Billie Holiday Columbia

[J.A.W.]

Regular price at most mailorders in Germany is € 21,99

Or about $32.40 at today's exchange rate

[Ron S]

Regular price at most mailorders in Germany is € 21,99

Or about $32.40 at today's exchange rate

PLUS delivery to the US (for some of us ). Makes the Amazon UK deal even sweeter.

[tranemonk]

Hey Ron.. thanks for the tip.. I just ordered mine..

Let us know when you get yours..

Why do you think the US amazon cancelled the orders???

Regular price at most mailorders in Germany is € 21,99

Or about $32.40 at today's exchange rate

PLUS delivery to the US (for some of us ). Makes the Amazon UK deal even sweeter.

[mjzee]

It's so funny...so my Billie order still shows as to be shipped by Amazon, even though it clearly states "this item has been discontinued by the manufacturer." So I went to cancel it. However, since I ordered it with something else, and together I got free shipping, and I already got the other item, Amazon won't let me cancel this order. They say I need to contact customer service.

But then it says that it will ship October 13, so stay tuned.

Edited October 10, 2009 by mjzee

[tranemonk]

Got a "dispatching" notice for amazon.co.uk.... I went ahead and cancelled my other order...

11-12 hours of Billie for $3 a CD from a reputable company????? What the hell is going on.... :o :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Ron S]

Got mine today from Amazon UK.

An amazing deal, which is still available, by the way.

Many thanks to mjzee for initially bringing this new reissue to our attention.

[tranemonk]

what's the layout like? Cheap booklet? No booklet???

Got mine today from Amazon UK.

An amazing deal, which is still available, by the way.

Many thanks to mjzee for initially bringing this new reissue to our attention.

[Ron S]

what's the layout like? Cheap booklet? No booklet???

See posts 41 and 46, above.

And then there's the photo on the Amazon page:

Box in the upper center, 10 cardboard envelopes containing the CDs on the left and arrayed across the bottom, and 60+ page booklet on the right. Actually quite nice, especially for the price.

Edited October 15, 2009 by Ron S

[J.A.W.]

what's the layout like? Cheap booklet? No booklet???

You can find the info earlier in this thread.

See also Ron's post above (#83).

Edited October 15, 2009 by J.A.W.

[mjzee]

So the day after "release date," Amazon emailed me that there would be a delay, and what would I like to do? Translation: you ain't gonna get it, OK to cancel. So I did.

[AllenLowe]

got the set today - just played bits and pieces, and whoever it was who posted a while back that there was too much high end (I think someone thought it sounded shrill) was very correct - HOWEVER - the basic transfers that I've heard seem fine - some semi-deaf engineer mastered it in a less than perfect way - not enough mids, too much upper frequency info - all of which can be adjusted, but still, there's no good reason they should have done it like this (they might have had lousy monitors) -

that's a just a quick first impression.

Edited October 16, 2009 by AllenLowe

[AllenLowe]

just to add, it's clear that a lot of the earlier cuts were not taken from masters but from 78s; so by their very nature they will have more sonic problems.

[J.A.W.]

Hello,

I have the big box set and it's really great - both the sound and the music. Very nice remastering on this on!

/Anders

PS And the book that came along is very beautiful with great pictures etc.

While I agree that the original box is a great collection of Billie Holiday's wonderful music, I don't like the mastering. I was disappointed by the sound quality; Billie’s voice and some of the instruments at times sound harsh and piercing to my ears. Judging by other issues of some of this Sony-owned material, such as the excellent Teddy Wilson CDs with Holiday on the Scottish Hep label, which were mastered by the late John R.T. Davies, I think the Sony mastering could have been better.

got the set today - just played bits and pieces, and whoever it was who posted a while back that there was too much high end (I think someone thought it sounded shrill) was very correct - HOWEVER - the basic transfers that I've heard seem fine - some semi-deaf engineer mastered it in a less than perfect way - not enough mids, too much upper frequency info - all of which can be adjusted, but still, there's no good reason they should have done it like this (they might have had lousy monitors) -

that's a just a quick first impression.

just to add, it's clear that a lot of the earlier cuts were not taken from masters but from 78s; so by their very nature they will have more sonic problems.

Just a guess, but maybe the mastering engineer decided to boost the higher frequencies to make the sound more detailed and transparent. This is done quite often these days and many times the result is what I would call a "shrill" sound. Many people seem to like it, but I don't.

[AllenLowe]

possibly, but I tend to think it's bad monitors or an engineer who has lost some hearing. They also don't understand the use of the mid-range, which adds warmth but which can also clog things up.

It's interesting because I've never been impressed with Sony/Columbia's mastering of older music. Maybe the acoustics are bad in whatever studio they use. Who knows. I'm just always amused that I get a better sound in my basement than they do in their 3 zillion dollar studio.

Edited October 16, 2009 by AllenLowe

[J.A.W.]

possibly, but I tend to think it's bad monitors or an engineer who has lost some hearing. They also don't understand the use of the mid-range, which adds warmth but which can also clog things up.

It's interesting because I've never been impressed with Sony/Columbia's mastering of older music. Maybe the acoustics are bad in whatever studio they use. Who knows. I'm just always amused that I get a better sound in my basement than they do in their 3 zillion dollar studio.

I agree about Sony/Columbia's mastering of older music; their Louis Armstrong and Charlie Christian boxes are examples of - to my ears - "less than excellent" masterings, and I'm not even talking about their 1990s "Roots 'n' Blues" CD reissues, which generally sound horrible.

Edited October 16, 2009 by J.A.W.

[AllenLowe]

I used to call my wife downstairs and say "listen to this," take some Sony reissue, twist a few EQ nobs, and she'd say "how come you aren't working for those guys?" Their OKEH rhythm and blues box has some of the screwiest eq-ing I have ever heard from a major label. Oy veh.

[jazzbo]

Yes, it's amazing what a little eq can do. I have a treble cut circuit on my amplifier where I can reduce a little or a lot of treble and not degrade the overall sound. I have pairs of different value resistors to limit the output of the ribbon tweeters on my speakers. And I can change tubes in my cd player, buffer amp, preamp and amplifier to tailor the sound. I can make lemonade. . . and have fun with it.

[Ron S]

I used to call my wife downstairs and say "listen to this," take some Sony reissue, twist a few EQ nobs, and she'd say "how come you aren't working for those guys?"

What she'd actually say was, "how come you aren't working?" The "for those guys" was purely in your imagination.

[AllenLowe]

actually, as I think of it, what she actually said was more like:

"shut the fuck up at least those guys are working"

I just inverted a phrase or two -

[Joe Bip]

Kind of interesting to note that this set is no longer showing up as "discontinued" at Amazon US, and they've raised the price to $55.98. No matter, mine is on the way from an Amazon UK marketplace seller. I've wanted to own this set for many years but I'm glad I held off for a great deal like this, as I've owned a lot of this material in three different forms already: the 3-disc Columbia Legacy set in the early '90s, then some of the best volumes of the Quintessential series, and most recently some of Hep's Teddy Wilson discs. I really need the whole shebang, though.

[Quincy]

I really need the whole shebang, though.

Yup, and thanks to all for the Amazon UK heads up and feedback. Haven't gotten my shipping notice yet but it'll come. The 2 Columbia/Legacy discs that I have will go to my niece who has expressed interest in Billie.

[Big Wheel]

I think it's likely that this box is about to become a "lightning deal" in about an hour at Amazon US. The teaser reads:

"Upcoming Deal

A hard-swinging, hard-living empress of jazz gets the deluxe treatment."

Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/goldbox/ref=cs_top_nav_gb27

[jazzbo]

Nope. The deal is an Anita O'Day deal.

[mikeweil]

I wanted to see and touch the set to decide about buying one, but this Thursday Saturn at Frankfurt didn't have any, and the boss was not there to tell me what the deal is ...

Edited October 23, 2009 by mikeweil

[Patrick]

I took a flyer and renewed my amazon US order for this set. I just got an email update that its estimated arrival date is November 14. Seems promising. Not holding breath. Wondering if this email was auto-generated, i.e. not informed by actual inventory changes.