Billy Harper's Capra Black CD

[romualdo]

I'm looking for Billy Harper's Capra Black on CD

The Strata East CD release appears to be long gone - went to the Strata East site-> have downloads there but it's all Charles Tolliver.

Dusty Groove has a "Strata East/Billy Harper Fan Club" version for a reasonable price (approx $15) that is currently OOS/OOP? - anyone know about this one - is it a CD-R?

If you go to the Billy Harper site & buy from there (is it the same CD as Dusty Groove's?) it's going to cost me $35 to land here in Australia. For that price I may as well try & search out a Japanese release.

While I'm on the subject of Japanese CD's, could anyone give me contact details regarding Hiroshi (there's a continuously ongoing thread re Japanese releases) - is he a US based CD dealer or does he deal from Japan

I've been purchasing my Japanese CD's via CD Japan (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/index.html) - they're are selling the most recent crop of BN's for just under US$12 - have just ordered the Jutta Hipp 10" CD & the 2 Hickory House CD's plus the Hank Mobley Quartet (10")

[Rooster_Ties]

Pretty sure the BH Fan Club issues are CDR's (from what I've heard secondhand from a couple sources).

I'm needing a replacement copy of this one myself (and only a real 'silver disc' will do for me). Loaned my copy to a friend about 3 years ago, and he and the world had the great misfortune that he passed away somewhat unexpectedly (he was about 50). Never followed up with his wife, as I barely knew her.

If anybody has a line on 'real' versions of this title, do tell!

[J.A.W.]

While I'm on the subject of Japanese CD's, could anyone give me contact details regarding Hiroshi (there's a continuously ongoing thread re Japanese releases) - is he a US based CD dealer or does he deal from Japan

Hiroshi Tanno is based in Fukuoka City, Japan. Here's his website; his e-mail address is hiroshi@earlyrecords.com. Hiroshi's prices are the Japanese list prices. He takes PayPal and his overseas shipping rates are very reasonable. He can supply all jazz LPs and CDs that are currently available in Japan, and sometimes also OOP items. His service is excellent.

Edited March 3, 2010 by J.A.W.

[romualdo]

While I'm on the subject of Japanese CD's, could anyone give me contact details regarding Hiroshi (there's a continuously ongoing thread re Japanese releases) - is he a US based CD dealer or does he deal from Japan

Hiroshi Tanno is based in Fukuoka City, Japan. Here's his website; his e-mail address is hiroshi@earlyrecords.com. Hiroshi's prices are the Japanese list prices. He takes PayPal and his overseas shipping rates are very reasonable. He can supply all jazz LPs and CDs that are currently available in Japan, and sometimes also OOP items. His service is excellent.

many thanks

[Pim]

I’ve got a question about this one too. I recently bought the 1992 Bellaphon/Strata-East german version. I think the sound quality is very poor. The horns are very loud and sharp and almost make you’re ears bleed, while the rythm section is far in the background. Anyone with the same experience with this version? 

Edited November 17, 2017 by Pim

[felser]

2 hours ago, Pim said:

I’ve got a question about this one too. I recently bought the 1992 Bellaphon/Strata-East german version. I think the sound quality is very poor. The horns are very loud and sharp and almost make you’re ears bleed, while the rythm section is far in the background. Anyone with the same experience with this version? 

I have the same version, just glad to have it at all.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I had a Billy Harper fan club CD. It was a CD-R and it eventually became unreadable. I wrote Billy's fan club manager several times to ask for a new copy and they completely ignored me. I doubt that his fan club's website is even manned anymore.

[Pim]

3 hours ago, felser said:

I have the same version, just glad to have it at all.

Me too! Unfortanatly those Strata East CDS are hard to find. But how do you feel about the sound of it? I am considering to buy the much more expensive Japanese Edition.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

"Capra Black" is streaming for free on Amazon Prime (if you're signed up for it).

[Rooster_Ties]

I had the 1992 Bellaphon/Strata-East german version years ago (lost when the friend I loaned it to passed away unexpectedly 10+ years ago, and I never had the heart to reach out to his widow about it).  About 5 years ago, replaced it with the more recent Japanese mini-LP reissue, which sounds great (but I never had the change to A/B compare the sound).

Just looked on eBay, and there are ZERO copies available on CD now (nor any in the recently completed auctions listings), so it appears to be pretty scarce these days.

God damn crime key dates like this are becoming so frickin' rare.  A person ought to be able to pick up any of the best half-a-dozen of Harper's dates on CD, without having to shell out $50 or more (which seems to be about the price on Amazon's second-hand market).

Seriously, it's a crime such good material is rapidly becoming impossible to buy.  Most of Charles Tolliver's key output is headed that direction too, to say nothing of dozens of other important musicians.

[JSngry]

All the more reason to buddy up with old people who bought the LPs before they either go broke or die.

[sonnymax]

Download it at various sites for $5-$10. Burn it if you must. Enjoy the music. Problem solved.

[felser]

22 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

I had the 1992 Bellaphon/Strata-East german version years ago (lost when the friend I loaned it to passed away unexpectedly 10+ years ago, and I never had the heart to reach out to his widow about it).  About 5 years ago, replaced it with the more recent Japanese mini-LP reissue, which sounds great (but I never had the change to A/B compare the sound).

Just looked on eBay, and there are ZERO copies available on CD now (nor any in the recently completed auctions listings), so it appears to be pretty scarce these days.

God *** crime key dates like this are becoming so frickin' rare.  A person ought to be able to pick up any of the best half-a-dozen of Harper's dates on CD, without having to shell out $50 or more (which seems to be about the price on Amazon's second-hand market).

Seriously, it's a crime such good material is rapidly becoming impossible to buy.  Most of Charles Tolliver's key output is headed that direction too, to say nothing of dozens of other important musicians.

The 92 Bellaphon doesn't' sound great, and I don't remember the vinyl sounding great back in the day (for any of the Strata-East releases, truth be told, and I had/have a lot of them).  Sounds like the Japanese release is the way to go, price permitting.  Re: Tolliver - the All-Stars date (Tolliver/Bartz/Hancock/Carter/J. Chambers) never did make it to CD to my knowledge.  Everyone needs to grab "The Ringer" while they can, and the Mosaic Selects of the Strata-East stuff.

Edited November 18, 2017 by felser

[Pim]

22 hours ago, sonnymax said:

Download it at various sites for $5-$10. Burn it if you must. Enjoy the music. Problem solved.

Well call me oldfashioned but I collect cd’s. But If its the last resource I always download of course.

3 hours ago, felser said:

The 92 Bellaphon doesn't' sound great, and I don't remember the vinyl sounding great back in the day (for any of the Strata-East releases, truth be told, and I had/have a lot of them).  Sounds like the Japanese release is the way to go, price permitting.  Re: Tolliver - the All-Stars date (Tolliver/Bartz/Hancock/Carter/J. Chambers) never did make it to CD to my knowledge.  Everyone needs to grab "The Ringer" while they can, and the Mosaic Selects of the Strata-East stuff.

Thanks for your input. I am going for the Japanese version when I spot one for a reasonable price. But you’re right... all those records are out of print these days and the prices are ridiculous. Strata East is a good example but also India Navigation and many more. Mal Waldrons catalogue is almost completely out of print. It’s getting harder and harder to buy some essentials for me...

[soulpope]

2 hours ago, Pim said:

... all those records are out of print these days and the prices are ridiculous. Strata East is a good example but also India Navigation and many more. Mal Waldrons catalogue is almost completely out of print. It’s getting harder and harder to buy some essentials for me...

I wonder who`s owning the India Navigation catalogue nowadays ....

[JSngry]

I don't mind the Strata-East vinyls, because for better or worse, that's what those records sound like. Off hand, I can't think of any whose sound has been radically improved on CD.

It's like a Philles 45 in that regard, you can get all the cleaned up refixes you want, but it won't sound "better", just "different". and like a Philles 45, a Strata-East LP of, say, Capra Black was not meant to be played on 21st Century digital hi-fi stereos. Like the Blue Notes and other such things, they were meant to be heard on basicass record players. Which is not to say that the source material was expertly record and then consumered down for the final product, I get no indication of that for hardly any Strata-East records. Seems like they will always sound like that because that's what they are. But I do think the LPs are as good as they're going to sound, so, you know hunker down in your apartment, stack your LPs on your changer, and meditate on that crazy Mtume sides (4, to be exact), not what it sounds like, but what it is saying.

That's how to get your Strata-East on most fully, effectively, and appropriately, imo.

[felser]

2 hours ago, JSngry said:

I don't mind the Strata-East vinyls, because for better or worse, that's what those records sound like. Off hand, I can't think of any whose sound has been radically improved on CD.

It's like a Philles 45 in that regard, you can get all the cleaned up refixes you want, but it won't sound "better", just "different". and like a Philles 45, a Strata-East LP of, say, Capra Black was not meant to be played on 21st Century digital hi-fi stereos. Like the Blue Notes and other such things, they were meant to be heard on basicass record players. Which is not to say that the source material was expertly record and then consumered down for the final product, I get no indication of that for hardly any Strata-East records. Seems like they will always sound like that because that's what they are. But I do think the LPs are as good as they're going to sound, so, you know hunker down in your apartment, stack your LPs on your changer, and meditate on that crazy Mtume sides (4, to be exact), not what it sounds like, but what it is saying.

That's how to get your Strata-East on most fully, effectively, and appropriately, imo.

Agreed on all counts.  Thankful those Strata-East's were recorded/released at all.  

[sidewinder]

I’ve got ‘Capra Black’ on vinyl and always thought it sounded fine. The German CD is a bit two-dimensional in sound though. I’ll dig it out later.

Edited November 18, 2017 by sidewinder

[sonnymax]

13 hours ago, Pim said:

Well call me oldfashioned but I collect cd’s. But If its the last resource I always download of course.

To each his own. I've only purchased a handful of CDs in the past few years. I just close my eyes and listen to the music. It matters not the medium that delivers it.

[clifford_thornton]

On 11/18/2017 at 10:18 AM, soulpope said:

I wonder who`s owning the India Navigation catalogue nowadays ....

Rights reverted to the artists after the label dissolved.

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, clifford_thornton said:

Rights reverted to the artists after the label dissolved.

Thnx .... good for the artists but not so for an unified reissung approach .....

[romualdo]

I bit the bullet & bought a Japanese Bomba/Strata East version in 2010 (after I started this thread) - this version sounds fine (it's a 24bit remaster) though I havn't heard the Bellaphon version.

[Pim]

Thanks for your input!