Which is the better Blanton/Webster CD to get?

[AlekseyKosygin]

For all you Ellington freaks...RCA put out a 3 CD covering the famed "Blanton Webster" band of the Duke's between 1939-1941... one that is no longer in print and people complained that it sounded too muffled and cloudy(black cover)...they then rereleased it with a different mastering process and people complained that they botched up that too (cut off beginnings and endings of songs, red and blue and yellow cover), which one do you prefer? I have access to get either I want to only buy one...

[KevinSchaper]

For all you Ellington freaks...RCA put out a 3 CD covering the famed "Blanton Webster" band of the Duke's between 1939-1941... one that is no longer in print and people complained that it sounded too muffled and cloudy(black cover)...they then rereleased it with a different mastering process and people complained that they botched up that too (cut off beginnings and endings of songs, red and blue and yellow cover), which one do you prefer? I have access to get either I want to only buy one...

Definitely Never No Lament over Blanton-Webster.. the first time I heard those reissues (on the radio) I thought it was a 50's recording.

[djstarr]

I have the black cover which I've been DJ'ing off a lot lately and none of my audiophile friends have complained to me yet......haven't heard the other version.

[Lawrence]

For all you Ellington freaks...RCA put out a 3 CD covering the famed "Blanton Webster" band of the Duke's between 1939-1941... one that is no longer in print and people complained that it sounded too muffled and cloudy(black cover)...they then rereleased it with a different mastering process and people complained that they botched up that too (cut off beginnings and endings of songs, red and blue and yellow cover), which one do you prefer? I have access to get either I want to only buy one...

Definitely Never No Lament over Blanton-Webster.. the first time I heard those reissues (on the radio) I thought it was a 50's recording.

I don't have the "Never No Lament" compilation, but I do have the Blanton Webster (on RCA label) and the RCA Centennial Edition set. THe Centennial Edition material was remastered to sound MUCH cleaner than the Blanton Webster set. If Never No Lament was pulled from those re-masters (which is likely), then I would agree. The sound quality on Blanton Webster is mushy due to the re-mastering.

The two Dreyfus Edition remastered CDs discussed in the "Ellignton re-mastered" thread provide an even cleaner re-mastering of much of the same material.