not featured on any of the Sony/BMG websites.
At least one of the box sets is essential: Duke Ellington Columbia & RCA Original Masters 1932-1939:
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Duke-Ellingt ... B0018BF1GI
95 remastered tracks for $12!
Some of the tracks have never had a legitimate CD release before, like 'Stepping into Swing Society' (a favorite of mine).
On the minus side: no discographical data.
At least one of the box sets is essential: Duke Ellington Columbia & RCA Original Masters 1932-1939:
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Duke-Ellingt ... B0018BF1GI
95 remastered tracks for $12!
Some of the tracks have never had a legitimate CD release before, like 'Stepping into Swing Society' (a favorite of mine).
On the minus side: no discographical data.
Last edited by anton on Wed May 13, 2009 9:13 am, edited 2 times in total.
Theoretically it's great that you can get collections including both Columbia and RCA Victor material, but the result is not so impressive. The only set I have is the Glenn Miller (because I needed a greatest hits collection of his for certain non-lindy hop functions) and it really feels carelessly thrown together. NO discographical details WHATSOEVER - hell, those are the main reson I keep buying CDs instead of downloading - and transfers that are nowhere near the best ones available.
Yeah, yeah, they're cheap, but I would still have expected much more from the company that actually owns these recordings.
Yeah, yeah, they're cheap, but I would still have expected much more from the company that actually owns these recordings.
'Steppin into Swing Society' is on "Braggin' in Brass".anton wrote:Which transfers would you recommend for rare mid-30's Ellington (Steppin into Swing Society, et al)?J-h:n wrote:transfers that are nowhere near the best ones available
I only had those sides on Chronological Classics before and this box set is a drastic improvement in sound quality.
I honestly hadn't bothered to take a closer look at the Ellington set. If there's rare stuff there, of course that may be reason enough to get it - thanks for the tip! I was just very disappointed with the set I did get.anton wrote:Which transfers would you recommend for rare mid-30's Ellington (Steppin into Swing Society, et al)?
Do you mean this Portrait disc?CafeSavoy wrote:'Steppin into Swing Society' is on "Braggin' in Brass".
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... fexqugldhe
http://www.amazon.com/Braggin-Brass-Imm ... B000008ATJ
Looks like they have the wrong track list, cause the review talks about songs that are not in the list...
Or perhaps this Naxos disc?
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp ... e=8.120706
Or?
The Glenn Miller set is available on Spotify and you're right - it sounds quite awful - some of the tracks seem to be dubbed from LP. Many of the tracks are tagged '1989 remaster' which is not a good sign...J-h:n wrote:I was just very disappointed with the set I did get.
The Billie Holiday set sounds good, but there all material was already issued on recent complete box sets. Same thing with the Armstrong set.
That's it, but it's really a two disc set. And it's his dance band orchestra. That was when he was on the road doing lots of dances. In the liner notes, the author mentioned that Ben Webster told him that Duke would change arrangements during band breaks based on the response of the crowd.anton wrote:Do you mean this Portrait disc?CafeSavoy wrote:'Steppin into Swing Society' is on "Braggin' in Brass".
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... fexqugldhe
http://www.amazon.com/Braggin-Brass-Imm ... B000008ATJ
Looks like they have the wrong track list, cause the review talks about songs that are not in the list...
Or perhaps this Naxos disc?
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp ... e=8.120706
Or?
This looks more like the track list...
http://new.music.yahoo.com/duke-ellingt ... ar--174331
http://new.music.yahoo.com/duke-ellingt ... ar--174331