Early Ella, nicely remastered...?

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KevinSchaper
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Early Ella, nicely remastered...?

#1 Post by KevinSchaper » Thu Jun 02, 2005 2:07 pm

Anybody have recommendations for a nicely remastered set of Ella's recordings with Chick Webb?

I've had this one forever:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... kku3lhan4k

..and I'd always assumed that they were just especially bad recordings in the first place.. but I was listening to another Chick Webb disc and it had a nice sounding "Sing Me a Swing Song" - so it occured to me that there's hope.

kevin

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Matthew
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#2 Post by Matthew » Thu Jun 02, 2005 4:32 pm

I'm surprised to hear of poor sound quality in Ella's early stuff. I have the Swingsation CD, and the quality is OK. I'm not sure whether those are the same recordings, but I don't think you should have trouble finding decent ones.

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#3 Post by lipi » Thu Jun 02, 2005 8:48 pm

i don't have that particular disc. (i tried to get the sound sample on all music, but it's slow about sending me a password. amazon doesn't seem to have it.)

i have this ("strictly jive") chick webb disc, which has some early ella. "sing me a swing song" sounds fine, but maybe a little muffled (cut off of highs?).

i also have the most of the chronological ella, and "sing me a swing song" on "1935-1937" is brighter, but has hiss. i like it better than the one above, but perhaps the hiss is what bothers you?

update: allmusic sent me my password and i listened to "sing me a swing song" on the "young ella" disc. a) it sounds fine to me -- it's just old! b) it sounds like the chronological track.

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#4 Post by KevinSchaper » Fri Jun 03, 2005 9:47 am

it's sort of generally harsh and peaky in the high midrange and doesn't have any lows at all.. All the stuff I have under Chick Webb's name is recorded/remastered fine, it's that I shy away from music I dig on that Ella disc cuz it's *so* harsh..

I'll just listen around a little to find something else..

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Re: Early Ella, nicely remastered...?

#5 Post by CafeSavoy » Fri Jun 03, 2005 2:35 pm

KevinSchaper wrote:Anybody have recommendations for a nicely remastered set of Ella's recordings with Chick Webb?

I've had this one forever:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... kku3lhan4k

..and I'd always assumed that they were just especially bad recordings in the first place.. but I was listening to another Chick Webb disc and it had a nice sounding "Sing Me a Swing Song" - so it occured to me that there's hope.

kevin
I couldn't follow that link. Which cd is it? I haven't seen a remastered version of early ella, but there is some variation in the cds that exist. The Swingsation cds mentioned have pretty decent sound.

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#6 Post by lipi » Fri Jun 03, 2005 7:38 pm

"young ella" from the "jazz archives" series.

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Lawrence
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#7 Post by Lawrence » Wed Jun 15, 2005 10:14 pm

There is a rather complete, well-mastered Decca/GRP compilation here. It is a four-disc set. It also comes split into two 2-disc sets: one under Chicak Webb's name and the other under Ella's name. I bought the two 2-disc sets apparently before it was consolidated into a single set.
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#8 Post by JesseMiner » Thu Jun 16, 2005 9:37 am

Lawrence wrote:There is a rather complete, well-mastered Decca/GRP compilation here. It is a four-disc set. It also comes split into two 2-disc sets: one under Chicak Webb's name and the other under Ella's name. I bought the two 2-disc sets apparently before it was consolidated into a single set.
I was wondering when somebody was going to mention this set. It's the best quality that I have heard. Decca does such a great job with their collections.
KevinSchaper wrote:it's sort of generally harsh and peaky in the high midrange and doesn't have any lows at all.. All the stuff I have under Chick Webb's name is recorded/remastered fine, it's that I shy away from music I dig on that Ella disc cuz it's *so* harsh..
I've compared tracks from the "Early Ella" CD to those on the Decca set, and the difference is great, especially on "Sing Me A Swing Song". Much less harsh on the highs and more lows. This is the set to get for early Ella recordings.

Jesse

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#9 Post by CafeSavoy » Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:06 am

How is the second 2-disc set of the series? I only have the first and trying to decide if i should get the second.

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Lawrence
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#10 Post by Lawrence » Sat Jun 25, 2005 8:47 pm

If I remember correctly, it's great. Nothing new or innovative, but the band didn't fall apart or completely lose its stuff after Chick Webb died, either. Very consistent sound as the other one.

Also, I was somewhat mistaken about the first set being sold under Chick Webb's name. There are actually THREE two-discs sets that I own with similar packaging and mastering (obviously made as part of the same project): one of pre-Ella Chick Webb stuff; one mostly with Ella when Chick was still alive; and a third mostly of post-Webb Ella. The latter two 2-disc sets are sold under Ella's name, one noting "With the Chick Webb Orchestra" and the other noting that it was Ella's band.
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#11 Post by jmatthew » Sun Jun 26, 2005 12:28 pm

I'm pretty sure I have the two sets they're talking about (currently in B.C. so can't check right now) but if I do I can bring them down and let you give them a listen.
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Matthew
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#12 Post by Matthew » Wed Jan 04, 2006 7:57 am

I checked my wish list today and noticed the second 2-disc set is selling for about $4.00 (used, plus shipping) on Amazon's Marketplace. Amazon sells new ones for about $23.00. I ordered mine.

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kitkat
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#13 Post by kitkat » Fri Jan 06, 2006 3:26 am

Okay, so one question, now that I've--of course--already committed my money to the "part 2 / part 3" (depending on how you count) that Matthew just mentioned! Thanks, though, Matthew.

Was there any further remastering when Decca repackaged 2 2-disc sets into 4, or is it just a price difference?

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