"Ultimate Jazz Archive" - any good?

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Surreal
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"Ultimate Jazz Archive" - any good?

#1 Post by Surreal » Sat Aug 26, 2006 8:54 pm

Saw this the other day: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B7 ... 13?ie=UTF8

More info:
http://www.membran.net/db_php_eng/index ... 66142e60a0#

I was wondering if anyone else has bought this or has heard of it or knows what the quality is like. It's less than $2/cd, so it looks pretty tempting.

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Eyeball
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#2 Post by Eyeball » Sun Aug 27, 2006 1:21 am

Buy it used and it is less than a dollar per CD.

Haydn
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#3 Post by Haydn » Sun Aug 27, 2006 3:12 am

More info and sound samples on this German distributor's website (I believe this distributor will ship to the USA) -

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/jazz/detail/-/hnum/4725240

For sound samples, click on any Audio Sample from 1 to 18 and be patient - it will play.

I wouldn't recommend this, because I don't like the remastering job that the Membran label usually does (is this the 'Documents' label?). Unwanted noise seems to be removed along with a lot of sound quality and depth, making the music sound flat. Membran also produce the Quadromania sets.

Haydn
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#4 Post by Haydn » Sat Sep 02, 2006 4:19 am

Hmm ... might have be revise my opinion on this one.

I've just bought two 2-CD sets from Membran's 'Classic Jazz Archive' - one by Benny Carter and the other by Charlie Barnet, as on this page -
http://tinyurl.co.uk/96fp

I also have the Fletcher Henderson one, and all three are good. The sound reminds me of the Chronological series, in that it doesn't seem to have been processed, and the tracks sound fairly 'alive'.

I've also got some of the 10-CD wallet sets, including ones by Benny Goodman and Fats Waller, which I don't like -
http://tinyurl.co.uk/o0u6

On these, the sound seems to have been 'cleaned up' in a way that makes a lot of tracks sound flat and dull.

I'm guessing that the 'Ultimate Jazz Archive' on this page -
http://tinyurl.co.uk/apnz

has decent sound quality as well, which, at the price, makes it an attractive buy.

Has anyone got a copy of this box set? What's the sound quality like?

lipi
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#5 Post by lipi » Sat Sep 02, 2006 10:23 am

i have two of the 10 cd wallets, too: the ella one and the artie shaw one. the ella is definitely a copy of the chronological cd's (but with the tracks packed more to a disc), and the shaw has the same track listings as the chronos (i don't have any to check, but it looks like a copy, too).

see this thread, too.

at least some of their material is just chrono repackaged. (legally, ethically, illegally, unethically -- no idea.) some may come from other sources.

dunno what the set surreal asked about is like.

Option
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Ultimate Jazz Archive

#6 Post by Option » Wed Sep 13, 2006 5:15 am

I recently purchased this set without carefully looking at the entire track list. Turns out I already own 98% of the 3000+ tracks. It did not make sense to open the package just for a limited number of missing tumes. I paid $179.00 plus shipping. If anyone is interested I'd sell the box set (new and sealed) for $100.00

Haydn
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#7 Post by Haydn » Wed Sep 13, 2006 6:09 am

I've just received the box I bought from a German mail-order distributor, JPC -
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/jazz/detail/-/hnum/4725240

They are quoting $109.55 - I'm not sure how much they charge to ship to the USA.

The contents are very good, but as Option said, if you've got all the songs anyway, there's not much point.

As for the sound quality, the music has been 'remastered' with variable results from the few CDs I've listened to so far.
The box says '24-bit, 96 khz High End Digital Mastering'. It claims -

'After transferring the old masters (Schellack, Vinyl, Tape or other carriers) in our studios to lates 24bit-96khz technology
they will be cleaned very carefully and processed to get the best results in clearness and sound. The result is a warm and
more analog sound you've ever heard on a CD'

Surreal
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#8 Post by Surreal » Wed Sep 13, 2006 7:51 pm

Haydn wrote:I've just received the box I bought from a German mail-order distributor, JPC -
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/jazz/detail/-/hnum/4725240

They are quoting $109.55 - I'm not sure how much they charge to ship to the USA.
It's 99.99 Euro, which isn't much cheaper than through other sites.

Haydn
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#9 Post by Haydn » Sat Sep 16, 2006 10:27 am

After buying the box set, I've changed my mind. It's good, and definitely a good buy at the price. This assumes that there are a lot of tracks included that you don't have already, and for me that is the case.

They give you one CD for each artist. This company (Membran) also produce the Quadromania 4-CD box sets, but here the average quality of the music is higher, perhaps because they only have one CD per artist. They say that the sound has been 'remastered' and the good thing is the remastering hasn't been over-done as is the case with some of the Membran 10-CD wallet sets. The sound is OK.

I've found quite a few good swing tracks that I hadn't heard before, from people like Erroll Garner and Early Hines. It's also a good way to learn more about the history of jazz music in general.

Haydn
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The Ultimate Jazz Archive - artists covered

#10 Post by Haydn » Sat Sep 16, 2006 11:56 pm

The Ultimate Jazz Archive - artists covered

Original and Rare Recordings. 3,179 tracks finest music from 1899 until 1955

168 CD Box

36 CDs Classic Jazz - Ragtime - Dixieland
28 CDs Blues
4 CDs Boogie Woogie
60 CDs Swing to BeBop - Modern Jazz
20 CDs Big Band
20 CDs Vocalists

(NB: Where an artist is listed twice, it's because they are featured on two CDs)


Classic Jazz - Dixieland - Ragtime

Barney Bigard
Benny Carter
Bix Beiderbecke
Bobby Jackett
Bud Freeman

Buster Bailey
Clarence Williams
Duke Ellington
Eddie Condon
Edmond Hall

Fletcher Henderson
George Lewis
George Wettling
JC Higginbotham
Jabbo Smith's Rhythm Aces

Jack Teagarden
Jelly Roll Morton
Johnny Dodds
Kid Ory
King Oliver

Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Lu Watters
Luis Russell
McKinneys Cotton Pickers

Mezz Mezzrow
Muggsy Spanier
New Orleans Rhythm Kings
Original Dixieland Jazz Band
Pee Wee Russell

Red Nichols
The Rhythmakers
Scott Joplin
Sidney Bechet
Washboard Rhythm Kings
Wilbur De Paris


Blues

Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup
BB King
Bessie Smith
Big Bill Broonzy
Big Joe Turner

Big Joe Williams
Blind Willie McTell
Brownie McGhee
Howlin' Wolf
Jimmy Witherspoon

John Lee Hooker
John Lee Williamson
Johnny Otis
Josh White
Kokomo Arnold

Leadbelly
Lighthin' Hopkins
Ma Rainey
Memphis Slim
Mississippi John Hurt

Muddy Waters
Ray Charles
Robert Johnson
Roosevelt Sykes
Sleepy John Estes

Sonny Terry
T Bone Walker
Tampa Red


Boogie Woogie

Albert Ammond
Meade Lux Lewis
Pete Johnson

Big Band Boogie Woogie


Swing to Bebop - Modern Jazz

Art Farmer
Art Pepper
Art Tatum
Barney Kessel
Ben Webster

Benny Carter
Benny Goodman
Bud Powell
Bud Shank
Charles Mingus

Charlie Christian
Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charlie Shavers
Chet Baker

Clifford Brown
Coleman Hawkins
Dave Brubeck
Dexter Gordon
Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie
Django Reinhardt
Don Byas
Earl 'Fatha' Hines
Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis

Errol Garner
Fats Navarro
Fats Waller
Gene Ammons
George Shearing

Gerry Mulligan
Herbie Mann
Horace Silver
Illinois Jacquet
Jackie McLean + Donald Byrd

James Moody
Jay Jay Johnson
Jazz Messengers
Joe Venuti + Eddie Lang
Lee Konitz

Lennie Tristano
Lester Young
Lionel Hampton
Lou Donaldson
Lucky Thompson

Miles Davis
Modern Jazz Quartet
Paul Quinichette
Phil Woods
Roy Eldridge

Shorty Rogers
Slam Stewart
Sonny Rollins
Sonny Stitt
Stan Getz

Tal Farlow
Teddy Wilson
Thelonious Monk
Wardell Gray
Zoot Sims


Big Bands

Artie Shaw
Bennie Moten
Benny Goodman
Bunny Berigan
Charlie Barnet

Chick Webb
Count Basie
Duke Ellington
Earl 'Fatha' Hines
Erskine Hawkins

Fletcher Henderson
Gene Krupa
Glenn MIller
Harry James
Jimmie Lunceford

Lionel Hampton
Shorty Rogers
Stan Kenton
Tommy Dorsey
Woody Herman


Vocalists

Andrews Sisters
Anita O'Day
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billy Eckstine

Boswell Sisters
Dinah Washington
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Frank Sinatra

Ivie Anderson
Joe Williams
June Christy
Lena Horne
Mel Torme

Mildred Bailey
Mills Brothers
Nat King Cole
Peggy Lee
Sarah Vaughan

Surreal
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Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

#11 Post by Surreal » Sun Sep 17, 2006 2:05 am

I'd actually cancelled my order, but I'm still considering it. Spending my money on some portable speakers and a sound card first, and I'm thinking of a PA in a couple months.

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