GA Russell Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 I received this email press release from Concord/Fantasy yesterday when the board was down: In 1955, after his triumphant appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival, Miles Davis formed his seminal 1950s quintet with youthful up-and-comers John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. Over the course of three studio dates, the quintet changed history, recording five albums for Prestige Records that are still, a half-century later, heralded as masterworks. Next month (5/23), these bebop, hard-bop, and balladic recordings, largely from five albums--The New Miles Davis Quintet, Cookin', Workin', Relaxin', and Steamin'--will be released together by the Concord Music Group as the Prestige boxed set The Miles Davis Quintet: The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions. The music, all of which was taped by Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, NJ, has been remastered in 24-bit from the original analog masters and presented in the sequence recorded. The box contains 32 selections, including such compositions as "Four," "Trane's Blues," "My Funny Valentine," "Tune Up," and "When Lights Are Low" that are to this day essential tunes of the standard repertoire. A bonus CD features eight previously unissued radio and television audio performances, including two tunes from The Tonight Show with Steve Allen: a fiery, hard-swinging romp through Oscar Pettiford's "Max Is Making Wax" and a lyrical rendition of Rodgers and Hart's ballad "It Never Entered My Mind," both introduced by the television talk show host. The set is packaged in an attractive box that features cover art by Davis (the painting "New York by Night"); five complete musical transcriptions of Miles's solos (suitable for framing); and a 40-page illustrated booklet with insightful annotations by Bob Blumenthal. Blumenthal points out in the liners that 1955 was a tipping-point year for the trumpeter/bandleader: "[T]he Miles Davis Quintet heard here was Davis's means of seizing the moment when his physical health and his musical concepts were on an upswing, and when the public and the music industry had finally begun to pay attention." Blumenthal adds: "This is the band Davis organized when he wanted his recordings to stand for more than snapshots of his momentary interests." The Miles Davis Quintet: The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions celebrates not only the 80th-anniversary year of Davis's birth but also the 50th anniversary of the bulk of these recording sessions. Quote
md655321 Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Im excited about those solo transcriptions. Looks like a long box on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F5GNX...5Fencoding=UTF8 Makes my metal spine columbias out of place. Anyone wanna make a trade? Quote
Dan Gould Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 I've heard those Tonite Show performances and can only assume that their source is a lot closer to the original than what I have. Quote
GA Russell Posted April 12, 2006 Author Report Posted April 12, 2006 Thanks for the link, md. I see that Amazon's price is $59.98, the list price. CD Universe says that Their Price will be $48.29, and their Pre-Order Price is $41.99. I note that the press release says 24 bit. Does that mean K2? Truth be told, I've been wanting this ever since it was first announced last fall. I'm more excited about this than I was for The Cellar Door Sessions. Jim, we need an official Organissimo link to CDU here! Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Does that mean K2? Jim, we need an official Organissimo link to CDU here! No to the K2 question. There is a link in the dropdown menu at the top of the page. Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Not too often that the audio of TV appearances get any kind of official release, even if only as material on a bonus disc. Frankly, I'm having a tough time thinking of too many others. Maybe a few couple promo-only Brad Mehlau things from some radio appearances (pressed on promo-only legit silver CD's), but those weren't ever commercially available. (And the Mehldau things were radio things, not TV.) Can anybody else think of any jazz TV appearances/performances that have appeared legitimately on a commercial release?? Quote
(BB) Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Can anybody else think of any jazz TV appearances/performances that have appeared legitimately on a commercial release?? Quote
Spontooneous Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Can anybody else think of any jazz TV appearances/performances that have appeared legitimately on a commercial release?? I know Columbia did at least one lp/cd with performances from The Sound of Jazz. Quote
(BB) Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Good to know. Why have thy not released more of the actual performances? I’ve seen the shows and the sound from those has to be better than many other bootlegs/found tapes that have seen the light of day. I would have to assume it is more of a legal issue rather than a technical one??? Quote
jlhoots Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 This kind of stuff pisses me off. I only want the previously unissued tracks. Quote
Spontooneous Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Why have thy not released more of the actual performances? I’ve seen the shows and the sound from those has to be better than many other bootlegs/found tapes that have seen the light of day. I would have to assume it is more of a legal issue rather than a technical one??? Does anybody know if a better-than-TV-quality audio master even exists? The show was broadcast live, so they had plenty of other issues to worry about besides the sound. If a better tape exists, it would probably be a legal nightmare to work out a legit release with all the estates (Basie, Monk, Holiday, Hawkins, et al.). Quote
Claude Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Jim, we need an official Organissimo link to CDU here! I'm not Jim, so it's not official, but there you go http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?...=lk_organissimo Quote
tranemonk Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 yea I preordered this one a few days ago... I've always loved those albums... I think those albums and Kind of Blue still are my fave Miles.... So is what you guys are saying is that we should expect the sound on the new CD (the TV tapings) to suck? Quote
jazzbo Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Not too often that the audio of TV appearances get any kind of official release, even if only as material on a bonus disc. Frankly, I'm having a tough time thinking of too many others. Maybe a few couple promo-only Brad Mehlau things from some radio appearances (pressed on promo-only legit silver CD's), but those weren't ever commercially available. (And the Mehldau things were radio things, not TV.) Can anybody else think of any jazz TV appearances/performances that have appeared legitimately on a commercial release?? There's a whole cd of Louis Armstrong All Stars on Ed Sullivan legitimately released. Fantastic! Quote
jazzbo Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Hey, the sound on that Allen material is okay in the form I have it . . . should sound pretty good on this new release. I wish someone would release a dvd of the Tonight Show performance (lengthy!) by the second quintet! Quote
vajerzy Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Why should I buy this when I have the Prestige Box (big blue one)? Any difference other than the unissued music? Quote
jazzbo Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 The big blue box omitted studio chatter that will (I've heard) be included here. Sound will be different. (Better? For many, the answer will probably be yes). I have probably 90% of the big blue box in other versions now that I prefer to listen to (and I enjoy the single album approach as I have had all these lps as well and know them that way) but I still have the box and like to listen to it (mostly at work, that box set makes for a nice day of work!) Quote
Pete B Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Can anybody else think of any jazz TV appearances/performances that have appeared legitimately on a commercial release?? I know Columbia did at least one lp/cd with performances from The Sound of Jazz. Nope. Those weren't the performances from the show. They were from the rehearsal, passed off as the actual performance. Quote
Stereojack Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Were the Calliope lps legit? I think they were all from TV broadcasts - quite a long series, and some nice things on it. I suspect that they were intended to be legit, but got into clearance trouble immediately, and were discontinued quickly. I agree, there were many fine performances in this series, and in good sound. Quote
Claude Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 I think the video footage of this Miles/Trane performance is so essential that it wouldn't make much sense to reissue the sound only, especially if the sound has been recorded on film tape only and the sound quality is limited. They could release it as a bonus DVD with the CD set, as has been done with Monk TV material: http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?...=lk_organissimo http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?...=lk_organissimo Quote
JSngry Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Allen's introductions have to be heard to be believed... Quote
medjuck Posted April 12, 2006 Report Posted April 12, 2006 Are there extant video copies of the Allen Show? As to The Sound of Jazz: The Columbia Lp/cd id from a special recording session not a reheresal. Hence the slightly differnt personal. I've heard Gerry Mulligan wanted too much money and I presume they left out Monk because they thought he was too far out. Prez plays on more selections on the record than he does in the show. Makes me think he was too physically weak those few days later. I worked with some peole at CBS/Fox to get Sound of Jazz legitimately released as a DVD. I wanted to add Milt Hinton's photographs of the session and an interview with nat Hentoff. Ran into legal problems with the musicians union. Quote
GA Russell Posted April 12, 2006 Author Report Posted April 12, 2006 Can anybody else think of any jazz TV appearances/performances that have appeared legitimately on a commercial release?? Ray Anthony had a TV show about 1957 on which The Four Freshmen were regulars. I have a VHS tape, of which an audio CD is also available, of just their performances on the show, called Easy Street. Quote
GA Russell Posted April 12, 2006 Author Report Posted April 12, 2006 Jim, we need an official Organissimo link to CDU here! I'm not Jim, so it's not official, but there you go http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?...=lk_organissimo Thanks Claude! Quote
GA Russell Posted May 1, 2006 Author Report Posted May 1, 2006 I received an email today which makes clear that the five LPs are on three CDs, and the eight new sides are on a fourth CD. Quote
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