Sale at Zweitausendeins

[andybleaden]

Well I have just got an email saying that only one was sold out!! So i have got the following coming evidently

74848 COLEM.,O.GOLD.1 DRCD 1

74849 COLEM.,O.GOLD.2 DRCD 1 ornette at the golden circle

75006 EVANS,B. FANTASY 9CD 1

75008 MONK RIVERSIDE 15CD 1

75009 EVANS RIVERSIDE 12CD 1

I have not one Bill Evans cd in my collection so it will be a good introduction and I have pined after the monk set for a while too. Shame is that the coltrane set is out of stock but I have a few of the cds off that anyway.

But who cares three out of four ain't bad and the deal gives me 38 cds for 83 euros not a bad days trading .yessir!

Thanks to the original post

[sidewinder]

If you don't yet have any Bill Evans in your collection Andy, having the 'Complete Riverside' as your intro to this wonderful player is like hitting the jackpot with your first lotto ticket. Enjoy !

[RDK]

I just got everything that i had ordered except for the Tatum solo box, which was sold out. It's back in stock, so i just ordered it (three copies actually, for friends) along with the Bill Evans Fantasy box and a few other things, including several of those dirt cheap Past Perfect boxes - $5 for 5 discs! How can you go wrong?

Ray

[Claude]

Zweitausendeins also has some extremely cheap but very high quality classical box sets from Brilliant Classics. The sets cost ca $1.5 per disc. They mostly consist of licensed recordings from the 80's and 90's, produced by smaller labels such as Denon, BIS or ASV.

A great bargain are the Complete Mahler Symphonies by Eliahu Inbal (15CDs, 26 Euro). This Denon production was one of the top Mahler sets available ten years ago, and sold at full price. It's the best recorded Mahler on CD, the sound is state of the art.

Don't confuse it with the other complete Mahler set, which is not bad either, but an uneven mix of different orchestras.

There are too many good sets to list. The Prokofiev/Scriabin Complete Piano sonatas box is very interesting too.

The Brilliant Classics homepage has complete listings of the boxes content with artists and original label, but it's not very easy to navigate

Edited June 4, 2003 by Claude

[andybleaden]

Got the box set through allthough the Bill Evan sRiverside and Thelonius Monk were without any booklet or info which was a littel annoying. Still remarkable value for the music available

Andy

[RDK]

I'm curious about these "no booklet" sets. Did everything come sealed in the outer slipcase? I know there's no large book like the U.S. sets, but there should be a little CD-sized booklet with the track listings. I've had no problem with any of mine.

[John Delaney]

Some of these box sets are turning up on UK ebay.

I'm wondering if the Fantasy / ZYX licensing contract is ending and they're being dumped on the market. Any ideas anyone?

John Delaney

[Claude]

This sale is only available at Zweitausendeins. I have never seen these no-frills box sets in other stores.

ZYX also made "deluxe" boxes in LP format with a complete booklet (like the US boxes). I have the Dolphy Prestige and Rollins Freelance Years sets - made by ZYX - and I've seen fullsize Bill Evans Riverside and Art Pepper boxes which had a ZYX sticker on the box. Maybe Zweitausendeins only wants to get rid of their stock. These boxes have been offered for the past 5 years at least (at very competitive but not insane prices).

The Fantasy material has been licensed to ZYX (formerly Bernard Mikulski) since the 80's or even earlier, so I don't think it has something to do with the licensing contract. But I would really want to see a different company release this material in Europe. ZYX's recent remasterings are horrible, the packaging isn't great either.

[andybleaden]

no the box set always have a booklet but it is a reduced size one. There is one with the booklet . All the Eu versions still have oll the info but these were obviously leftoverswith cd cases and inserts but no books

When I wrote to zweitausand about them they said they had both sorts ( with or without booklet) but these were leftovers with no booklet or cover. All the other sets I have had from them ( i bought the montgomery riverside last year ) were complete with booklet. Not as nice as the large US versions but for the price I goththem at who cares.

As for the remastering quality I do not know.

Andy

Edited June 10, 2003 by andybleaden

[JohnS]

The early ZYX boxes came with full size boxes and booklets, I have the Coltane, Evans, Montgomery and Davis sets all in 12" boxes. They say made/printed in the USA.

[Aggie87]

I'm curious about these "no booklet" sets.  Did everything come sealed in the outer slipcase?  I know there's no large book like the U.S. sets, but there should be a little CD-sized booklet with the track listings.  I've had no problem with any of mine.

I've purchased a number of these ZYX boxes recently at my local zweitausendeins outlet.

Two of them came without slipcases or booklets - the Evans Riverside and the Monk Riverside. The jewel cases were just banded together. When I asked whether they had the rest of the stuff in the back, they stated that they had received them that way from wherever they get them. And the clerk also commented something about "for that price, how can you complain?" I guess I have to agree with him, but it would've been nice to have the slipcase/booklet.

Either way, couw's booklets are fantastic, and do the trick for me.

-Erik

Edited June 10, 2003 by Aggie87

[David Ayers]

These seem to have dried up for now at the website - well, it was good while it lasted.

Edited June 18, 2003 by David Ayers

[Gary]

These seem to have dried up for now at the website - well, it was good while it lasted.

Yep Ebay Germany is now the best bet for any titles that may have been missed -I managed to get the Trane box from there for about double the price the seller must have got it for - still a bargain though .

[Clunky]

They did very well with my last order, two copies of Bill on Riverside arrived and instead of the Tatum group sessions that I ordered I received the complete Monk on Prestige !!!!. Can be bothered to complain as this set cost me only 10 euros and comes in a sturdy box with an excellent booklet in colour and B&W. I had some of the stuff already but not the sessions with Hawk or Miles so I will keep it. Sound pretty good too claims K2 remastering (what ever that is.)

[Claude]

I'm surprised to hear about these shipping errors. Zweitausenseins is not one of those new stores created during the internet boom. They have 30 years experience in the mailorder business.

This spectacular sale only concerns a few jazz box sets, so I don't think they have been overwhelmed by orders.

[Alfred]

Zweitausendeins are offering now the new Verve LPR reissues at € 7.49 each (older titles € 6.99) and many relatively new Blue Note titles at € 6.99: Jason Moran - Black stars, Joe Lovano - Trio fascination 1 & 2, Soullive, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, the great Lee Konitz recording with Charlie Haden & Brad Mehldau - Alone together, ... + the new Rare Groove titles.

I found all the CD's at the 2001 shop in Hamburg. Maybe the homepage is not updated yet.

Edited June 19, 2003 by Alfred

[bewabs]

Their Homepage ist up to date. Follow this link:

MIDPRICE: POP- und JAZZ-CDs

http://www.zweitausendeins.de/r.cfm?Nr=153

[mikeweil]

This sale is only available at Zweitausendeins. I have never seen these no-frills box sets in other stores.

ZYX also made "deluxe" boxes in LP format with a complete booklet (like the US boxes). I have the Dolphy Prestige and Rollins Freelance Years sets - made by ZYX - and I've seen fullsize Bill Evans Riverside and Art Pepper boxes which had a ZYX sticker on the box. Maybe Zweitausendeins only wants to get rid of their stock. These boxes have been offered for the past 5 years at least (at very competitive but not insane prices).

The Fantasy material has been licensed to ZYX (formerly Bernard Mikulski) since the 80's or even earlier, so I don't think it has something to do with the licensing contract. But I would really want to see a different company release this material in Europe. ZYX's recent remasterings are horrible, the packaging isn't great either.

They were available at other stores, principally, but Mikulski must have made some special deal with Zeitausendeins, as they sold them at about the price other dealers would have to pay! This deal seems to have expired now, or sales figures reached a level too low to tolerate.

I had the impression the LP sized box sets were imported from the US and filled with CDs manufactured in Germany.

I agree on the poor packaging of the small box sets and on the horrible sound of ZYX' own remasterings.

They never promote the Fantasy releases in German jazz magazines.

But who else should handle them? Their catalogue is voluminous and another distributor probably would not carry the complete catalogue.

At least from ZYX' own website and their mail order shop MUsic Garden, everything seems to be available. Other mail order shops mave deleted some rare items from their catalogue.

[mikeweil]

Zweitausendeins also has some extremely cheap but very high quality classical box sets from Brilliant Classics. The sets cost ca $1.5 per disc. They mostly consist of licensed recordings from the 80's and 90's, produced by smaller labels such as Denon, BIS or ASV.

A great bargain are the Complete Mahler Symphonies by Eliahu Inbal (15CDs, 26 Euro). This Denon production was one of the top Mahler sets available ten years ago, and sold at full price. It's the best recorded Mahler on CD, the sound is state of the art.

I agree, the Mahler set is great and was hailed as one of the best recordings available.

Same goes for Inbal's Bruckner cycle, which is scheduled for reissue in the near future and includes the rare no. "0" symphony.

If anyone of you cares for harpsichord, the complete Bach harpsichord works in two boxes is as good as it can be at that price, with very good performances by mostly younger performers that hold their own when compared to other recordings, and the Domenico Scarlatti series is fine (3 boxes with 3 CDs each so far), considered better than Scott Ross' unaffordable big box on Erato by many.

[Adam]

They've now charged me for the Pepper and Monk boxes, and sent an email over 3 weeks ago saying they've shipped, but no sign of them yet.

[frankc]

patience, it took +/- three weeks for seven box sets to arrive-have faith

fc

[Alexander Hawkins]

I think sit tight is the thing to do - I've ordered from them for a while now, and customer service has never been anything less than exemplary!

[Shrdlu]

At the risk of repeating what has already been said, may I also speak up on behalf of zweitausendeins?

I have dealt with them for years, after seeing a post mentioning them on the Blue Note board which was rapidly deleted by the moderator. (I wonder why!!) They sell all the RVGs when they first come out, as well as some Verve CDs, such as the recent mini-LP ones.

They have always given superb service, including recently. I saw the ZYX sets for low prices in the booklet which zweitausendeins sends every now and then. I ordered the Bill Evans Riverside set, and it came quickly, for a little over 30 bucks. Yes, CD 8 was Miles Davis, but zweitausendeins quickly sent me a correct replacement, at their own expense (any profit must have been completely lost by that stage). Stefan Leuning was the nice gentleman who helped me. Before asking him for a replacement, I emailed ZYX, but I never received a reply.

I think that Fantasy ought to sever all links with this rinky-dink company (ZYX, not 2001), in view of the fact that their 20-bit OJCs (and now 24 bit) stink. I said as much in an email to Fantasy - which is also very friendly, by the way.

Incidentally, the sound in the Evans set is amazingly good, especially considering the year: 1987. Well done, that remasterer!

[vibes]

Got my first package today from Zweitausendeins: The Complete Thelonious Monk on Riverside and The Complete Art Pepper on Galaxy. I've never heard any of the music contained in either of these sets (and never heard Art Pepper before at all, to be honest), but the prices were hard to beat. 31 CD's plus shipping for $90. Thanks to everyone for alerting me to these bargains.

[Ross Hahn]

I recently received most of these (Coltrane, both Tatums, both Evans, Monk and Rollins). Some had booklets, some didn't but I'm not complaining at the price. I wonder if anyone can help me with a couple of questions about the mastering. It's been said that the mastering is the same as the original US releases but I wonder if that's true. On the Art Tatum group masterpieces box some of the sessions are in fake stereo (the first session for example, try track 7 "S'Wonderful" which seems heavily balanced to the left) while others are in nice mono as they should be. Has anyone else noticed this, especially anyone with the US release? Also, the beginning of "Ba-lue Bolivar Ba-lues-are" on disc 2 of the Monk/Riverside box sounds like it's dubbed from an LP with very obvious crackles. Could it be a tape artifact? This one came without a booklet so I don't know if it mentions anything. Does this exist on other copies of the box or the individual CD?

Thanks a bunch.