Duke Ellington in Fargo 1940 on LP

[slide_advantage_redoux]

I had been hearing about this recording for sometime now. I saw a copy in a used book store last night. issued on Book of the Month Club.

I think these will be the first lps I transfer to RTR tape. Does anyone have the recording? The notes and photos in the enclosed booklet are superb. There are 3 lps in the set.

I couldn't pass this one up.

Edited May 15, 2005 by slide_advantage_redoux

[brownie]

These recordings are just awesome...

BUT... that Book of the Month Club LP issue may not be the best way to listen to these. Never heard the sound of that box but I understand the mastering of the release of this music in the VJC double CD was a bit improved over the earlier vinyl issues (and I am saying this as a vinyl fanatic!).

PLUS... the double CD had additional music that was not on the original vinyls. Nine tracks altogether.

Don't let that stop you from enjoying the music

[jazzbo]

And on top of tha! I've had both the VJC two cd set and the newish Storyville two cd set. . . which sounds best yet.

[Joe Bip]

I've had the Book of the Month Club vinyl set for years and am looking at buying a more complete version on CD. The Storyville set is out of print, and it seems like the Definitive option is gone, too. So I'm looking at either the Jazz Heritage release (black and white cover) or the one on Jazz Classics (yellow cover with drawing of Duke and Webster). My main question is which has better sound. I'm looking to avoid the kind of poor noise-reduction that you often find with early live recordings like this one. If anyone has either compared these or simply knows if one or the other sounds bad, I'd appreciate the tip.

The issue of completeness seems a bit frustrating because each set lists a few tracks not included on the other (unless these are just track listing errors), but the more important factor for me is how they sound.

[Chuck Nessa]

Don't know the Jazz Heritage issue but the Jazz Classics version should give you pleasure.

[chazzer95]

Don't know the Jazz Heritage issue but the Jazz Classics version should give you pleasure.

That's a milestone indeed. I have the 27-tracks-LP-twofer from the Swedish "Jazz Society" label (AA 520/521) with beautiful pictures (Jack Towers), and informative liners by Eddie Lambert. The sound is superb, and the only pity is, that Cootie had left the band short before these recordings were made.

http://jazz.com/encyclopedia/williams-cootie-charles-melvin

How many tracks are on the CD's? I had a very cheap bootleg once, with some more tracks from that evening (remember a bass feature on "A Train"). But the sound was lower than low-fi, and so I sold it.

Edited November 14, 2009 by Saxpet

[Chuck Nessa]

The Jazz Classics version has 40 tracks.

[mjzee]

I've had the Book of the Month Club vinyl set for years and am looking at buying a more complete version on CD. The Storyville set is out of print, and it seems like the Definitive option is gone, too. So I'm looking at either the Jazz Heritage release (black and white cover) or the one on Jazz Classics (yellow cover with drawing of Duke and Webster). My main question is which has better sound. I'm looking to avoid the kind of poor noise-reduction that you often find with early live recordings like this one. If anyone has either compared these or simply knows if one or the other sounds bad, I'd appreciate the tip.

The issue of completeness seems a bit frustrating because each set lists a few tracks not included on the other (unless these are just track listing errors), but the more important factor for me is how they sound.

The Storyville set is still available as mp3 downloads from eMusic:

eMusic Fargo

[jazzbo]

I've had three different cd versions and the Storyville was the one I kept, it had the best sound and all the selections the others had.

[bichos]

Don't know the Jazz Heritage issue but the Jazz Classics version should give you pleasure.

That's a milestone indeed. I have the 27-tracks-LP-twofer from the Swedish "Jazz Society" label (AA 520/521) with beautiful pictures (Jack Towers), and informative liners by Eddie Lambert. The sound is superb, and the only pity is, that Cootie had left the band short before these recordings were made.

http://jazz.com/encyclopedia/williams-cootie-charles-melvin

How many tracks are on the CD's? I had a very cheap bootleg once, with some more tracks from that evening (remember a bass feature on "A Train"). But the sound was lower than low-fi, and so I sold it.

there is no "a train" on the fargo session. my two cds on the swiss (?) "milan" label has 50 tracks. some are fragments (under 10 seconds) and 6 "chaser" of only a few seconds and one "unknown title" (9 seconds) only. it seems that this milan issue came direct from the vintage jazz classics. sound is excellent!

keep boppin´

marcel

[Joe Bip]

Thanks everyone for the replies. The Jazz Heritage release is a sort of nefarious-looking budget item from 1992 that I would guess does not have the best sound, but I was trying to investigate it because it was the cheapest option for me. Ultimately, quality won out in my decision and I decided to go with Storyville's "The Duke Box" from 2006, which includes the Fargo discs.

[chazzer95]

Don't know the Jazz Heritage issue but the Jazz Classics version should give you pleasure.

That's a milestone indeed. I have the 27-tracks-LP-twofer from the Swedish "Jazz Society" label (AA 520/521) with beautiful pictures (Jack Towers), and informative liners by Eddie Lambert. The sound is superb, and the only pity is, that Cootie had left the band short before these recordings were made.

http://jazz.com/encyclopedia/williams-cootie-charles-melvin

How many tracks are on the CD's? I had a very cheap bootleg once, with some more tracks from that evening (remember a bass feature on "A Train"). But the sound was lower than low-fi, and so I sold it.

there is no "a train" on the fargo session. my two cds on the swiss (?) "milan" label has 50 tracks. some are fragments (under 10 seconds) and 6 "chaser" of only a few seconds and one "unknown title" (9 seconds) only. it seems that this milan issue came direct from the vintage jazz classics. sound is excellent!

keep boppin´

marcel

Yep, no "A Train" goin' nowhere there, you're so right, brother!

Saxpet

Edited November 19, 2009 by Saxpet