Warner Japan Jazz Reissues

[erwbol]

These shipped today. It seems the earliest releases from this series are still available.

*******************************************

WPCR-27004 Charles Mingus - The Clown

WPCR-27005 Charles Mingus - Mingus At Carnegie Hall

WPCR-27006 Art Blakey & Thelonious Monk - Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk (Mono)

WPCR-27030 Charles Lloyd Quartet - Dream Weaver

WPCR-27053 Charles Lloyd - Forest Flower

WPCR-27061 Charles Mingus - Blues & Roots

WPCR-27143 Charles Mingus - Changes One

WPCR-27144 Charles Mingus - Changes Two

First impression is that these are all worthwhile purchases.

Changes One seemed an improvement over the 1993 disc. More detailed highs. A nice heavy detailed bass sound, not overpowering. Better than the piece of shit Atlantic Masters (2005) release.

This series is not only a tad loud, but it also has boosted highs - not annoyingly so, but still... I'm not a fan of this kind of "modern mastering" - and that's putting it mildly - but, as I said before, the series is listenable as far as I'm concerned. I may change my mind on second listening, though.

Which CDs do you prefer for the Coleman and Mingus Atlantics? The Beauty is a Rare Thing and Passion of a Man box sets?

[J.A.W.]

These shipped today. It seems the earliest releases from this series are still available.

*******************************************

WPCR-27004 Charles Mingus - The Clown

WPCR-27005 Charles Mingus - Mingus At Carnegie Hall

WPCR-27006 Art Blakey & Thelonious Monk - Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk (Mono)

WPCR-27030 Charles Lloyd Quartet - Dream Weaver

WPCR-27053 Charles Lloyd - Forest Flower

WPCR-27061 Charles Mingus - Blues & Roots

WPCR-27143 Charles Mingus - Changes One

WPCR-27144 Charles Mingus - Changes Two

First impression is that these are all worthwhile purchases.

Changes One seemed an improvement over the 1993 disc. More detailed highs. A nice heavy detailed bass sound, not overpowering. Better than the piece of shit Atlantic Masters (2005) release.

This series is not only a tad loud, but it also has boosted highs - not annoyingly so, but still... I'm not a fan of this kind of "modern mastering" - and that's putting it mildly - but, as I said before, the series is listenable as far as I'm concerned. I may change my mind on second listening, though.

Which CDs do you prefer for the Coleman and Mingus Atlantics? The Beauty is a Rare Thing and Passion of a Man box sets?

The early CDs that were mastered by Steve Innocenzi (not all albums were released in that early CD batch) and indeed those two boxes.

[erwbol]

These shipped today. It seems the earliest releases from this series are still available.

*******************************************

WPCR-27004 Charles Mingus - The Clown

WPCR-27005 Charles Mingus - Mingus At Carnegie Hall

WPCR-27006 Art Blakey & Thelonious Monk - Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk (Mono)

WPCR-27030 Charles Lloyd Quartet - Dream Weaver

WPCR-27053 Charles Lloyd - Forest Flower

WPCR-27061 Charles Mingus - Blues & Roots

WPCR-27143 Charles Mingus - Changes One

WPCR-27144 Charles Mingus - Changes Two

First impression is that these are all worthwhile purchases.

Changes One seemed an improvement over the 1993 disc. More detailed highs. A nice heavy detailed bass sound, not overpowering. Better than the piece of shit Atlantic Masters (2005) release.

This series is not only a tad loud, but it also has boosted highs - not annoyingly so, but still... I'm not a fan of this kind of "modern mastering" - and that's putting it mildly - but, as I said before, the series is listenable as far as I'm concerned. I may change my mind on second listening, though.

Which CDs do you prefer for the Coleman and Mingus Atlantics? The Beauty is a Rare Thing and Passion of a Man box sets?

The early CDs that were mastered by Steve Innocenzi (not all albums were released in that early CD batch) and indeed those two boxes.

With limited reissues of favorite albums I'm generally afraid of missing out on something good. Perhaps I should concentrate exclusively on albums that are not yet part of my collection, like the Lloyds.

[J.A.W.]

These shipped today. It seems the earliest releases from this series are still available.

*******************************************

WPCR-27004 Charles Mingus - The Clown

WPCR-27005 Charles Mingus - Mingus At Carnegie Hall

WPCR-27006 Art Blakey & Thelonious Monk - Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk (Mono)

WPCR-27030 Charles Lloyd Quartet - Dream Weaver

WPCR-27053 Charles Lloyd - Forest Flower

WPCR-27061 Charles Mingus - Blues & Roots

WPCR-27143 Charles Mingus - Changes One

WPCR-27144 Charles Mingus - Changes Two

First impression is that these are all worthwhile purchases.

Changes One seemed an improvement over the 1993 disc. More detailed highs. A nice heavy detailed bass sound, not overpowering. Better than the piece of shit Atlantic Masters (2005) release.

This series is not only a tad loud, but it also has boosted highs - not annoyingly so, but still... I'm not a fan of this kind of "modern mastering" - and that's putting it mildly - but, as I said before, the series is listenable as far as I'm concerned. I may change my mind on second listening, though.

Which CDs do you prefer for the Coleman and Mingus Atlantics? The Beauty is a Rare Thing and Passion of a Man box sets?

The early CDs that were mastered by Steve Innocenzi (not all albums were released in that early CD batch) and indeed those two boxes.

With limited reissues of favorite albums I'm generally afraid of missing out on something good. Perhaps I should concentrate exclusively on albums that are not yet part of my collection, like the Lloyds.

That's exactly what I've been doing with this series - and the recent Japanese Blue Note series.

[erwbol]

After listening some more to these discs, I don't believe they are worse as far as loudness is concerned than other well received modern remasters like the Coltrane Originals & Hip-O Selects.

I agree too much highs can be grating. Miles Davis' Milestones as contained in the Complete Columbia Albums Collection is a worse offender imo. Every time I play that my ears need a little time to adjust.

It's a shame I no longer own the Atlantic Masters discs of Changes One & Two. On those discs the heavy bass gave me a headache on headphones. There were also some small noises/imperfections audible on headphones that were not on the 1993 Rhino CDs. I just now picked up a similar distortion on track 1 of the Japanese Changes Two. Could these Japanese CDs be the same as the Atlantic Masters, at least for part of the process of remastering?

[erwbol]

After listening to these eight discs over the last month I've come to the conclusion I'm not completely happy with the sound of any of them. This was probably the last time I purchased Warner Japan Jazz reissues.

[David Ayers]

After listening to these eight discs over the last month I've come to the conclusion I'm not completely happy with the sound of any of them. This was probably the last time I purchased Warner Japan Jazz reissues.

I've pretty much given up on reissues for this reason - BUT with the added doubt that I am not much convinced that I will get a sound I would like from those old tapes on any CD reissue. There is a problem with those old masters that engineers struggle to compensate.

Edited May 29, 2013 by David Ayers

[erwbol]

After listening to these eight discs over the last month I've come to the conclusion I'm not completely happy with the sound of any of them. This was probably the last time I purchased Warner Japan Jazz reissues.

I've pretty much given up on reissues for this reason - BUT with the added doubt that I am not much convinced that I will get a sound I would like from those old tapes on any CD reissue. There is a problem with those old masters that engineers struggle to compensate.

Since the advent of 24 bit remastering Warner engineers in Japan and the West have been twiddling the knobs in an unacceptable manner (highs & lows). Plus the Japanese Warner jazz reissues are among the loudest jazz CDs on the market. All these bright peaks are a pain when listening on headphones.

I'm on a limited budget and there will always be gaps in my collection, artists underrepresented, key albums missing. From now on I will only buy releases with both essential music and well mastered sound. A release like the recent Mingus Mosaic live box set makes the most of the material at hand. This modern remastering nonsense does not.

Edited May 29, 2013 by erwbol

[J.A.W.]

I have the 1993 Rhino/Atlantic CDs of Changes One and Changes Two. Haven't listened to them in years, but as far as I can remember they're OK sonically. Don't know how they compare to the original LPs.

Those Japanese Warner remasters are indeed tiring to listen to; the ones I have won't visit my CD transport very often - and that's an understatement.

[erwbol]

I have the 1993 Rhino/Atlantic CDs of Changes One and Changes Two. Haven't listened to them in years, but as far as I can remember they're OK sonically. Don't know how they compare to the original LPs.

Those Japanese Warner remasters are indeed tiring to listen to; the ones I have won't visit my CD transport very often - and that's an understatement.

I downloaded needle drops of the LPs and they sounded dull compared to the 1993 CDs. By the way, Gene Paul, the recording engineer of the Changes albums, did the remastering on the Rhino/Atlantics.

The Changes albums are the first of these Japanese releases I dismissed. Sadly others like the Lloyds also are too close to unacceptable to me.

[etherbored]

i think this series, like many, runs hot and cold based on the source master. i now have about 20-30 titles from the series. the lloyd titles, which i do not own, have never sounded so great to me (nor does that period lloyd really appeal to me), so i passed on them. however, the joe castro and ronnie ross titles....

Edited June 17, 2013 by etherbored

[Clunky]

In my local Fopp and was staggered to see loads of Warner Japan reissues for £5. None too shabby methinks. Get a bunch of them home. Familiar OBIs , 1000yen markings, but in very small print , Made in EU. Otherwise they appear exactly like their Japanese counterparts. Despite this slight of hand I'm quite happy with the handful I got, ........Milt Jackson "Bags and flutes", Shelly Manne "Boss Sounds!". .......etc

[David Ayers]

Thanks for heads up on Fopp. Will get there for sure this weekend. Any other notable jazz cheapies?

Not that I'm greedy. Or cheap.

[Chuck Nessa]

So Japan has joined the EU!

[king ubu]

In my local Fopp and was staggered to see loads of Warner Japan reissues for £5. None too shabby methinks. Get a bunch of them home. Familiar OBIs , 1000yen markings, but in very small print , Made in EU. Otherwise they appear exactly like their Japanese counterparts. Despite this slight of hand I'm quite happy with the handful I got, ........Milt Jackson "Bags and flutes", Shelly Manne "Boss Sounds!". .......etc

amazon.fr has them for around 7 € ... I was rather astonished, too - got me that last Mingus one (Something Like a Bird), and have the Vitous (Infinite Search) and John Lewis' "Jazz Abstractions" on the way (which I only know partially from the Ornette Atlantic box, so far).

[erwbol]

They are fakes, right? What serial numbers & logos are in the CD matrix ring? A Warner logo perhaps like the Universal logo on Universal releases? Does Warner have its own pressing plant in the EU like Universal?

Edited October 2, 2013 by erwbol

[king ubu]

Why should they be fakes? Even if they'd be European pressings, I wouldn't care ... or are you saying they're counterfeits/bootlegs/illegal copies?

The disc has the Rhino logo, WPCR-27256, Made in Japan. Inner ring gives that same WPCR number as well as an IFPI number (IFPI 456E at the very center in the clear part, IFPI L 275 at the outher end of the inner ring, on silver).

[erwbol]

A couple of years ago I read something about fake Tzadik CDs from Eastern Europe being sold on ebay. I was just wondering. The Japanese characters OBI with a made in the EU mention made me wonder. These must be real then. I just wonder how sophisticated counterfeits can be.

[king ubu]

I forgot to mention, that "JASRAC" (or whatever that's supposed to mean) logo is there, too - btoh on the disc as well as on dhe OBI. No "Made in Europe" on the OBI of that Mingus disc, btw (unless of course in Japanes, which I can't read).

[sidewinder]

In my local Fopp and was staggered to see loads of Warner Japan reissues for £5. None too shabby methinks. Get a bunch of them home. Familiar OBIs , 1000yen markings, but in very small print , Made in EU. Otherwise they appear exactly like their Japanese counterparts. Despite this slight of hand I'm quite happy with the handful I got, ........Milt Jackson "Bags and flutes", Shelly Manne "Boss Sounds!". .......etc

Excellent - I'll make a visit. Those Pat Metheny £3 CDs were a fantastic deal there too.

[Clunky]

Some observations of the Euro Japanese releases. Print quality of booklet and CD seems inferior to Japanese originals , plastic CD cases also flimsier. Then again you can't read let alone listen to these bits of the package.

Art Farmer : Interaction WPCR-27009

Art Farmer: Half Note WPCR-27010

Art Farmer: To Sweden with love WPCR-27052

Sound on all these Farmers is very good. Quite hard but lots of detail. Better sound than I have of the first two on original LPs (UK and USA )

Jackson Coltrane: Bags and Trane WPCR-27051

Really excellent sound on Bags and Trane

Jackson : Bags and Flutes WPCR-27116

Shelly Manne: Boss Sounds WPCR-27142

Again decent sound on these but overall too harsh with odd exaggerated treble on Jaspars flute. I'd say both are listenable but no sonic masterpieces

MJQ European Concert WPCR-27251 & WPCR-27252

Splashy cymbals on these , not great transfers but then again I've heard no other versions. It does vary from track to track and may be down to the original recording. Then again something could have been done to tame Kay's hit hat etc.

[Daniel A]

Can these be anything else than unauthorized copies? Why would they print booklets in Japanese in the EU? I wouldn't have thought that Warner Japan had the rights to manufacture and distribute this material outside of Japan.

[jazzbo]

The Japanese items that I have bought from this series have also been in "flimsy" jewel cases. Printing hasn't been quite up to the standards of other Japanese series. Mine came from Japan.

[cayetano]

I have seen these reissues in Spain very cheap, 3 X 15 . This is an information about the european series (uk):

http://www.marlbank.net/news/944-1000-yen-gems-from-the-atlantic-vaults-issued-at-mid-price

Edited October 5, 2013 by cayetano

[Daniel A]

Thanks for the link! So I take it the OBI strip and Japanese print is just a marketing thing to make these look exotic.