Thelonious Monk - Palo Alto (Impulse) --> fresh new monk!

[Dan Gould]

Assuming UK sellers got it due to different copyright laws, I think Columbia backed down in order to get some money out of Impulse. They knew the longer they waited/held out, the less demand there would ultimately be in the US especially since no one could prevent global online sales.

Again that's based on the idea that Impulse said we're gonna sell it where we can, try and stop us. 

[JSngry]

2 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

Assuming UK sellers got it due to different copyright laws, I think Columbia backed down in order to get some money out of Impulse. They knew the longer they waited/held out, the less demand there would ultimately be in the US especially since no one could prevent global online sales.

Again that's based on the idea that Impulse said we're gonna sell it where we can, try and stop us. 

Very feasible - but those are just names of companies. I want to know who the real people were playing these games. There will be names.

[hbbfam]

Shipping notice from Amazon UK, and an email from Amazon US indicating my order will arrive on September 22.  Don't need two so canceled US order.

On 9/2/2020 at 1:14 PM, JSngry said:

There's a story here that is not yet being told...surely?

 

[ejp626]

At the moment, Amazon.ca is saying Out of Stock -- no release date or anything.  The irony is that I'm fairly sure for one or two more months (until the prorogued Parliament comes back) they haven't yet gotten around to updating copyright laws, though they are soon going to be in alignment with the States.  So for the moment, the Palo Alto date should be just as legit here as in the UK.  Oh well. 

I'm a bit surprised but pleased to see that some kind of agreement was worked out and it is shipping in the States.  I assume I'll get it here eventually, and I can wait.  But not too long...

[JSngry]

I'm having to think that somebody at Columbia wanted to teach somebody a lesson about showing respect before going around them on a project with this sort of a profile. In other words, show the proper respect first. Kind of a mob type mentality, but hey, record business. Old habits never die.

That it's all of a sudden "never mind, place you orders" like nothing happened...that's too weird and random to be anything else.

[medjuck]

On 8/28/2020 at 0:39 PM, Daniel A said:

British copyright acts says

"Sound Recordings

50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was created, or,

if the work is released within that time: 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was first released." 

Does that mean that copyright actually expired on Jan 1 2019? (Which is the same as the "EU copyright law" BTW)

 

So does that mean that a record released 49 years after it was recorded would not go PD for a total of 119 years?  That's worse than the US Mickey Mouse copyright insanity. 

[Daniel A]

Well, yes, I suppose. But the point is partly to motivate rightsholders to make use of material they have instead of sitting on it, and if they do, they should be protected to be able to recap their investment. This was why Sony put out a bunch of Bob Dylan "bootlegs" a while back. 

[Fer Urbina]

Finally coming out on September 18. Universal will do the physical release, Sony the digital.

https://pitchfork.com/news/thelonious-monk-concert-album-palo-alto-coming-out-this-month/

F

[mjzee]

I'm going to guess that "Universal will do the physical release" means that Universal will be allowed to sell off their inventory and not repress more.  The title will then only be available digitally.  Again, just a guess.

[mikeweil]

JPC in Germany has it listed again, with a release date of September 18. The British CD was a buck cheaper.

[BrianB]

They shared the good news on their Instagram account -- but zero mention of the digital release, nor any links to where it would be, just links to buy the physical copies. Which is fine by me  

 

https://www.instagram.com/theloniousmonk/?hl=en

 

[JSngry]

What is the digital version coing to include interms of liner notes. etc.? For that matter, will the CD have the same stuff as the LP, only to scale?

[Mark13]

One can only speculate as to what the issues with this release actually were but over the last month I've come across several cd copies in record-shops in Delft, Leiden and Amsterdam. Universal claimed they did their utmost to have copies that slipped through pulled off the shelves whilst a solution with Sony was being worked out, but it's my impression that no such thing happened. Most retailers that carried it were even unaware of the fact that its official release had been postponed.

Edited September 6, 2020 by Mark13

[BrianB]

25 minutes ago, Mark13 said:

One can only speculate as to what the issues with this release actually were but over the last month I've come across several cd copies in record-shops in Delft, Leiden and Amsterdam. Universal claimed they did their utmost to have copies that slipped through pulled off the shelves whilst a solution with Sony was being worked out, but it's my impression that no such thing happened. Most retailers that carried it were even unaware of the fact that its official release had been postponed.

Actually - no need to speculate. The official Monk Instagram page posted the reason. 
 

“There was some confusion about whether or not Thelonious Monk even had a record deal at the time of the recording,” which led to a time-out “while everything was worked out between different record companies and the Thelonious Monk estate,” explained Danny Scher”

 

more here as well: https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/thelonious-monks-new-live-album-palo-alto-honors-the-day-the-jazz-legend-united-the-peninsula

 

Now we know. 

[JSngry]

https://blog.discogs.com/en/thelonious-monk-palo-alto-zev-feldman/

So NOBODY thought to check with Columbia's legal first? Just as a matter of respect for possibilities?

That's either hubris or ignorance, neither of which is acceptable for a project of this level.

Cuscuna/Mosaic, when they talk about taking time to get shit fully cleared, they mean that it takes time, and you don't just "guess" or "assume".

[Dan Gould]

49 minutes ago, JSngry said:

https://blog.discogs.com/en/thelonious-monk-palo-alto-zev-feldman/

So NOBODY thought to check with Columbia's legal first? Just as a matter of respect for possibilities?

That's either hubris or ignorance, neither of which is acceptable for a project of this level.

Cuscuna/Mosaic, when they talk about taking time to get shit fully cleared, they mean that it takes time, and you don't just "guess" or "assume".

You do realize you'll never get names right?

So let's call them Jimmy "don't give two" Shitz and Jennifer "Oh No You Didn't" Jones.

[sidewinder]

The T-shirt is out..

https://www.redbubble.com/i/sweatshirt/The-legend-of-pianist-from-south-by-drupadiartwa/56374925.LEP2X

[JSngry]

1 hour ago, Dan Gould said:

You do realize you'll never get names right?

So let's call them Jimmy "don't give two" Shitz and Jennifer "Oh No You Didn't" Jones.

Oh, I think we have a name...at least as far as who it is who should have raised a hand and insisted that they should check with Columbia, just to be sure, somebody who either didn't know enough or give a damn enough to raise that hand, somebody who was all very happy to be associated with it and now has not said anything that I've heard.

That name I think we have. The name of the Columbia person who said oh yeah, really? let's see about that, then, we may never have, but honestly, I think they're kind of a hero, actually, because they did their job.

[CJ Shearn]

On 8/27/2020 at 9:45 AM, JSngry said:

A few rabbits appear to have found their way to the wild, and their digital bunnies are multiplying. Find your neighborhood Farmer McGregor.

Yep, that darn Conor McGregor.

[cliffpeterson]

Received my copy from Amazon.uk today.  I am no audiophile-to me the sound is great.  

The packaging design and the presentation of the liner notes are disappointing.  

The "case" seems to be a cardboard-like material presented in a trifold design .  The left fold has a pocket that contains a folded copy of the concert poster.  As you do with this type of design you access that poster from the inside right edge of the pocket in the left fold.  The cd is contained without any protective sleeve in the pocket in the center, which you can access from either side when both right and left folds are completely opened.   The liner notes are contained in a pocket in the right fold and accessed from the left interior edge. The cd, the concert poster and the liner notes fit tightly in the respective pockets and you need to be careful digging them out to avoid tearing the cardboard packaging andor the liner notes andor damaging the disc.  (I will keep the cd in a separate sleeve).  

Contained in a small booklet, the liner notes contain essays written by Robin Kelley (Monk's biographer) and Danny Sher (the promoter).  The booklet has pages colored in beige, red and black.  The lettering on the beige pages is black while the lettering is white on the red and black pages.  I can read the words on the beige pages but have a hard time reading the words on the red and black pages.  I think the font also contributes to this situation.  I can barely discern Robert Kelley's signature (done in red, not white) at the end of his essay that appears on a black page and cannot read whatever credentials (also in red) are listed under his signature.  

No mention of Zev Feldman in the booklet or on the packaging (that I could see!!). 

At 17, Danny Sher must have been some business person.  With ticket sales slow in advance of the concert, Sher sold ads in the concert program to businesses on his paper route and, as such, generated sufficient revenue to cover Monk's fee even if no paying customers showed up.  Also, Sher's dealings with Monk's apparently unscrupulous promoter speak to Sher's maturity beyond his years. 

Edited September 9, 2020 by cliffpeterson

[bertrand]

LOL, I assume he did not tell businesses that sales were slow. That is amazing that, essentially, he talked businesses into paying for a Monk gig that at least he could get to watch.

[hbbfam]

I ordered this from Amazon UK on August 27.  Cost $18 w shipping.  Due to arrive on September 22.  But low and behold there it was sitting on the stoop just now. Looking forward to listening tonight.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Mine came in today too, much sooner than they said it would.

[BrianB]

US release date is 9/18

I wish it’d ship sooner  

I ordered the vinyl version - also includes a reproduction of the program. 

super excited! 

[clifford_thornton]

5 hours ago, cliffpeterson said:

The packaging design and the presentation of the liner notes are disappointing.  

The "case" seems to be a cardboard-like material presented in a trifold design .  The left fold has a pocket that contains a folded copy of the concert poster.  As you do with this type of design you access that poster from the inside right edge of the pocket in the left fold.  The cd is contained without any protective sleeve in the pocket in the center, which you can access from either side when both right and left folds are completely opened.   The liner notes are contained in a pocket in the right fold and accessed from the left interior edge. The cd, the concert poster and the liner notes fit tightly in the respective pockets and you need to be careful digging them out to avoid tearing the cardboard packaging andor the liner notes andor damaging the disc.  (I will keep the cd in a separate sleeve).  

Contained in a small booklet, the liner notes contain essays written by Robin Kelley (Monk's biographer) and Danny Sher (the promoter).  The booklet has pages colored in beige, red and black.  The lettering on the beige pages is black while the lettering is white on the red and black pages.  I can read the words on the beige pages but have a hard time reading the words on the red and black pages.  I think the font also contributes to this situation.  I can barely discern Robert Kelley's signature (done in red, not white) at the end of his essay that appears on a black page and cannot read whatever credentials (also in red) are listed under his signature.  

 

So I assume it's like the Coltrane "Blue World" CD packaging, which is/was pretty shoddy. I'll still buy the thing when it comes out in ten days, but sheesh, Impulse! really could give less of a shit what their product looks like.