jazzbo Posted December 22, 2013 Report Posted December 22, 2013 GOING TO BE A GREAT SET! So looking forward to this one. Quote
king ubu Posted December 22, 2013 Report Posted December 22, 2013 Yes, yes, yes! Ricky, I don't think there was ever any box not closing? And some have booklets of 32 or 36 pages ... guess that should be enough to accomodate your notes? Quote
Ricko Posted December 22, 2013 Report Posted December 22, 2013 I hope so, King Ubu! We've also selected over 20 photos, most pretty rare from the Armstrong Archives, so depending on how they lay it out with the photos and my massive notes, it should be able to fit. But I'll leave that to pros and if something good must be cut, well, I'll just put it on my blog! (By the way, for any other Pops nuts out there, check out my most recent blog for footage of a COMPLETE concert of Louis and the All Stars in East Berlin in 1965...not to be missed! http://dippermouth.blogspot.com/2013/12/satchmo-in-east-berlin-march-22-1965.html) Ricky Quote
mjzee Posted December 22, 2013 Report Posted December 22, 2013 I hope so, King Ubu! We've also selected over 20 photos, most pretty rare from the Armstrong Archives, so depending on how they lay it out with the photos and my massive notes, it should be able to fit. But I'll leave that to pros and if something good must be cut, well, I'll just put it on my blog! (By the way, for any other Pops nuts out there, check out my most recent blog for footage of a COMPLETE concert of Louis and the All Stars in East Berlin in 1965...not to be missed! http://dippermouth.blogspot.com/2013/12/satchmo-in-east-berlin-march-22-1965.html) Ricky Ricky, I clicked on the link and got the response Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist. Quote
Ricko Posted December 22, 2013 Report Posted December 22, 2013 Oops! Try this one: http://dippermouth.blogspot.com/2013/12/satchmo-in-east-berlin-march-22-1965.html?m=1 Ricky Quote
Ricko Posted January 17, 2014 Report Posted January 17, 2014 Hi all and Happy New Year! I've been deep in Mosaic land for the past few weeks and am happy to report that the Armstrong box is just about there and is probably heading for a late-February/early-March release. Here's the latest news from my blog....enjoy! http://dippermouth.blogspot.com/2014/01/record-makingwith-mosaic-records-latest.html Ricky Quote
ejp626 Posted January 17, 2014 Report Posted January 17, 2014 Ricky:This is indeed exciting and I'll definitely be ordering, though probably not pre-ordering.I do have a question about the 1955 Milan material. Everything that was recorded (and saved) is going to be on the set, or only the material that wasn't on the album (I presume Ambassador Satch)? What about anything that was issued from that missing reel? Thanks.Eric Quote
Ricko Posted January 17, 2014 Report Posted January 17, 2014 Hi Eric! The answer is somewhere in the middle as George recorded multiple takes of some numbers and we've chosen not to include EVERY take because of the similarity between some of them. Here's what we're including from Milan from the standpoint of the original four reels: Reel 1 Indiana Clarinet Marmalade - Introduction and Take 5 Someday You'll Be Sorry - Takes 2 and 4 Reel 2 (This is the reel missing so we need to issue these three as they originally sounded on the finished album) West End Blues Royal Garden Blues The Faithful Hussar Also including a Philips single of "The Faithful Hussar" with a different piano solo and no fake applause. Reel 3 Tiger Rag - Takes 1 and 2, with encore You Can Depend On Me The Lonesome Road Reel 4 That's a Plenty - Takes 3 and 4 Dardanella - Takes 2 and 3 Not a bad night of recording considering Louis played two concerts with the All Stars beforehand! Ricky Quote
jazzbo Posted January 17, 2014 Report Posted January 17, 2014 Great news that this has been progressing towards release so steadily! Quote
gslade Posted February 14, 2014 Report Posted February 14, 2014 Hi all and Happy New Year! I've been deep in Mosaic land for the past few weeks and am happy to report that the Armstrong box is just about there and is probably heading for a late-February/early-March release. Here's the latest news from my blog....enjoy! http://dippermouth.blogspot.com/2014/01/record-makingwith-mosaic-records-latest.html Ricky yep this will be a pre-order Quote
Ricko Posted February 22, 2014 Report Posted February 22, 2014 Glad to hear you feel that way, Gslade! In case anyone's still wondering on the progress of this set....we're getting there! We got hit with some delays in January mostly because of problems with the sources. Believe me when I tell you that I think I can get a license to be a detective just from working on this project. When it's out and all is well in the world I might write a blog on how it came together because we've been in some pretty sticky situations....but every time, we've managed to escape in good shape. It's not easy. Engineer Andreas Meyer is pulling off some incredible feats putting this thing together from so many different sources. But I've received the final master reference copies of Discs 1 and 2 and Scott Wenzel sent over a PDF of the layout for the first five pages of the booklet and so far, everything is a knock (yes, I'm biased but if you remember me blasting the Sony set I wrote the notes for, I'm not a shill and will be honest if something's wrong). Anyway, Mosaic has been holding off from putting it up for pre-order until we really have a target release date set. Right now, it's looking like it could be late March/early April but the way this set has been coming along, nothing would surprise me anymore. Scott did say that there's been a tremendous buzz around it, with this thread, my blog updates, lots of stuff on Facebook, people calling to inquire about it, etc., so that makes me feel good. Keep watching this space for more updates and I have a feeling I'll be back sooner rather than later with more good news about a release date. Til then, thanks everyone for your interest! Yours in Pops, Ricky Riccardi dippermouth.blogspot.com Quote
jazzbo Posted February 22, 2014 Report Posted February 22, 2014 Thanks Ricky! I'm emailing a copy of your post today to my friend Dave Laczko who as you know is a rabid Pops fan (me too) and has been just itching to hit a preorder button for this set! (Me too). Quote
Ricko Posted February 22, 2014 Report Posted February 22, 2014 Sounds good, Lon, but I think Dave's been following my every move as we're already Facebok friends, haha. I've been posting every few days on the Mosaic set and he always makes sure to mention how badly he can't wait to pre-order it. It'll be soon enough! I hope both of you guys can make it to NY one day so I can show you around the Armstrong House and then we can get "Satch-urated" at the Armstrong Archives (my domain). S'all for now....more updates to come! Ricky Quote
jazzbo Posted February 22, 2014 Report Posted February 22, 2014 (edited) I know he's been haunting the blog and the facebook page (me I avoid facebook, just not my thing). . . it's just that evening before he had told me he was hungry for news, and it looked as if he hadn't seen this news so I sent it his way. Maybe one day we can get to the "house" Ricky. Right now I'm not even able to take a sick day or a weekend off taking care of my parents, and it looks as if this situation will continue for some time, and I guess I want it to because the alternative isn't better. Keep on keepin' on with the set! We're eager! Edited February 22, 2014 by jazzbo Quote
SwingItTrev Posted February 24, 2014 Report Posted February 24, 2014 Thanks for the update Ricky. I think the insight into the behind-the-scenes process of putting one of these sets together really helps with the 'buzz'. I find the research and technology involved fascinating and I think Mosaic could do well to highlight and share this process more - After all, it's this effort that really separates them from the anonymous bargain box sets from questionable sources. Quote
Ricko Posted February 27, 2014 Report Posted February 27, 2014 Thanks, Trevor! Well, since you asked, here's a quick story or two to demonstrate some of the crazy experiences we've had in putting the Armstrong set together. A big chunk of the set consists of trying to reassemble the material George Avakian recorded for the "Ambassador Satch" album. Though the album was supposed to be "live," George recorded some of it in the studio. "Twelfth Street Rag" was one such number, done in a Los Angeles studio on January 24, 1956. We had the original recording sheets, which designated Take 6 as the "Master." Great. So we're listening, Take 1, 2, 3, 4, 5….then George calls, "Twelfth Street Rag, Take 6"….and there's silence! We almost had a heart attack but realized oh well, there's nothing we could do if it was removed, we'll have to use the version with fake applause from the album. But our engineer Andreas Meyer say a mysterious number on the tape box. He called in Sony and they had a reel that matched the number so they shipped it over. Andreas played it….it was Liberace! BUT when the Liberace ended, the tape contained a Columbia "best-of" compilation of some sort and I kid you not, there was take 6 of "Twelfth Street Rag," unedited, no fake applause. It was a miracle. Like I said, this stuff has been happening the entire time. We contacted Sony first to get all the session tapes for an "Ambassador Satch" in Milan but they only had 1 of 4 reels. I panicked but I remembered George had a sizable private collection in his basement. I called him….and we found two more reels in his basement, along with unissued songs from an Amsterdam concert, and some soundtrack material from "Satchmo the Great" without any of Edward R. Murrow'd narration. All of it is previously unreleased….but not for long! And for years, I complained about Sony's refusal to issue Louis's 1956 Newport set. Well, as Scott Wenzel taught me, Michael Cuscuna has a favorite phrase: "Sometimes things remain unissued for a reason." George achieved an absolute perfect recording balance for the band at Newport but if you know your Newport history, there were two microphones on stage: the Columbia mike and one belonging to the Voice of America. Unfortunately, on every vocal, Louis sang into the Voice of America mike so he sounds like he's about 20 feet away! Ugh. Well, that explains why it was unissued! There were also sound problems on stage during Louis's set as you can hear him calling for someone to come up and "Fix the mike" after "Ole Miss." So it was a mess and George couldn't issue it. And if you know the Ellington at Newport album recorded the following night, Paul Gonzalves played his historic "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" solo into the Voice of America mike so it was obviously a recurring problem that weekend. When we first heard it, we cringed and Scott realized he'd have to issue a heavy disclaimer for this portion of the set because people would complain about Louis sounding like he's singing from backstage. But here comes the Mosaic difference: we contacted Sony and they had the VOA tapes! If you have the 1999 Ellington at Newport reissue, they just synced the Columbia and VOA tapes to make a kind of stereo version of the album. Could we do the same? Of course not! Whoever was manning the VOA tapes wasn't paying attention and recorded it way too hot. In fact, we knew were in trouble when the tapes came in and the boxes said, "Distortion throughout." And sure enough, every time a horn blows, the thing is unlistenable. BUT during the quieter vocals, it's actually quite nice. So here's the plan: Louis only sings on four songs (thank goodness it wasn't more). For those four numbers, we're going to use the Columbia reels but Andreas is going to have to splice the VOA vocals and insert them back into the Columbia performances. Note: this still hasn't been done yet but Andreas is confident it can be done. He already EQ'd the VOA tapes when he transferred them so the balance of the band was very similar to the Columbia balance. Thus, though there might be a subtle shift in the sound as it changes from one source to the other, it shouldn't be very noticeable. More importantly, once and for all, you should be able to hear the vocals in crystal clear sound! As you can see, stuff like this gave ulcers, but we also realized that if we didn't go these extra miles, no one else was going to do it. That's the Mosaic difference. I know I sound like a cheerleader but remember, I'm just a hired gun for this project; when it comes out, I go back to being a Mosaic fan and listener. But having been on the inside lines with them for this process, all I can say is thank God they exist because the things they do to make sure they're putting out the best possible product would make your head spin. I could keep going for about another hour but I'll save some more war stories for a future time. More updates to come once I get a release date and other fun stuff. Thanks all for the interest! Yours in Pops, Ricky Quote
jazzbo Posted February 27, 2014 Report Posted February 27, 2014 Ricky, thanks for this update and the stories. Many of us here know the difference Mosaic brings to reissues, but stories such as these reinforce this and strengthens our admiration for the label. . . and our anticipation for this set! Quote
jdw Posted February 27, 2014 Report Posted February 27, 2014 here's a quick story or two to demonstrate some of the crazy experiences we've had... Thank you for this behind-the-scenes information, Mr. R. Fascinating and fun to read. John Vancouver BC Quote
gmonahan Posted March 1, 2014 Report Posted March 1, 2014 GREAT post, Ricky! Like so many others, I'm following the progress on this one very, very closely. I visited the Armstrong house where I bought a bunch of your very fine Ambassador cds, and I'm really looking forward to getting this Mosaic set! gregmo Quote
blind-blake Posted March 1, 2014 Report Posted March 1, 2014 (edited) Thanks for your tremendous dedication, Ricky Edited March 1, 2014 by blind-blake Quote
sidewinder Posted March 1, 2014 Report Posted March 1, 2014 Great post ! Stories like that one are a reminder that Mosaic is in a league of its own for this type of reissue. Quote
Clunky Posted March 1, 2014 Report Posted March 1, 2014 Ricky, thanks for this update and the stories. Many of us here know the difference Mosaic brings to reissues, but stories such as these reinforce this and strengthens our admiration for the label. . . and our anticipation for this set! Spot on Lon. Quote
king ubu Posted March 1, 2014 Report Posted March 1, 2014 Wow, that sounds like quite a ride, Ricky! Thanks for sharing - fascinating! Quote
SwingItTrev Posted March 2, 2014 Report Posted March 2, 2014 Thanks again for the stories Ricky. I just relistened to the Ellington at Newport release - Damn, they did a good job of making a nice stereo set out of that. I know your VOA track is not as usable, but it's got me excited about what Andreas might be able to do. (or it could just be Diminuendo In Blue And Crescendo In Blue making me excited, not sure) Quote
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