SwingDJs

Right - my problem is that there is just TOO MUCH music out there - or to put it another way, too many compilations / versions of the same songs by the same artists that vary frighteningly in quality.

I've started using Spotify alot to really try and suss out some good tunes and get links to new artists, the problem is that there is sometimes an almost never-ending list of random compilations / albums / remasters that in some cases are pretty embarrassing quality.

The question then, do any of you have any trusty go to labels / album series etc... that you know won't let you down when you're trying to sort the wheat from the chaff?

I want to try using this as a kicking off point for looking for new music rather than starting with the artists.

The top end is Mosaic - the audio quality is the best it can be, and the collections are complete including alternate takes. This probably isn't what you're looking for, they're very expensive.

The other good compilation labels include JSP, Proper and Quadromania. The Proper boxes are generally quite affordable and feature a selection of music across an artist's career. JSP re-issues a lot of box sets and the audio is generally quite good.

For single CDs the ASV Living Era compilations are generally okay, as are the RCA Victor Greatest Hits series. Saga jazz (a European label which does a lot of multi-artist compilations) is also pretty good.

That's what comes to mind at the moment, others will mention more.

As Penguin said, Mosaic is certainly the top end. Apart from them, in my experience there are two ways to go:

1. Get reissues from the company that did the original recordings - for the Swing Era that usually means Columbia, RCA/Victor or Decca/MCA/GRP. They own the original metal parts and can do excellent remasterings, if they feel like it. More recently remastered CDs are usually better than older ones.

2. Get reissues from European enthusiast companies such as Hep, JSP, Frog, Jasmine, etc. These are usually made from 78s and remastered by enthusiasts such as John RT Davies or Ted Kendall. The best ones, to my ears, have a warmer, more pleasant sound than remasterings made from metal parts. Sometimes there's more hiss and scratches, due to damaged sources.

Proper, I've found, is rather hit-and-miss quality-wise.

Labels that haven't failed me yet: Mosaic, JSP, Frog, Hep. Mosaic and Frog are expensive, but worth it, I think.

As Johan wrote, John RT Davies and Ted Kendall are excellent names to look for. (Part of my modus operandi at used CD stores is to buy anything I do not have with Davies's name on it.)

Proper I'm not terribly fond of. Most of their stuff sounds over-processed compared to, say, JSP. A little muddy, sometimes. Then again, you won't be able to tell at your average dance, so if DJing is your only concern, they're excellent.

Quadromania is hit and miss--as is most of the other Membran/History (or whatever they call themselves these days) stuff. Some is pretty good, some is pretty bad. For example, the 40 CD Duke Ellington set everyone (including me, I might add) was raving about a few years ago is great value...but the remastering is crap. The RCA centennial set sounds way, way better. That said: again, it's all fine for DJing at your average dance.

Jasmine is O.K., but not on the same level as Frog, Hep, or JSP, I think. (They tend to use CEDAR rather than a guy with good ears twisting anaogue knobs.) Better than Proper, though.

Finally, Chrono Classics is pretty good, and the only way to get some tracks. Some are available on emusic and amazon.com--different ones in different countries.

I agree with the others:

Best (generally as good as is possible)
Mosaic Records
HEP Records
Frog
Retrieval
Timeless
JSP
Bear Family

Usually decent:
Columbia
RCA/Victor
Decca/MCA/GRP
Fremeaux & Associates
Definitive/Disconforme
Hindsight

Usually acceptable if you can't find on other labels
ASV Living Era
Proper
Quadromania
Chronological Classics
Complete Jazz Series
Dreyfus

(edited to add Timeless)

trev wrote:I agree with the others:
Retrieval
[...]
Hindsight
[...]

Oh, right! I'd forgotten about those two.

In a similar vein: Timeless is good, too.

Cheers guys - that's plenty for me to to start working my way through.

I was having a browse on the Mosaic site - love the idea behind it - really seems to reinforce that idea of 'owning' something beyond just the tracks (kind of reminds me a bit of that feeling of buying vinyl - something I can just about remember). Plenty of pennies though so maybe just for special occasions!

lipi wrote:In a similar vein: Timeless is good, too.

Oh yeah, good call. I've edited my list above.

If you are also considering Western Swing music for your acquisitions, you should include in the top notch class for sound quality and liner notes:

Bear Family Records
Origin Jazz Library (with some Jazz releases too)

Cheers,
Lorenzo

I'm (heresy!) not convinced Mosaic is always the best. My older RCA/bluebird 'Duke's Men' collections of Ellington small groups are better quality than my Mosaic Ellington small groups set.

Some of the bigger labels (eg RCA, Columbia, etc), also do some wicked reworkings of older recordings. But they can be super expensive.


...I guess it depends what you're after. Sometimes a cheap JSP set is perfect for getting to know an artist, but a deep, abiding passion for a musician requires an extremely badass boxed set. And if you're a supernerd completist, the Chronological Classics are excellent CDs, but some of the downloadable files aren't quite as good a quality as the Complete Jazz Series versions of the same material.

If you search for Chronological Classics, you may need to correct the spelling. Oddly enough, it's actually Chronogical Classics.

Yeah, but they're still not available in the US, which means you folks in Australia and Europe are far better off than we Americans are, as usual.

Great thread . A few comments from my experience:

One general problem is that CD labels are referred to differently on different websites and country sites - but you get used to these from experience. For example, exactly the same CD on the same label might be listed under different labels on Amazon UK and Amazon USA.

Original labels include:

Bluebird
BMG
Collectables
Collectors Choice
Columbia River
Columbia
GRP
RCA Victor
Sony

Re-issue labels

I have generally found very good sound on:

Ace (for 50s and later RnB)
Buddah - very good for live recordings
Hep - consistently excellent and mostly available on eMusic in the UK at least
Mosaic (I agree with Sam that Mosaic is not always the best sound quality, but still highly desirable if you are prepared to splash out)
Readers Digest (hard to find but the sound quality is normally superb)
Vintage Music Productions

I've noticed good sound on:

ASV/Living Era (disagree with Trev - I find the sound on these collections to be consistently good, and the CDs are very good value)
EPM/Jazz Archives
Hindsight
Jazz Band
Jazz Hour
Phontastic
Swing Time
Tax
Time Life
Timeless

Other labels of interest, but with variable sound quality are Sounds of Yesteryear and JSP. I've found the sound on Proper CDs consistently disappointing.

FYI, pretty much all of the Chronological Classics are now available by Digital Download on AmazonMP3.

Haydn wrote: Original labels include:
Bluebird
BMG
Collectables
Collectors Choice
Columbia River
Columbia
GRP
RCA Victor
Sony

In my experience, Sony/Columbia/Legacy have done the best job with their remasters among the original labels. The older Columbia reissues (e.g. the old Ellington small groups CDs) are good but not excellent.

The old Bluebird (RCA) CDs are among the worst of the bunch. Here we find e.g. Artie Shaw, early Goodman, and Tommy Dorsey.

Decca/GRP have done decent reissues. Their best job was the Swingsation series in the early 00s (except the Ella disc which for some reason sounded horrible).