Jazz on Film Box Sets

[Teasing the Korean]

A Euro label called Moochin About has put out two 5-CD box sets of classic jazz film scores titled Jazz on Film.

Volume 1 includes the following:

‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ (Alex North); ‘Private Hell 36’ (Leith Stevens); ‘The Man with the Golden Arm’ (Elmer Bernstein); ‘Sweet Smell of Success’ (Elmer Bernstein/Chico Hamilton); ‘Touch of Evil’ (Henry Mancini); ‘Anatomy of A Murder’ (Duke Ellington); and ‘Odds Against Tomorrow’ (John Lewis)

Volume 2 includes:

‘The Wild One’ (Leith Stevens/Shorty Rogers) ’Crime in the Streets’ (Franz Waxman) ’I Want to Live’ (Johnny Mandel) ’Les Tricheurs’ (Norman Granz’ JATP) ’Paris Blues’ (Duke Ellington) ’The Subterraneans’ (André Previn) ’Shadows’ (Charles Mingus) ’The Connection’ (Freddie Redd).

I have almost everything on Volume 1 so I will probably skip that one, but Volume 2 is on my want list.

The packaging is is very nice from what I gather.

Anyone have these?

[felser]

And what's the cheapest way for a USA-based guy to get these two box sets legitimately and on CD?

[tranemonk]

You know I ordered both sets from their website (during a holiday promotion) but it still hasn't arrived. That was at least 2 weeks ago. Usually by that time frame I've got my overseas packages. Given the holidays I'm hoping it will come within the week.

[Teasing the Korean]

And what's the cheapest way for a USA-based guy to get these two box sets legitimately and on CD?

They are regularly on Amazon for as low as $33 bucks or so.

[king ubu]

Please do report, whoever gets them!

Vol. 2 looks tasty ("Shadows"!), but I'm not sure I really need either of these, so having some first-hand reports would be nice!

[Pete C]

The first of the two sets is on Spotify.

[felser]

The first of the two sets is on Spotify.

and Amazon has download for $9. Hoping to get the CD sets for less than what they are going for on Amazon.

[medjuck]

Has the music from Shadows ever been released before? Are these actually the ones used in the film?

Edited January 3, 2013 by medjuck

[king ubu]

I wondered about that, too! The actual film soundtrack ... well, it's been ten years at least since I've seen the film, but I remember it as being *very* good!

[Bigshot]

I have both of these sets and they're fantastic. They appear to be soundtrack albums, not tracks pulled from the film itself. The sound quality is excellent and the booklets and boxes are great. Well worth getting.

[tranemonk]

Where did you order them from? I still haven't gotten mine and I've emailed them with no response so far

I have both of these sets and they're fantastic. They appear to be soundtrack albums, not tracks pulled from the film itself. The sound quality is excellent and the booklets and boxes are great. Well worth getting.

[king ubu]

What would the "soundtrack album" for "Shadows" be? Was there ever a released album?

[colinmce]

Where did you order them from? I still haven't gotten mine and I've emailed them with no response so far

I'm speaking off the cuff here, but I personally wouldn't sweat an international package after just two weeks. Lots of reasons it could be taking longer. Though I do hope it arrives soon!

[felser]

I know that there are a lot of delays currently on international packages to the USA.

[Bigshot]

I got them from the label at their website. It took a while because they shipped sea mail.

[tranemonk]

Okay those responses are helpful. Hopefully they'll arrive in the next week or two... Glad to hear you guys are enjoying the sets!

[Teasing the Korean]

I worked my way through volume 2 and here are my observations:

Disc 1: The Wild One (Leith Stevens); Crime in the Streets (Franz Waxman)

The Wild One has 12 tracks. They use the four Shorty Rogers arrangements from the EP; the other 8 tunes represent the balance of the Leith Stevens Decca LP. (In other words, there is no repetition.)

Crime in the Streets is the same as side 1 of the Capitol LP. (Side 2 was music separate from the film.)

If these are mastered from vinyl (likely), it is a very good transfer.

Disc 2: I Want to Live! (Johnny Mandel)

This uses all the music from both the Johnny Mandel and Gerry Mulligan LPs, but places the Mulligan album first and the Mandel second. (The commonly available CD is the opposite.)

Sound is similar to the common CD.

Disc 3: Les Tricheurs (JATP); Paris Blues (Ellington/Strayhorn).

I never had either of these. Les Tricheurs has 7 tracks and seems to be LP length. Paris Blues has 10 tracks.

Les Tricheurs is in clean mono sound. Paris Blues alternates between mono and stereo and the sound varies. I cannot compare these to any LP or CD issues.

Disc 4: The Subterraneans (Previn)

This has 18 tracks, making it longer than the original LP but shorter than the expanded limited edition CD that came out a few years ago. Everything from the LP is here. Another one I never owned. Not sure what the source is here, but it is generally clean.

Disc 5: Shadows (Mingus); The Connection (Freddie Redd)

Now the Mingus "soundtrack" is the one many of you may have been wondering about. It has four tracks. It has been ages since I have seen this Cassavetes film, but the first track, "Untitled Percussion Composition" appears to be mono and is actually from the soundtrack. It is a 7+ minute track with mostly percussion and flute. The sound is pretty clean.

The other 3 tracks, "Nostalgia in Times Square," "Alice's Wonderland," and "Self Portrait in Three Colors" are stereo and are the same as the more common released versions from around the same time. So, not the great discovery some may have been waiting for, but not the first time a soundtrack album had different recordings from the film. (I did my own version of Les Liaisons Dangereuses this way.)

The Connection is another I've never had. It has seven tracks, is stereo, in clean sound.

The book is very good, both illustrations and text.

So, this is a good value if you don't have any or many of these, but if you already do, you can probably pass.

[Head Man]

Just Moochin Records is doing a special deal for the two sets:

http://moochinabout.com/store.html