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crisp

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Posts posted by crisp

  1. Vocalion

    in Re-issues

    Posted

    I always wait until they appear at hmv.com, which sometimes offers decent preorder prices (if they don't backdate them).

    Alternatively, if you don't want to wait and don't want to register with Dutton, crazygreen8 (which I suspect might be Dutton under another name) sells through Amazon marketplace and has a stellar rating (I've always been happy with this seller too).

  3. Vocalion

    in Re-issues

    Posted

    The Steve Race's are a couple of odd titles - things like 'Theme From Maigret' and 'Z Cars' on them. Interest from 1950s/60s TV historians?

    Vocalion has released a lot of vintage TV theme albums, so probably. The jazz content of this one may be low, but since Race is a jazz musician I included it just in case.

    The two Dick Morrissey albums again are excellent - I have them as Japanese imports. I wonder whether they've been remastered by Vocalion? Does anyone know?

    Almost definitely. Vocalion is owned by a recording engineer, Michael J. Dutton, and I can't think of any Vocalion release that hasn't been remastered specifically for the label. Sound quality is always excellent, even on PD releases, which these are not.

  5. Vocalion

    in Re-issues

  6. Louis Armstrong Box Coming From Universal

    in Mosaic and other box sets...

    Posted

    Details here.

    "Satchmo contains 10 CDs, a 200-page hardcover book and an assortment of sheet music reproductions, all housed in a replica of Armstrong’s travel trunk. Although we have not yet been able to confirm the track listing, it’s known that seven of the CDs will cover previously released Armstrong classics. An eighth disc will consist of previously unreleased and rare material, a ninth will present his 1956 concert at California’s Hollywood Bowl, and a tenth will feature a 1965 interview with Armstrong conducted by Dan Morgenstern."

    No track listing yet, so hard to say whether this will have that much that folks on here don't have. It's pretty pricey at £119.99 from the Universal Store.

  9. Classical music bargains

    in Classical Discussion

    Posted

    I think these EMI mega-sets are exceptional bargains, but the problem for me is that they include wide selections of repertoire. At my (lowbrow) level of classical erudition/listening, I fear this could result in CDs that I seldom/never listen to due to duplication.

    I'm at the relatively early stages of seriously following classical, but I tend to buy these mega-sets rather than individual CDs. The reasons: they are cheap, don't take up much space and along with the pieces I specifically want, there are others that I may come to enjoy. Duplication isn't a problem because I like to hear how different artists tackle the same piece. So I say: go for it!

  13. The best crime/mystery novel of the Twentieth Century

    in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

    Posted

    Noir is great (and I'd second all the recommendations for Chandler, Hammett and Cain), but don't forget the earlier British type of crime novel: Golden Age detective fiction, ie, classic whodunnits. My favourites include John Dixon Carr (first choice: The Hollow Man), Gladys Mitchell and Michael Innes. Colin Dexter is a decent revival of the tradition that I've recently begun reading. There's Agatha Christie, of course, although I haven't read much of her, and Arthur Conan Doyle is a must.

    This website is a great browse that I return to again and again.

  15. TTK Seizes the Airwaves

    in Jazz Radio & Podcasts

    Posted

    On Wednesday, June 29, TTK will guest host Step Outside and present an all-Bernard Herrmann show, in honor of Bennie's 100th birthday. I will spin a combination of well-known stuff like "Psycho" in addition to lesser-played stuff like "Sisters" and "It's Alive." I will lean toward the sci-fi/fantasy side of the Herrmann spectrum.

    Any Twilight Zone material in there? Your TZ Jazz show kept me eerily entertained on an evening Eurostar trip back from Paris last year and I've been waiting for an excuse to thank you.

  21. Stan Getz & Return to Forever - The Classic Columbia Albums Colle

    in Mosaic and other box sets...

    Posted

    The Getz set was mentioned in the box bargains thread. Much cheaper here. I've got it and really like it even though it's not from a vintage period for Getz.

    Captain Marvel isn't typical as the albums vary widely in style. The Best Of Two Worlds is a decent bossa nova set; The Peacocks is really a Jimmy Rowles album and quite uneven, but pretty good; Another World and Forest Eyes are interesting (and very 1970s if you know what I mean) orchestral albums, the former especially nice for what it is; Children of the World is a pop album with Lalo Schiffrin and the only duffer. The revelation in the set is The Master, a terrific quartet album with Albert Dailey, Clint Houston and Billy Hart playing lengthy versions of four standards -- it's brilliant and although it was taped in the studio it sounds a lot like it was recorded in concert, it's that fiery and spontaneous.

    The packaging of my copy is quite different from the one in your pic -- it's a longbox with the discs held in place by little plastic hinges. Rattlers are guaranteed.

  22. Frank Sinatra

    in Recommendations

    Posted

    In my twenties I had to be given the all-clear to like Sinatra by those in the know: his reputation was clouded for me by all the negative propaganda that surrounded him. I remember getting Songs for Swingin' Lovers (on vinyl), then No One Cares on a recommendation. One more purchase and I realised I had to get the lot.

    I'd say you can safely buy all the Capitol albums: excellent is the word for the worst of them, most are beyond that. RCA/Columbia is also consistent but very different: he's very much the little-boy-lost balladeer here and it's a jolt if you are used to his later persona. Get a compilation (there are lots of good ones) and proceed accordingly.

    Reprise: tread *very* warily. There is lots of good stuff, but it's not limited to the immediate post-Capitol phase. When Sinatra started tackling contemporary tunes in the mid-Sixties the quality became extremely variable, but he continued to do good songs, work with good arrangers and sing well. It's a mixed bag -- sometimes even on individual albums, such as Sinatra and Company, one side of which is devoted to a collaboration with Jobim, the other to covers of John Denver and Kermit the Frog. Rule of thumb: if he's doing standards, it's probably safe.

  24. Sonny Rollins Impulse 2-fer

    in Re-issues

    Posted

    If some of these are going to have tracks left off, that's just annoying.

    Bertrand.

    What I meant were GRP/Impulse Master bonus tracks, not actual albums tracks. Universal hasn't done any reissues with bonus material for years now - the LPR series was the end of that, alas.

    Although the Amazon listings say there are bonus tracks on both the Scott and the Jackson, so who knows?

  25. Bargain DVD boxes

    in Mosaic and other box sets...

    Posted

    Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 5 (Cornered / Desperate / The Phenix City Story / Deadline at Dawn / Armored Car Robbery / Crime in the Streets / Dial 1119 / Backfire): $20.60 at Amazon (59% off).

    Inner Sanctum Mysteries Complete Movie Collection (Calling Dr. Death / Weird Woman / The Frozen Ghost / Pillow of Death / Dead Man's Eyes / Strange Confession): $5.42 at Amazon (82% off).

    Adventures of Superman: The Complete First Season: $14.69 at Amazon (63% off)

    The Errol Flynn Signature Collection, Vol. 2 (The Charge of the Light Brigade / Gentleman Jim / The Adventures of Don Juan / The Dawn Patrol / Dive Bomber): $22.95 at Amazon (54% off).

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