DrJ Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 (edited) Let me preface this by saying I own probably a little more than 1/2 of what's in the box already. So now directly to the question: is it worth grabbing this box, in this day and age (remastering now 15 years old)? I know there are still some tidbits that are unissued in other form - including three tunes from a session with Shelley Manne. I also found out there's a little snippet of piano intro from "Blue Bolivar Ba-Lues Are" that was on the initial LPs but then edited and lost from the master tapes subsequently. But is there enough of such stuff to justify the high price, given that so much of it has appeared since and much of it now in improved sound? And what did people pay for their set - what's a fair price? Edited November 11, 2003 by DrJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 as you may know, this set was part of the sale at zweitausendeins and went for 20 or so EUR (NOTE: in its European ZYX incarnation, with a very small booklet and without the spiffy LP sized box). Probably it can still be found for a bit more at ebay.de (there's two there now I just noted) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny weir Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 DrJ: I've had this set for about a year and I love every bit of it. However, I'm coming at it from a slightly different perspective from you - before I bought it, I had just a couple of the albums (Plays Duke, With Coltrane) so much of it was a completely new experience. That said, if you can get it at a good price, I'd just jump in. The sound is perfectly acceptable got my low/mid range system and ears. Besides, I wouldn't want to be holding my breath - in the present economic climate and record industry conservatism vibe - for a new mastering/packaging/annotation job. When (if) this one sells out, I doubt it'll be replaced. For me, the best part of the experience has been the many sessions I hadn't heard before with the likes of Gerry Mulligan, Clark Terry, Thad Jones. And the solo stuff is swell as well. I love it ... B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danasgoodstuff Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 It at least used to be the case that if you could convince Fantasy that you were a bonafide critic they would sell you anything in the catalog for $5/disc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolff Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 Fantasy, I think, still gives 10% off on orders over $100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 Don't remember how much I paid for it, but never regretted a single cent of it. Bought it when it was a year out. Sound is okay, haven't compared with the newer remasterings. But this set is the only place to get the sessions in recording order and complete on a minimum of discs and with minimum disc change. And the booklet with Keepnews' session notes is a great read. I hate it when sessions are scattered over several CDs. But if you prefer LP order and can do without the Shelly Manne session, which is not indispensable .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 Mine's bigger ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted November 11, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 Well, I didn't need much convincing - I think I probably will take the plunge, just wanted to hear if there were any particularly negative comments. Thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 Tony, the remastering is decent enough. . . I think having all this material under one roof is a blessing. . .I think you'll enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrdlu Posted November 12, 2003 Report Share Posted November 12, 2003 Lon (and others) put it well, Tony. The sound quality is very good (I have never disliked it), even though it's a few years old. Fantasy, as you know, never suffered from McMaster, and all of their 16 bit CDs that I have heard are great. In fact, as we have seen recently, their ZYX 20 bit CDs are seriously bad. (They are now into 24 bits, by the way, but I will never buy another ZYX OJC CD.) I do not doubt that the individual, more recent, Japanese CDs from this collection are better, but it would cost a fortune to get those that are available, and, of course, not everything in this set is separately available. So, I don't think you would be disappointed with the set. I do recommend that you get the separate CDs of the sessions with Trane and Gerry Mulligan, though. There are several tracks that are mono in the box set, but stereo on the OJCs. Also, the OJC has a spliced version of "Epistrophy" which sounds better than the box set version, which just fades out. (The take broke down at some stage after Trane's solo, and the OJC and LP have a version with the ending of the master take neatly added. It works well.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted November 13, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2003 Well, I took the plunge yesterday, a used set listed as "Like new/excellent" condition for about $170 including shipping...seems like a good deal. Can't wait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted November 24, 2003 Report Share Posted November 24, 2003 Hey, somehow this thread escaped me until now! Shrdlu: which of the ones with Coltrane? The quartet one or Monk's Music or both? I got my box (actually no box and no booklet, either) from zweitausendeins.de. I have almost all of the single OJCs, and I am on the point of starting to sell them... The music is glorious, of course. I don't believe it's Monk's greatest period, it's not "better" than the Prestige, Columbia or the Blue Note stuff, but Monk gets to play with musicians with whom he did not play before or later. ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted November 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2003 Well I've been really enjoying this one for the past couple of weeks. The remastering is quite good - in fact I'm not sure that the more recent "audiophile" versions of some of the albums (e.g. WITH JOHN COLTRANE, BRILLIANT CORNERS) are really any better sounding. They do sound different - a bit more full on the low end, but to my ears somewhat artificially so, like they've been boosted with some studio gimcrackery. The boxed set remastering sounds less colored, more honest in regard to some of the limitations of the original recordings, but well-transferred within those limitations. Notes are fun, and I LOVE having this stuff in recording order. The albums really often made little sense as albums, they were certainly one man's attempt to make coherent discs but no better or worse than anyone else's. I like being able to see things develop chronologically. Really glad I took the plunge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted December 1, 2003 Report Share Posted December 1, 2003 Shrdlu: which of the ones with Coltrane? The quartet one or Monk's Music or both? Ubu, the session in question was scattered over both LPs with Trane. Couw has self-made inlays somewhere her or on the web until I find the time to ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted December 1, 2003 Report Share Posted December 1, 2003 Thanks, Mike. I got these couw-covers, seems it would be time to take them out once again and have a look at them. So it's the session with Hawk, Gryce, Copeland, yes? Hopefully I have not yet gotten rid of all my single Monk OJCs... ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couw Posted December 1, 2003 Report Share Posted December 1, 2003 (edited) click for the booklet Edited December 1, 2003 by couw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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