No more Sketch

[couw]

Gabriele (clarinetist) Mirabassi...

who is sorry he is not a pretty girl...

[king ubu]

Gabriele (clarinetist) Mirabassi...

who is sorry he is not a pretty girl...

wtf?

Gabriele Mirabassi:

Giovanni Mirabassi:

No girls here... is that what couw is sorry about?

[couw]

No girls here... is that what couw is sorry about? 

heheheh. It was Mirabassi himself in an introduction to a live performance. He mentioned that he was sorry that his english wasn't very good, and that he was sorry that he was not a pretty girl as people might expect with a name like Gabriele.

Pretty funny talker BTW

Edited February 15, 2005 by couw

[sidewinder]

I had a good chat with Gabriele Mirabassi at last year's Bath Festival after his performance as he sipped a well-earned beer. Very nice guy and his English is fine. He'd just been working with Kenny Wheeler and it was interesting to hear about that (sounded like total chaos).

Superb clarinetist by the way. The performance I saw was with his clarinet/accordion duo group, well worth seeing.

Edited February 15, 2005 by sidewinder

[ejp626]

You guys are killing me.

I had the HUM set -- excellent stuff. Then this thread, and I felt compelled to get a few more Sketch CDs off Indiejazz, since there is no telling when this will come back in print.

[Д.Д.]

... I felt compelled to get a few more Sketch CDs off Indiejazz, since there is no telling when this will come back in print.

I am afraid "when" = "never" in this case.

[couw]

a search for "ske" at amazon.de seems to bring up the bunch.

[Guest Chaney]

Just received my order of 8 Sketch titles from Indie Jazz with a little note from Tyler (of Indie Jazz): Anthony: Good call! Sketch declared bankruptcy -- all of these are going out of print.

Not news to us but I had wondered if retailers had word of the bankruptcy filing.

[Д.Д.]

Just received my order of 8 Sketch titles from Indie Jazz with a little note from Tyler (of Indie Jazz): Anthony: Good call! Sketch declared bankruptcy -- all of these are going out of print.

Not news to us but I had wondered if retailers had word of the bankruptcy filing.

indiejazz would definitely know as they are were the only wholesale importer of Sketch CDs in the US - so Sketch might have sent them a note along the lines of "no more returns, guys".

[Д.Д.]

Got a note from Tyler of indiejazz as well: Re: these Sketch titles - as of right now, we have NO access to any Sketch stock, including the titles we carry. Sketch has declared bankruptcy - Phillipe from Sketch doesn't even have access to his own stock at this point. We are in talks with some folks about keeping the label alive. The titles that we do have will unfortunately disappear off our site one-by-one as the titles sell out. Sad, no?.

[brownie]

Looks like the label Sketch is back in business.

The French-based Japanese importer Sawano is taking care of business.

Some of the new releases are featured on his (all in japanese) website Sketch

They are being distributed in France and are available at Amazon.fr

[ejp626]

That's very good news. I wonder if there is any push to get a US distributor, since as was pointed out last year, most of these are very good CDs and some are by quite well known musicians.

[alocispepraluger102]

That's a shame.

ANother thing that distingushed SKETCH recordings is their beautiful sound (recorded in Studios la Buisonne) - i.e. Anthony Cox's solo bass record "This & That", while probably not essential for musical merits, has to be heard for the bass sound alone. Lacy's "Work" is perhaps one of the best-recorded CDs in recent years (and excellent music as well). SKETCH website has full-track mp3s from each of their releases available, and I would encourage everybody to check them out - there is a lot of beautiful music there.

thanks

[JohnJ]

The segment below is from an article about Osaka in a recent IHT, it explains a little about the Sawano/Sketch relationship. Coincidentally, HMV were selling a number of CD's at 70% off on Saturday and I was fortunate enough to pick up a couple of Sawano releases for 750 yen each including the Wilen mentioned in the article.

Half an hour's subway ride away from Truck brings you to the Shinsekai district, where Sawano Jazz's shop is located. Sawano Jazz is tucked into a tiny corner of Sawano Sandals and Clogs shop, which belongs to the parents of the jazz connoisseur and recording artist Yoshiaki Sawano.

Like Truck, Sawano Jazz is well- known among a small group of people, catering to a community of jazz lovers who appreciate its efforts to revive old recordings of obscure, and not so obscure, European jazz musicians, like the Parisian jazz legends Philippe Petit and Barney Wilen. Sawano tracks down their recordings, recompiles them into CDs and sells them under the Sawano label, with permission from the artists and producers.

Sawano albums are available in record shops and online (at ¥2,500 per album). The label revives about 10 albums each year. That number is expected to increase this year, now that Sawano Jazz has bought the Sketch label in France. A brother of Sawano is based in France and acts as an intermediary.

Sawano packages the CDs one by one, complete with original liner notes. The Sawano label is a mark of distinction for record shops in Japan. To the jazz lover, the fact that a shop carries a Sawano product speaks of a true love for music.

[brownie]

The label revives about 10 albums each year. That number is expected to increase this year, now that Sawano Jazz has bought the Sketch label in France. A brother of Sawano is based in France and acts as an intermediary.

Sawano packages the CDs one by one, complete with original liner notes. The Sawano label is a mark of distinction for record shops in Japan. To the jazz lover, the fact that a shop carries a Sawano product speaks of a true love for music.

Interesting! Thought that the Sawano I meet pretty often in Paris was the real Sawano!

I'll continue to adress him with the respect Sawano's name entails!

By the way, the shop that Sawano's brother operated from in Paris recently closed. It was called 'Moby Disk'! and it went under

He moved out of Paris and went into real estate business...

[Van Basten II]

Minium has taken the place of Sketch. Let's hope we can get a north-american distributor

[king ubu]

Minium has taken the place of Sketch. Let's hope we can get a north-american distributor

So Sketch discs will be reissued on Minium, as well as new projects recorded? Same layout, it seems, same packaging - that's nice, since I enjoyed that with Sketch!

[Van Basten II]

Minium has taken the place of Sketch. Let's hope we can get a north-american distributor

So Sketch discs will be reissued on Minium, as well as new projects recorded? Same layout, it seems, same packaging - that's nice, since I enjoyed that with Sketch!

The director of the feu label Sketch Philippe Ghilmetti has found new partners and is back on business and from what i saw it's basically the same style, same musicians.

http://www.miniummusic.fr/

Carrothers, Viret etc.

Too bad they are out of my price range

[king ubu]

Minium has taken the place of Sketch. Let's hope we can get a north-american distributor

So Sketch discs will be reissued on Minium, as well as new projects recorded? Same layout, it seems, same packaging - that's nice, since I enjoyed that with Sketch!

The director of the feu label Sketch Philippe Ghilmetti has found new partners and is back on business and from what i saw it's basically the same style, same musicians.

http://www.miniummusic.fr/

Carrothers, Viret etc.

Too bad they are out of my price range

Ah, sorry, I thought you were somehow involved with the label, that's why I asked that question.

But does someone know if Sketch discs will be back in print, too, and under what label (Sketch or Minium, or that Japanese label linked to above - or isn't that a label but just a distributor? My Japanese isn't that great... )

[Van Basten II]

Minium has taken the place of Sketch. Let's hope we can get a north-american distributor

So Sketch discs will be reissued on Minium, as well as new projects recorded? Same layout, it seems, same packaging - that's nice, since I enjoyed that with Sketch!

The director of the feu label Sketch Philippe Ghilmetti has found new partners and is back on business and from what i saw it's basically the same style, same musicians.

http://www.miniummusic.fr/

Carrothers, Viret etc.

Too bad they are out of my price range

Ah, sorry, I thought you were somehow involved with the label, that's why I asked that question.

But does someone know if Sketch discs will be back in print, too, and under what label (Sketch or Minium, or that Japanese label linked to above - or isn't that a label but just a distributor? My Japanese isn't that great... )

I don't know who owns the rights for the recordings of that label (Sketch), but they are still relatively easy to find.

[P.L.M]

Yeah, back in bussiness but with a not very promising new catalog.

DANIEL HUMAIR was the main force of SKETCH.

Without him (who plays the artistic director part for the former), MINIUM is just another european main stream label.

And very far to be the most interesting with such artists like MIRABASSI, VERET or COPELAND that I 've never like, to say the least.

Edited August 14, 2006 by P.L.M

[king ubu]

Yeah, back in bussiness but with a not very promising new catalog.

DANIEL HUMAIR was the main force of SKETCH.

Without him (who plays the artistic director part for the former), MINIUM is just another european main stream label.

And very far to be the most interesting with such artists like MIRABASSI, VERET or COPELAND that I 've never like, to say the least.

I agree... but there's still an Urtreger disc and an announced Oliva disc! Both fine with me!

[P.L.M]

I agree... but there's still an Urtreger disc and an announced Oliva disc! Both fine with me!

Yeah, but like we say in French: "Deux hirondelles ne font pas le printemps".

[brownie]

Stumbled upon an advance copy of Stephan Oliva's 'Miroirs'. This will be released in late October. It will be one to get.

The disc renewed my faith in Oliva's talents after the disappointing 'Coincidence' CD that came out several months ago on the La Buissonne label. 'Coincidence' was a lightweight affair inspired by writings of Paul Auster.

'Miroirs' is a reflection on several jazz themes where he reworks standards like 'Naima', 'La Plus Belle Africaine' and 'Solitude' among others. Linda Sharrock adds to the brillance of the reworkings with her unique voice.

One of those albums which you know when listening to it for the first time - which is my case right now - that it will be played, and played again!

Stephan Oliva has his own website now: http://www.stephanoliva.com/

[king ubu]

Nice to hear it's good - I wanted to ask, having seen you playing it!