desertblues Posted October 1, 2003 Report Posted October 1, 2003 Just one more comment to those who have some of this material on previous releases: this is absolutely the best sound by a lot! Both the small group and early orchestra recordings are a revelation-this is essential, IMHO. Quote
montg Posted October 1, 2003 Report Posted October 1, 2003 Some initial impressions: If this set doesn't convince you that Jimmy Rushing is the best male jazz singer ever, nothing will. Reinhardt Reinhardt... And Lester shines. The liners are great. Over 80 pages by Loren Shoenberg (spelling's off--sorry). Mosaic should hire him. Sound is pretty good, although the masters here and there are a little rough. The live material sounds very good, considering thecircumstance. Keepnews' decision to not program chronologically bugs me. The octet recordings start on disc 1 and spill over onto disc 2, disrupting continuity on both discs. ALso, none of thediscs are filled to capacity and at least 30 minutes of prime Basie could have fit. It's bad enough to only have 4 discs of this material, but to have room to add a little more and not use it... Overall, though, indispensable, swingin' jazz Quote
ghost of miles Posted October 3, 2003 Report Posted October 3, 2003 Had a chance to listen to the first two discs last night and this morning. Agreed that it would've been nice to add a couple of more tracks per disc, but man, is the sound great! Schoenberg's notes quite good as always too; it is indeed a revelation to hear classics like "Rock-a-bye Basie" with much-improved audio quality. I already have all of the octet sides, and I would've preferred several less of them and more of the big band (well, what I prefer is a COMPLETE set--but dream on, dream on! Maybe Mosaic in a few years). Overall, though, a really pleasing anthology so far. Quote
pryan Posted October 3, 2003 Report Posted October 3, 2003 Sounds like a good set for a relative Basie newbie like myself. Does it span all of Basie's career or just the earlier stuff? Quote
ghost of miles Posted October 3, 2003 Report Posted October 3, 2003 1936-51, so it's early-to-mid Basie--"Old Testament," as those particular editions have usually been referred to. It's a fine set for Basie lovers old or new, but I'd also highly recommend THE COMPLETE DECCA RECORDINGS, a 3-CD set that covers Basie from 1937-39. I'm kinda eyeing the Pablo Basie box, as I have nothin', nothin' from that period. Any opinions regarding that era? Quote
P.D. Posted October 3, 2003 Report Posted October 3, 2003 To have the best of early Basie the Deccas and the early Columbias are bothe essential. The RCA's are a bit secondary.. good but not quite up there with the band when Pres was in it. What PABLO Basie box, I haven't seen any indication of a Pablo period box set of Basie? Quote
jazzbo Posted October 3, 2003 Report Posted October 3, 2003 Peter, here's the skinny on the Basie Pablo box: http://www.fantasyjazz.com/html/basie.html It's a good overview. For some (and I pretty much fall into that camp) it can serve as about all you really need to have for the Pablo era. Quote
P.D. Posted October 3, 2003 Report Posted October 3, 2003 Thanks Lon, I recall seeing that now, but passed as it was a" bits 'n pieces" set and I have most of it on LP. I was hoping that there might be a more comprehensive box from Pablo. Not all basie.. it would be huge, but maybe separate Big Band .. Small group sets. I don't see the Pablo years anywhere as important as the Deccas and Columbias, actually I prefer Basies small group output on Pablo to his Big Band efforts, but a " complete" set of either might be nice to have. Similarily I'm passing on the current Columbia box.. waiting on that day when ALL the Columbias are collected together.. gotta have those Earl Warren vocals. Quote
jazzbo Posted October 3, 2003 Report Posted October 3, 2003 I hope that day comes, the complete Basie on Columbia. . . I'll spring for that one too. In the meantime, I like this one bcause the sound is so SWEET and it is bringing Pres back to my foreground! Quote
ghost of miles Posted October 3, 2003 Report Posted October 3, 2003 It's a good overview. For some (and I pretty much fall into that camp) it can serve as about all you really need to have for the Pablo era. That's exactly the camp my hunch tells me to fall into as well, Lon. I'll definitely pick it up in the next few months... Quote
mmilovan Posted October 3, 2003 Report Posted October 3, 2003 I hope that day comes, the complete Basie on Columbia. . . Me, too. I think that this issue, as I can observe from what all of you lucky persons who manage to get it said, is not so much different from those Columbia masterpieces they did years ago - there were also master takes only. Added remastered broadcasts perhaps are most interesting part, as well as good sounding of big band, Jones Smith group, Basies Bad Boys or Kansas City Sevens. I simply cannot understand that separate non-complete treatment of one of the most important big bands ever. Quote
DrJ Posted October 3, 2003 Report Posted October 3, 2003 I have to think Mosaic is going to eventually do the complete Basie on Columbia...by now if the parent company had any interest in doing it, it seems they would have (as they did for Billie Holiday). Whatever, I'd be thrilled to see EITHER do it! Quote
ghost of miles Posted October 5, 2003 Report Posted October 5, 2003 GOM-Speaking of anti-racism songs, don't forget (Why Am I So) Black and Blue? The music and lyrics never fail to sting me. Waller brings a mournful quality to the piece that really resonates. Not really about the Basie box per se, but just today I remembered another early anti-racism song--an anti-lynching song that precedes "Strange Fruit": Ethel Waters' performance of "Suppertime." Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted October 5, 2003 Report Posted October 5, 2003 Continuing this slighty off topic mention, don't miss the James P Johnson/Langston Hughes "Hungry Blues". James P recorded it twice in 1939. Damn fine song. Quote
ghost of miles Posted October 6, 2003 Report Posted October 6, 2003 Continuing this slighty off topic mention, don't miss the James P Johnson/Langston Hughes "Hungry Blues". James P recorded it twice in 1939. Damn fine song. Yes! Another reason I have to pick up that CClassics James P. Johnson 1938-42 CD. Chuck, is that the song that Johnson's known to have recorded from the opera/musical that was recently unearthed? I seem to recall this coming up on the BNBB when somebody posted an article from a Detroit newspaper about it... Quote
skeith Posted October 6, 2003 Report Posted October 6, 2003 (edited) I picked up this box and have only listened to Disc 1. My initial impression on the sound quality is that while better than a lot of previous issues, it is somewhat disappointing. I note that they used Cedar noise reduction on this box and it renders some tunes somewhat muted on the high end. For example, the best sounding version of Lester Leaps In I have ever heard is on the Ken Burns Cd called Lester Young, it has plenty of surface noise, but lots of fidelity. The new Basie Box gets rid of the noise on that track, but I feel a bit of the fidelity too. However, the sound quality on some of the other tracks appears to be superior to the Chronological Classics versions of the same tunes. Edited October 6, 2003 by skeith Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted October 6, 2003 Report Posted October 6, 2003 Chuck, is that the song that Johnson's known to have recorded from the opera/musical that was recently unearthed? I seem to recall this coming up on the BNBB when somebody posted an article from a Detroit newspaper about it... Yes, that's the one. Quote
skeith Posted October 9, 2003 Report Posted October 9, 2003 I have finally listened to all four discs and have to give it on balance (except for the Cedar noise reduction which I don't like), thumbs up!!! In spite of the Cedar, overall the sound is better than previous issues. The liner notes are superb. Ok, it is not a completist box, but as Lon said, if you get past that, you can deal. I also enjoyed the live cd very much. Quote
mmilovan Posted October 11, 2003 Report Posted October 11, 2003 For example, the best sounding version of Lester Leaps In I have ever heard is on the Ken Burns Cd called Lester Young, it has plenty of surface noise, but lots of fidelity. The new Basie Box gets rid of the noise on that track, but I feel a bit of the fidelity too. Don't know why they did that. For example, Holiday's Columbias are best sounding tracks from till now on despite lots of surface noise. Maybe, they did not have time for post production (and reducing the noise) for Ken Burns series. Quote
Hank Posted October 16, 2003 Report Posted October 16, 2003 Just re-playing this Basie set this morning (it provides an excellent wake-up) and discovered something slightly odd, not very significant, but odd. Six of the octet tracks on disc two are remastered with HDCD. I once noticed this same kind of thing on a Dan Hicks comp (also from SONY), in which some tracks were HDCD and some not. Is HDCD, in addition to its arguable sound enhancement, used sometimes in digital transfer if the source (tape or otherwise) is damaged? Quote
Bright Moments Posted August 3, 2005 Report Posted August 3, 2005 here i am late to the dance again. terrific set and jimmy rushing - WOW!!! Quote
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