Billie Holiday Box Set on Verve

[Teasing the Korean]

I am listening now to this box set.

From both the visual aesthetic and structural standpoints, this has to be the most diabolical box set I have ever held in my hands.

Great music though.

[Chuck Nessa]

Which box?

[Teasing the Korean]

Which box?

A six-CD set in a metal box a little smaller than a lunch box, with a fold-out accordion digipack monstrosity holding the disc. Hideous illustrations, bulky design. Not sure when it came out or if there is a better one now. I found it sealed on-line some time ago for a cheap price.

Edited February 13, 2010 by Teasing the Korean

[John L]

I usually like hearing music in chronological order on box sets, but they clearly went overboard on this one when they programmed in all the long rehearsals instead of putting them at the end of the box, or leaving them out altogether. I wonder what Billie would have thought about the release of the rehearsals, private phone phone calls, etc? It is not as if they add much to her artistic legacy.

Ironically, I started listening to Billie on Verve a lot less after I bought this box. Now, in the iTunes age, I have made playlists of what I like to hear.

Edited February 13, 2010 by John L

[Van Basten II]

I am listening now to this box set.

From both the visual aesthetic and structural standpoints, this has to be the most diabolical box set I have ever held in my hands.

Great music though.

Worse than the Evans Verve

[jazzbo]

I have that "tin box" one and the packaging doesn't bother me. I also have the ten cd set with the fat cases. I wish I had the earlier version of that with the lp facsimile sleeves, that's a handsome set.

Great great music.

[JETman]

Is the first Holiday set like the Ella Songbooks set? Wonder why they discontinued the "handsome" packaging on the Billie but not on the Ella.

[jazzbo]

I blame Bush.

[mjzee]

I usually like hearing music in chronological order on box sets, but they clearly went overboard on this one when they programmed in all the long rehearsals instead of putting them at the end of the box, or leaving them out altogether. I wonder what Billie would have thought about the release of the rehearsals, private phone phone calls, etc? It is not as if they add much to her artistic legacy.

Ironically, I started listening to Billie on Verve a lot less after I bought this box. Now, in the iTunes age, I have made playlists of what I like to hear.

I think you're describing the 10-disc set. The 6 disc set in the lunchbox case (which I have) doesn't have phone calls and such on it; just master takes.

I do agree with TTK about the packaging. Simply berserk and over-the-top. Don't forget the sunburst die-cut sleeve which holds the booklet, that is guaranteed to bend and tear unless you never pull the booklet out.

[JETman]

Don't we all!

[A Lark Ascending]

Utterly ludicrous packaging.

I've thrown it away and keep the discs in PVC sleeves alongside the booklet.

One of the unforseen advantages of downloads is the ending of this sort of nonsense.

[JETman]

Speaking of the wacky tin box packaging, is anyone gonna take their chances with the Hip-O Clifford Brown?

[Quincy]

Utterly ludicrous packaging.

It's goofy no doubt about it, but when Charlie Parker's Verve Masters set was offered for $18 I bought another "lunch box." At least with Charlie the accordion is smaller.

[Christiern]

My Billie box will hold two peanut butter sandwiches and a chocolate bar.

The Columbia Hot Five box, on the other hand...

[Ken Dryden]

Unfortunately Universal Music has consistently designed impractical boxed sets in recent years. Whether scratching the CDs on cardboard when removing them, having open top sleeves to let dust in, or the microscopic fonts used for liner notes, they obviously haven't learned from Mosaic. At least the music is decent.

[medjuck]

I have that "tin box" one and the packaging doesn't bother me. I also have the ten cd set with the fat cases. I wish I had the earlier version of that with the lp facsimile sleeves, that's a handsome set.

Great great music.

I have what I think is the "handsome set"-- it does have the lp facsimile sleeves. It's alittle difficult to get the books (one for cds one for notes) in and out of the box without bending the envelope with the facsimiles. (I think I just bent them checking out what I had.)

[paul secor]

I have that "tin box" one and the packaging doesn't bother me. I also have the ten cd set with the fat cases. I wish I had the earlier version of that with the lp facsimile sleeves, that's a handsome set.

Great great music.

I have what I think is the "handsome set"-- it does have the lp facsimile sleeves. It's alittle difficult to get the books (one for cds one for notes) in and out of the box without bending the envelope with the facsimiles. (I think I just bent them checking out what I had.)

I leave the book with the notes out of the box. I feel that if I try to force both in it, the box will split. When I got it, I had to struggle to get the first book out of the box. A design that looked good but wasn't practical in usage.

Edited February 14, 2010 by paul secor

[Brad]

I blame Bush.

Which one

[jazzbo]

The one who was also an awful Texas governor.

[Joe Bip]

I bought both box sets. I got the first one back in 1992 when I was first getting into jazz. I had even less money back then than I do now, and I considered the set an expensive lesson learned. Really frustrating to have to spend that much time skipping around to the finished tracks from the studio sessions.

The packaging was attractive, and my only real complaint was that it was too hard to hold the book open to read it for any length of time because of the way it was bound. I've also never been a fan of storing CDs in hard-cardboard sleeves. If they fit tightly, you have to pinch the edges of the discs with your fingers to pull them out; and if they fit loosely they can just fall out (I think it was the former with this set).

I bought the six-disc set to get all the studio masters in one place and hear how the remastering sounds. I've gotten much more enjoyment out of this metal box than the older set. Agree about the unsightly packaging, though. The disc art is funny: more appropriate to '90s techno than Lady Day.

I made my own 2-CD set of the live recordings from the original box.

Edited February 15, 2010 by Joe Bip

[gmonahan]

I am listening now to this box set.

From both the visual aesthetic and structural standpoints, this has to be the most diabolical box set I have ever held in my hands.

Great music though.

Worse than the Evans Verve

The EVANS RUST BOX!! Slowly I turn...step by step...inch by inch....

gregmo

[Face of the Bass]

I kind of like the design. Actually, if you think about it, compare it to the Mosaic boxes. Unnecessarily large, unimaginative in that they all look almost exactly the same and use boring jewel cases, lacking color, etc. etc.

[gmonahan]

I kind of like the design. Actually, if you think about it, compare it to the Mosaic boxes. Unnecessarily large, unimaginative in that they all look almost exactly the same and use boring jewel cases, lacking color, etc. etc.

Is this a response to my crack about the Evans box? If so, I think you're putting me on, but I'll bite. The large size of the Mosaic boxes permits larger photographs in the booklets, and the black and white is beautiful. The best photos ever taken of jazz musicians are in black and white, especially of most of those to whom the big boxes are devoted. As for the Evans box, nasty to open, hard to get the discs out, liners impossible to read. I long ago repackaged the cds in "boring jewel cases" and threw the box in a box...to rust away. I think most would agree that it represents the nadir of "high concept" packaging for reissues.

gregmo

[J.A.W.]

I kind of like the design. Actually, if you think about it, compare it to the Mosaic boxes. Unnecessarily large, unimaginative in that they all look almost exactly the same and use boring jewel cases, lacking color, etc. etc.

Is this a response to my crack about the Evans box? If so, I think you're putting me on, but I'll bite. The large size of the Mosaic boxes permits larger photographs in the booklets, and the black and white is beautiful. The best photos ever taken of jazz musicians are in black and white, especially of most of those to whom the big boxes are devoted. As for the Evans box, nasty to open, hard to get the discs out, liners impossible to read. I long ago repackaged the cds in "boring jewel cases" and threw the box in a box...to rust away. I think most would agree that it represents the nadir of "high concept" packaging for reissues.

gregmo

Well put. I also like the Mosaic design very much, with their beautiful photographs; black and white just catches the atmosphere perfectly.

Edited February 17, 2010 by J.A.W.

[Face of the Bass]

I kind of like the design. Actually, if you think about it, compare it to the Mosaic boxes. Unnecessarily large, unimaginative in that they all look almost exactly the same and use boring jewel cases, lacking color, etc. etc.

Is this a response to my crack about the Evans box? If so, I think you're putting me on, but I'll bite. The large size of the Mosaic boxes permits larger photographs in the booklets, and the black and white is beautiful. The best photos ever taken of jazz musicians are in black and white, especially of most of those to whom the big boxes are devoted. As for the Evans box, nasty to open, hard to get the discs out, liners impossible to read. I long ago repackaged the cds in "boring jewel cases" and threw the box in a box...to rust away. I think most would agree that it represents the nadir of "high concept" packaging for reissues.

gregmo

I was actually being serious. I love Mosaic but wish they would be more adventurous with their packaging, to be honest, although I agree that the best jazz photographs are in black and white. My favorite packaging for box sets are the Miles metal spine boxes put out by Columbia.