Concord enters the 5 LPs box market

GA Russell · May 27, 2016

I am delighted to see that Concord has entered the boxes of 5 LPs similar to the OACs, et al, market.

Miles
http://www.amazon.com/5-Original-Albums-Miles-Davis/dp/B01BL0XSGK/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1464374972&sr=1-1&keywords=Miles+Davis+5+original+albums

Wes
http://www.amazon.com/5-Original-Albums-Wes-Montgomery/dp/B01BL0XRDO/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1464375060&sr=1-1&keywords=Wes+montgomery+5+original+albums

Trane
http://www.amazon.com/5-Original-Albums-John-Coltrane/dp/B00RM9XJJ6/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1464375171&sr=1-4&keywords=5+original+albums

Newk
http://www.amazon.com/5-Original-Albums-Sonny-Rollins/dp/B00RM9XFF4/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1464375244&sr=1-2&keywords=5+original+albums+sonny

Monk
http://www.amazon.com/5-Original-Albums-Thelonious-Monk/dp/B00PKXPFZC/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1464375297&sr=1-1&keywords=5+original+albums+monk

Bill Evans
http://www.oldies.com/product-view/21901P.html

Unfortunately, these are albums most of us already have. Still, it's good to see Concord finally joining the party.

PS - As Stonewall correctly points out, these boxes are of CDs, not LPs.

Edited May 28, 2016 by GA Russell

bluesoul · May 27, 2016

Those UK Amazon marketplace seller prices are pretty attractive.

duaneiac · May 27, 2016

I wonder if Concord would actually do this with any material which was originally recorded and released on the Concord Records label? They could easily put together boxes by Marian McPartland, Gene Harris, Dave Brubeck, George Shearing, Dave McKenna, Jack McDuff, Charlie Byrd, Mel Torme, Scott Hamilton, Louis Bellson, Tito Puente and others.

GA Russell · May 27, 2016

Duane, I believe that your idea would have plenty of upside because I don't think many Concord records sold that well when they were new. So you would be talking about material not many people have.

I remember twenty years ago when Concord released twofers. I have no idea if they sold well. I had two that I was quite pleased with - an Art Blakey and a Jim Hall & Ron Carter.

duaneiac · May 27, 2016

Well, it seems like so many Concord titles are OOP now, so it might make some economic sense to reissue them in this boxed set format. Granted, there could be a sameness from album to album by some Concord artists. One really didn't need to have every Concord release put out by Marian McPartland or Scott Hamilton or Gene Harris, so a well selected package of 5 albums by each performer might be welcomed by collectors today. I think they did put out a boxed set of all of Rosemary Clooney's albums for the label.

I don't think there were any "groundbreaking" albums put out by Concord, so maybe their legacy gets lost in the shuffle of all the holdings that company has today. However, starting in the 1970's, Concord did offer a refuge for many mainstream jazz artists who were being dropped by the major labels at the time. I would be glad if they reissued all of the Maybeck Recital Hall series perhaps in boxed sets of 5 or 6 discs at a time. That was a fine series of solo piano recordings allowing the listener to hear various pianists -- from legends to then new up-and-comers -- playing on the same piano in the same room (at different times) and hear what differences each of them brought forth from the occasion. I have most of them, but there were a few I missed.

There were some fine releases in that series of 2-fers you mentioned. One by Hank Jones collected 2 albums that were kind of hard to find on CD otherwise. There was also a good pairing of 2 Jimmy Rowles & Ray Brown duo albums, a good set of 2 by Cal Tjader and two by the LA 4 (Laurindo Almeida, Bud Shank, Ray Brown and originally Shelly Manne, but I think Jeff Hamilton was the drummer for most of the group's existence).

CJ Shearn · May 28, 2016

That would be interesting if there was a Concord series of reissues, I like the idea. I have my fill of the original Concord with the, "Arrival" Herb Ellis/Joe Pass 2 fer, Blakey "Keystone 3" and "Live at Kimball's" Concord Fujitsu double sets and the Tribute to Carl Jefferson box, all great ways to get an overview of the label live. Though, everyone must own "Gene Harris Trio+ 1" I know I do . Concord and Pablo did an admirable thing keeping the flame alive for straight ahead jazz lovers who weren't interested in jazz-rock, jazz-funk, and free, as you said duaneiac. Though I think Carl Jefferson did a better job at catching certain artists at their peak than Norman Granz did at Pablo, though there are gems to be found with both labels to be sure. My view on Pablo changed drastically from when I grew up on the Count Basie records, though I still love those and the various Montreux things from '75 and '77, Milt Jackson did some of his finest work on Pablo, IMO.

Stonewall15 · May 28, 2016

These releases are CDs, not LPs.

six string · May 28, 2016

I'm surprised Concord hasn't done some kind of box for the Maybeck Recital Hall recordings. It is a lot of discs so maybe that has something to do with it.

felser · May 28, 2016

1 hour ago, six string said:

I'm surprised Concord hasn't done some kind of box for the Maybeck Recital Hall recordings. It is a lot of discs so maybe that has something to do with it.

Wonder how well those actually sold. Kind of a cult item. I bought several early on, but tired of them, and have only kept a few (Barron, Hicks, McPartland come to mind).

duaneiac · May 28, 2016

15 hours ago, six string said:

I'm surprised Concord hasn't done some kind of box for the Maybeck Recital Hall recordings. It is a lot of discs so maybe that has something to do with it.

I would love to see them reissued in a series of boxed sets, but I can understand the challenge in doing so. While jazz fans might welcome reissues of the discs by the more familiar names in the series (Hank Jones, Kenny Barron, Marian McPartland, etc.) they may not be interested in some of the less well known, but certainly worthwhile, pianists included in the series.

There was a good deal of valuable music recorded in that series and some of the releases I would rank among the top albums of each individual performer's discography. The Maybeck recordings by George Cables, Jessica Williams, Sir Roland Hanna, Jaki Byard, Ralph Sutton and Ralph Sutton & Dick Hyman together all come to mind

Edited May 29, 2016 by duaneiac

GA Russell · May 28, 2016

3 hours ago, Stonewall15 said:

These releases are CDs, not LPs.

Yes, of course you're right, Stonewall. I said "LPs" because that was how they were all originally issued. I'll add your point to the post.

six string · May 28, 2016

5 hours ago, felser said:

Wonder how well those actually sold. Kind of a cult item. I bought several early on, but tired of them, and have only kept a few (Barron, Hicks, McPartland come to mind).

Jessica Williams said hers had a second pressing and of hers did I would i guess some of the others did too. You're probably right about this niche inside a niche. It's not so much that I think they need to be repackaged but I can't nelp but notice that box sets seem to be a what is happening these days. That would be aimed at the collector imo. Casual music buyers aren't going to by a big box of discs very often of at all.

Stonewall15 · May 29, 2016

Supposedly Lou Levy recorded at Maybeck Recital Hall on October 6, 1991. He recorded 16 tunes but the session was never commercially released. Is this still correct?

Perhaps if this session could be found it would be a high-light of a Maybeck box set.

bertrand · May 29, 2016

An Emily Remler Concord box would be a very good idea. She needs to be rediscovered.

As for the Fantasy material, there aren't too many artists for which that would not result in duplication for me, but there are some who have 4-5 titles under that umbrella and boxing them would make a lot of sense, but not commercially: Don Friedman (5), Walt Dickerson (4), Larry Young (4 with the unissued session) etc.

It would be nice if they packaged the 3 missing Bobby Timmons records together...

Bertrand.

felser · May 29, 2016

2 hours ago, bertrand said:

An Emily Remler Concord box would be a very good idea. She needs to be rediscovered.

As for the Fantasy material, there aren't too many artists for which that would not result in duplication for me, but there are some who have 4-5 titles under that umbrella and boxing them would make a lot of sense, but not commercially: Don Friedman (5), Walt Dickerson (4), Larry Young (4 with the unissued session) etc.

It would be nice if they packaged the 3 missing Bobby Timmons records together...

Bertrand.

All of that sounds lovely, but with Concord's track record, what we're likely going to see next is Trane Vol, 2, Miles Vol. 2, Monk Vol. 2 etc.

paul secor · May 29, 2016

1 hour ago, felser said:

All of that sounds lovely, but with Concord's track record, what we're likely going to see next is Trane Vol, 2, Miles Vol. 2, Monk Vol. 2 etc.

I think you're right. All of the hopes for Concord sets are probably pipe dreams. Though I guess there's nothing wrong with dreaming.

JSngry · May 29, 2016

Just my opinion, but the better parallel to Concord as a standalone jazz label might be Norman Granz' Verve, not Pablo.

king ubu · May 31, 2016

They're from Universal Europe ... and as such prob. to be considered boots in the US (as they're PD, no matter if "official" or not). Ain't that funny?

felser · May 31, 2016

57 minutes ago, king ubu said:

They're from Universal Europe ... and as such prob. to be considered boots in the US (as they're PD, no matter if "official" or not). Ain't that funny?

A lot of the Universal Europe boxed jazz is not PD in Europe (Shorter Blue Note, Jarrett Impulse, etc.), so I wouldn't assume that flat out.

king ubu · May 31, 2016

Yeah, but they will certainly not pay anything for recordings older than 50 years. The fact that it's not amazon but those third party sellers that offer them in the US is rather telling I assume. They could, I guess, have a different license (pay royalties) for US distribution, and then the sets would be available through all regular channels, I'd assume?

Dave James · July 7, 2016

Richie Kamuca had three albums released on Concord in the '70's, "Charlie", "Drop Me Off In Harlem" and "Richie". Would sure like to see those made available.