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New listings! CDImports has them all listed at $7.89 each for release on August 9th: Airto - Fingers: http://www.ctimasterworks.com/music/fingers Clips here: http://www.allmusic.com/album/fingers-r134350 Joe Farrell - Outback http://www.ctimasterworks.com/music/outback Clips here: http://www.allmusic.com/album/outback-r138582 Randy Weston - Blue Moses http://www.ctimasterworks.com/music/blue-moses Clips here: http://www.allmusic.com/album/blue-moses-r150066 Jackie Cain & Roy Kral - A Wilder Alias http://www.ctimasterworks.com/music/wilder-alias Clips here: http://www.allmusic.com/album/a-wilder-alias-r68675

Please send the folks at CTImasterworks an email with your requests: info@ctimasterworks.com I'd especially regarding the Hubbard / Turrentine releases which would make a great 2 CD set. I have already requested it, but it would be great if others do the same.

I contacted info@ctimasterworks.com about my damaged copy of First Light, only to be amazed that they just decided to send me a replacement copy directly! I must admit I have complained about my other scratched discs in the past, but what they did was a very nice gesture. In fact, they FedExed it to me in Australia, which took just over 1 week to arrive! So hats off to CTI Masterworks. I have also sent back the damaged copy to ImportCDs, so hopefully I receive a refund once they get it.

The bad news is that ImportCDs told me they don't replace packaging. My only option is to send the entire package including the CD back for a refund. I can then order the CD again if I want. I've given up trying to get those California Concert tracks to securely rip. I tried using dBPowerAMP and Exact Audio Copy using the three different drives in my PC but it won't work because the scratches are too bad. I had to use interpolation to get them to rip without audible errors, but that means my rip isn't necessarily what is on the CD. Using thick glossy cardboard sounds nice, but since that hasn't happened, it may of been better to just use jewel cases. It is obvious Sony has invested a lot of money in this. I am doing my best to support this program. I have bought The Cool Revolutions box, California Concert, God Bless this Child, Stone Flower, Sunflower, Red Clay, Giant Box and First Light. Of course I wish I could buy them all, but that would be too expensive, so I'm buying what I really want.

Yeah very annoying, here are some pictures showing how badly dented the cardboard is: http://img148.imageshack.us/i/frontrc.jpg/ http://img859.imageshack.us/i/insides.jpg/ http://img52.imageshack.us/i/insideclose.jpg/ The thing is I bought these from ImportCDs, so if they need me to send back the defective packaging from Australia, then that alone will cost $5 or $6 (as a letter), when the CD only cost me $12. So I'll probably just have to put up with the bad packaging. I really wish these were jewel cases. A cracked jewel case can be replaced, but if the similar damage happens to these cardboard cases, then the packaging is just wrecked. And I'm not usually one that gets worked up over packaging because I think the music is far more important. The sound quality of these two discs is great. I'll post some comparisons with the Epic / Legacy version of First Light when I have time. This is the first time I've heard Giant Box in full. I forgot to mention that my disc 1 of California concert arrived so badly scratched that I can't get the last two tracks to rip securely. I was kind of fortunate though as Amazon UK said they didn't have any replacements in stock, so they simply refunded my money. That made me not feel as bad about it because I got to keep 2 discs of great live jazz for free.

Received First Light and Giant Box today. Sadly the packaging of First Light is badly damaged. I know this style of packaging is better for the environment, and is cheap to produce, but out of four of these CTI reissues, this is the second one that has come with damaged packaging, and I have had two with badly scratched discs.

It's labeled @ 8:50. Thanks for the confirmation. I guess I'll hang on to the old CD so I can have the long version, even though I much prefer the sound of the Masterworks version. One of my favourite parts of the album is Herbie Hancock's piano solo on People Make the World Go Round. It's like funk, blues, soul and jazz wrapped in one solo. IT's the kind of thing he was playing on electric instruments at the time, but instead it is on an old RVG sounding acoustic piano. I think it must've been overdubbed because the electric piano is still playing at the same time. overnight I received a shipment confirmation from ImportCDs for Giant Box and First Light, so it seems they got them a few days early.

This week I received the CTI Masterworks version of Milt Jackson's Sunflower. Comparing it to the 1997 Epic / Legacy edition shows a night and day difference. The Legacy version sounds almost mono whereas the Masterworks version is wide stereo and has much higher fidelity. For anyone who likes this album, the remaster is definitely worth picking up, because it is like hearing a completely different recording of the album. The most likely explanation for the difference is, as the marketing says, the Masterworks version is from the master tape, whereas the Legacy version is probably from an LP cutting master that has RVG's mastering 'tricks' on it. The Legacy version sounds more muddy and compressed, has the channels narrowed to nearly mono, has much louder bass (perhaps this is caused by the channel narrowing?) and has the treble rolled off. Here is an MP3 that compares the section from 1 - 2 minutes of the first track first from the 1997 Legacy version followed by the same minute from the new 2011 Masterworks version: Unfortunately there is one other big difference on the Masterworks version; track 4 - Sunflower - is 8:54 on the Masterworks version, but it is 11:04 on the Legacy version. It seems to me that they are the same take, but the Masterworks version is faded out much sooner. I noticed that The Cool Revolution box also used this shortened version. I thought, or rather was hoping, that they simply faded it out sooner on the box so that they could fit something else on the CD, but it seems the 8:54 version is considered the album version. If anyone has an original LP of Sunflower, could you please tell me how long the track Sunflower is? I guess Masterworks have tried to present the album the way it was originally, but that means a much shorter version of one track.

Here's another comparison with three different versions of Dolphins Dance: http://rapidshare.com/files/443885469/dolphindancecomparison.mp3 McMaster CD, RVG CD, Analogue Productions SACD (well, the CD layer).

I got the Analogue Productions SACD of Maiden Voyage last week, it sounds very good. Here is a file that has the start of the title track from the McMaster CD and the RVG CD, and then the CD layer of the Analogue Productions SACD: https://www.yousendit.com/download/RlRvWGJPZDV6NEx2Wmc9PQ Here is a comparison of the second drum solo from Survival of the Fittest. First the RVG CD, then the AP SACD CD layer: https://www.yousendit.com/download/RlRvZUNtRStIcWZ2Wmc9PQ

Looks like Wounded Bird Records is releasing three of Joe Farrell's CTI records: Penny Arcade, Canned Funk, and Upon This Rock. I very happy about this. Here's the linky -- dinky Out of the three, which one would you recommend the most?

The liner notes on the Benson disc say that it was mastered at Sound Performance by Andrew Thompson: http://www.soundperformance.co.uk/cd-mastering/ The quality is just brilliant, really punchy with really smooth bass. The album is a must for fans of the session bassist Gary King who also arranged a few of the tracks on Good King Bad. Of course these albums are a lot more influenced by soul and funk than Benson's earlier CTI efforts, so they won't appeal as much to people purely interested in his takes on jazz standards like So What and Take Five. EDIT: I just noticed that Good King Bad was reissued by Mosaic with mastering by Mark Wilder. So it is possible the BGO version just reuses the same mastering. OFF TOPIC: I also have BGO's 2 CD, 3 album LaBelle set, which also sounds great: http://www.bgo-records.com/details_divs.asp?CatalogNo=BGOCD887 Chameleon and Phoenix are very hard to find individually on the Epic CD reissues.

I picked up this George Benson late CTI 2-fer featuring Good King Bad and Benson & Farrell, as reissued by Beat Goes On (BGO Records): http://www.amazon.co.uk/GOOD-KING-BAD-BENSON-FARRELL/dp/B003C1SS30/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1291350996&sr=8-2 The sound quality is great, really dynamic without any mastering compression. It also includes a bonus track, a cover of Sam & Dave's "Hold On I'm Coming". I don't know which version of Flute Song I prefer, the George Benson one, or the Art Farmer version.

Are you saying these are two different takes? Can anyone confirm the details? Thanks. No, they are the same take, the Cool Revolution is just faded out very early. The different mastering makes them sound extremely different. The Legacy edition is very narrow stereo with more bass. The Cool Revolution version is wide stereo. I've played the Legacy version so much that it is how I expect the album to sound!

I sent an email to CTI Mastworks regarding the - what I consider poor - packaging, but I also asked them about the mix differences. They were kind enough to forward my email to mastering engineer Mark Wilder who provided the following response: So there you have it, the original vinyl is folded in at times, seemingly so the music would sound more powerful (louder?) when played over radio. These mastering choices aren't necessarily recreated on the new Masterworks reissues, hence the differences.

Whoops! Sorry. I must've been thinking of those old Sony gold CDs.

Keep in mind it is possible that RVG narrowed the channels a bit during mastering of the original vinyl. So if these Mastersound discs have gone back to the mastertapes, the new transfers will have a wider stereo image than the original vinyl. RVG has narrowed the stereo image on many of his Blue Note remastered CDs. Maybe this is a habit he started when mastering CTI vinyl? I am not an expert, but I vaguely recall reading once that vinyl can be mastered louder if it doesn't have an extreme stereo spread, i.e. it is narrow stereo rather than wide stereo with instruments out at the extremes. Why the electric piano and sax are swapped in the Legacy and Mastersound CDs of Red Clay, I can't really say. Incidentally comparing an LP transfer of Jobim's Stone Flower with the same track from The Cool Revolution box shows that the LP actually has a wider stereo image than the new CD transfer! I don't think we will get to the bottom of this unless Mark Wilder or someone at Mastersound explains why there are differences, and says which one sounds more like the mastertapes. I'm listening now to Milt Jackson's Sunflower, the title cut sounds very different on the Legacy CD and the Cool Revolution version. Note these are different versions, The Cool Revolution version is 8:48 whereas the Legacy version is 11:04. But they sound completely different. The Legacy edition sounds compressed and very mono-like, whereas the Cool Revolution version sounds a lot more open with a wider stereo spread and without the bass so prominent (kind of like a Ron Carter led album). I wonder if it is a remix?

Thanks for this. I wish they would release that whole show. Isn't the live version of Sugar on the 2002 Legacy CD from that same show?

I've discovered a pretty huge difference comparing the new Mastersound version of Red Clay with the Epic / Legacy version from 2002. It's now possible to see (or rather hear) that the Epic / Legacy version is a very different mix compared to the original mix presented on the Mastersound CD. Have a listen to this comparison that has the Legacy edition version first and the 2010 Mastersound version second: https://www.yousendit.com/download/dklvc2ZJYXlUMFB2Wmc9PQ This is 1 minute from the start of Joe Henderson's solo. The Legacy version has Joe positioned near the centre, perhaps a bit off to the centre-right, whereas in the Mastersound version - which the sticker on the cover says is from the original 2 track master tapes - has Joe way off on the far left. The Mastersound has (Herbie Hancock's) electric piano near the centre, whereas the Epic / Legacy version has the electric piano way off on the left. Also, the hi-hat and ride cymbals on the Epic / Legacy version sound centre-right, but on the mastersound version they are further off to the right thus creating a much broader stereo spread between the sax on the left and the drums. So it would seem that the 2002 version was remixed, and not in a way that replicates the original mix because instruments have been sent to different parts of the stereo spread. The over all effect is that the stereo image was narrowed I guess to make it more modern sounding? Incidentally, my copy of California Concert also had the "from the original 2 track master-tapes" sticker on the front, even though the liner notes say it is a remix! It is a very good remix too. I was hoping that the "Alternate Version" of Red Clay would be a different take. But it is the same live version as on the 2002 CD. Can someone tell me which concert that version was taken from? My 2002 Legacy version of the album is in storage. The sad thing about the Mastersound version is that it doesn't have any liner notes, so I guess that means I'll be keeping both versions. I know some people like the cardboard slip cases but I just find them to be cheap and which offer poor protection to the disc. If they wanted cardboard cases I would prefer proper digipaks, but they probably cost more to produce.

I received California Concert today. Unfortunately the second disc was scuffed at the edge, perhaps due to the nature of the tight packaging. The good news is that Amazon.co.uk just refunded my money because of the damage! It is annoying though, the last two tracks won't rip securely due to the damage. I think this is a fantastic set of music. Fantastic versions of Red Clay, So What, Leaving West and Straight Life are the stand outs for me.

You really should Like Sony's reissue of VSOP "Live Under the Sky", having the whole thing creates a different picture. The expanded "California Concert" has some of the best Hubbard, Turrentine, and Benson ever released. Yay! I just got a shipment confirmation from Amazon.co.uk saying my copy of California Concert is now on its way. It is funny you mention VSOP Live Under the Sky, because I love that 2 CD set. I still play it often. I have heard some of the live tracks off California concert, I hope I like it as much. With each disc over 70 minutes long I think I'll just play the first disc for a week before playing the second for a week as well. So much great stuff to get through!

Unfortunately the copy of California Concert I ordered from Amazon.co.uk has been delayed by 2 weeks. They did shop my copy of The Cool Revolution yesterday. I'm very much looking forward to hearing how the new mastering compares to the older reissues.

You raise an interesting issue. Does the actual master tape have the reverb, or is it something that RVG added during mastering? If it is the latter, then it may be missing on these CDs. Unless of course Mark Wilder et al were specifically trying to acheive the same sound as the original vinyl.

I think they are just clips put up so there is something on the site. The press release says the new releases will use the master tapes for the first time for CD. The 2002 releases were digital remixes. I think people's opinions will differ on what sounds better.

That comment above "Sony is using a different master than King has in its possession. King's is the four-track final master" suggests that the King release is a remix, i.e. they digitally remixed the four tracks down to a new stereo master, whereas Sony will be using a tape with the original analog mix. So it isn't surprising that the King version sounds different (perhaps better), but it doesn't have the bonus tracks and it won't be the original mix. I hope Masterworks do a 2 CD release of the Hubbard / Turrentine "In Concert" album. I've never heard it but the short clips I can find on the internet make it sound like a mix between the CTI sound, Miles' group circa 1969, and Herbie's Headhunters band. The existing CD omits one track, there is probably more material so it could be filled out to two discs. I put a post up on Legacy's Uservoice about this a long time ago, so I'm glad they are releasing this material: http://feedback.legacyrecordings.com/forums/6333-reissue-requests/suggestions/77261-cti-jazz-concerts-unedited-on-2-cd-sets