Complete Masters (Bechet, Satchmo, Ella, Billie, Bird)

[king ubu]

Anyone knows anything about this series?

Seems to be official (from Universal) but seems to also include - if the titles are correct - tracks from the vault of the other major labels. New development there?

Charlie Parker - The Complete Masters 1941-1954 (13CD)

Should be the Savoy, Dial and Verve material, plus some early sides? Great entry point for anyone new to Bird's music, I'm sure!

Sidney Bechet - The Complete American Masters 1931-1953 (14CD)

This one has me puzzled... the major chunk of Bechet's music from those years was on RCA, some on Blue Note (EMI), some on Columbia (see the Mosaic Select). Why would Universal do this box... anyway, it does look tempting, even though I have the BN Mosaic and the Select on the way right now!

Louis Armstrong - Complete Masters 1925-45 (14CD)

pre-order price here is much higher... either way, this one's not really needed, but again, to those new to the music, it might be great!

Billie Holiday - Complete Masters 1933-59 (15CD)

Guess this would include the Columbia, Commodore, Decca, and Verve Masters...

Ella Fitzgerald - Complete Masters 1935-55 (14CD, Decca)

Probably all her Deccas...

Edited November 7, 2011 by king ubu

[Van Basten II]

Thanks for the tip, the Bechet which I have very little is tempting, the rest it is already deja vu for yours truly.

[romualdo]

Thanks for the tip, the Bechet which I have very little is tempting, the rest it is already deja vu for yours truly.

same here - the Bechet is the one I would go for - have most of the other material

[king ubu]

I'll want to see some tracklistings first...

[crisp]

Amazon Germany has rather well-hidden track listings for the Billie Holiday and the Charlie Parker.

I don't know what to make of these sets. They appear to be European and all contain music more than 50 years old, so could be another PD release. Yet it's definitely Universal, although not exclusively Universal-owned material. So is Universal now doing PD stuff, or are they handling distribution for a PD company? I suspect the latter.

[Van Basten II]

Ordered the Bechet anyways, it's already 11 more cds than I have from him, now, hoping for a decent transfer. The fact that all the music is over 50 years makes me beleive the same thing than Crisp

Edited November 8, 2011 by Van Basten II

[JETman]

Universal released those sets of Fantasy (now Concord) owned material that came out a couple of years ago -- Miles, Sonny, Monk. Distributorship deals probably work differently in Europe than they do here in the States. This might explain why these new sets also contain material that Universal does not own.

[crisp]

The Concord arrangement was what I was thinking of. That these new sets are cross-label makes me suspect they are PD sets being distributed by Universal, but made by another company.

[king ubu]

Yes, PD - but still... if a major does this, is one to expect decent sound/versions/remasterings? Would Universal get access to the best sources of RCA's Bechet catalogue?

It's well-known that Universal has stepped in a European distributor for Concord ever since they took over the whole Fantasy catalogue.... and honestly, they're not doing too bad a job, bringing back many OJCCDs (with different catalogue numbers, but other than that identical). I'd only wish for a better website with more complete listings than what you can find on jazzecho.de!

[crisp]

Well, the Concord Euro boxes are clearly the old Fantasy masterings. I've always assumed that Concord makes the product, Universal simply distributes it to stores. What I'm suggesting is that these could be made by a PD company like Proper and that Universal simply distributes them with no hand in the manufacturing.

I must stress that I'm guessing, but even Mosaic doesn't mix and match labels in this way: if you go to the original rights holders, you tend to stick to one. The only way to find out I suppose is to wait until they are released and check the packaging to see who made them.

[king ubu]

I know, that's what puzzles me about these!

Don't think Universal would co-operate with any such outfit as Proper, though (not even distribution-wise).

[Fer Urbina]

I know, that's what puzzles me about these!

Don't think Universal would co-operate with any such outfit as Proper, though (not even distribution-wise).

FWIW, when they bought the Sanctuary Music Group, the jazz reissues of the ASV label completely disappeared.

F

[king ubu]

I know, that's what puzzles me about these!

Don't think Universal would co-operate with any such outfit as Proper, though (not even distribution-wise).

FWIW, when they bought the Sanctuary Music Group, the jazz reissues of the ASV label completely disappeared.

F

So these might depend on previous reissues by labels such as ASV? But those were never complete, to my understanding... I only have a single disc and not a very convincing one. Guess we just need to wait for the boxes to appear!

[crisp]

The Second Disc has a bit of info here. The writers thinks they are legit, although I don't know if he's just speculating when he says: "Based on the time periods, it seems that a great deal of licensing has been done by Universal to create these all-encompassing packages."

He also says "Alas, complete and verified track listings have not yet been released," but of course we know two of them have.

[AllenLowe]

how do know it's the same Universal? Anybody could slap that name on it.

well, it looks like it is Decca - which should, theoretically at least, have actual and great sounding masters of their own on a lot of this - remains to be seen,

Edited November 12, 2011 by AllenLowe

[Van Basten II]

There has been a delay regarding the shipping of the item.

[Fer Urbina]

I know, that's what puzzles me about these!

Don't think Universal would co-operate with any such outfit as Proper, though (not even distribution-wise).

FWIW, when they bought the Sanctuary Music Group, the jazz reissues of the ASV label completely disappeared.

F

So these might depend on previous reissues by labels such as ASV? But those were never complete, to my understanding... I only have a single disc and not a very convincing one. Guess we just need to wait for the boxes to appear!

My point was that a major wouldn't use the 50-year EU rule to reissue material owned by other labels.

I don't know, we'll have to wait and see.

F

[Fer Urbina]

A bit more information on the Billie Holiday set, including the possibility of 4 tracks missing from a 1957 session, here.

This is worth a look too.

F

[Fer Urbina]

These seem to come from Universal France. This is from their Facebook page.

THE JAZZ MASTERS (Editions limitées)

Louis Armstrong . Sidney Bechet . Ella Fitzgerald . Billie Holiday . Charlie Parker

5 COFFRETS - Universal Music Classics & Jazz France

Date de parution : 21 novembre 2011

(non disponible en téléchargement)

Pour la première fois sont réunis dans un même coffret tous les enregistrements “master” de cinq figures légendaires du jazz. Cinq artistes qui grâce à leur talent d’interprétation et leur génie créatif ont marqué l’histoire de la musique populaire du XXe siècle. La somme de leurs enregistrements, pour certains depuis longtemps indisponibles, constitue une valeur patrimoniale d’une richesse et d’une variété sans limites et contribue à faire de la sortie de ces 5 coffrets un événement discographique majeur.

Un soin particulier a été apporté à la conception et à la réalisation de ces coffrets qui bénéficient d’une présentation luxueuse et seront proposés à un prix de vente très doux. De précieux objets destinés à satisfaire les amateurs avisés ainsi que tous les curieux de musique qui souhaitent enrichir leur discothèque.

Chaque coffret contient :

- 14 CD au format Digisleeve®, soit environ 300 titres, 15 heures de musique bénéficiant d’une remasterisation 24-bit en haute définition.

- 1 livret couleur de 68 pages comprenant un texte biographique, une discographie détaillée ainsi qu’une abondante iconographie (photos, partitions, couvertures de disques…).

Nouveau site : ouverture prochaine.

[Fer Urbina]

Interesting detail about the covers.

On Amazon UK, Bechet is 31-53, Billie 33-59, and Bird 41-54.

On Universal FR Facebook, Bechet is 32-49, Billie 40-59, and Bird 46-55.

Louis and Ella stay the same on both.

F

[crisp]

This is worth a look too.

F

Already linked to above.

[Fer Urbina]

This is worth a look too.

F

Already linked to above.

Oops! Hardly sleeping lately (blame it on the London Jazz Festival).

[crisp]

Good excuse!

[Fer Urbina]

Interesting detail about the covers.

On Amazon UK, Bechet is 31-53, Billie 33-59, and Bird 41-54.

On Universal FR Facebook, Bechet is 32-49, Billie 40-59, and Bird 46-55.

Louis and Ella stay the same on both.

F

They have changed the picture on the Universal FR Facebook page. So, the original description on Amazon and on this thread seems to be the right one.

F

[David Ayers]

My point was that a major wouldn't use the 50-year EU rule to reissue material owned by other labels.

I don't know, we'll have to wait and see.

F

Maybe they will. Interesting.