Strata-East: The Legacy begins

[JSngry]

1 hour ago, felser said:

OK, tuned in to webcast and here's what may be of additional interest:

1 - Tolliver says that he has the master tapes to all of the recordings.  Unclear if that means all that were released by S-E or just all that are part of the Mack Avenue campaign.

2 - This is the first re-issue from master tapes, all other reissues have been from digital sources.

3 - Vic Anesini and Chris Muth did the CD remastering.  I'm familiar with Anesini's outstanding work for Sony, so this is good news.

4 - The April releases are just the first batch of what is planned to be an ongoing rollout, so hope remains for your most desired titles!

5 - Confirmed that bonus cuts are available only via digital downloads.

There was no Q&A and chat was disabled, so I couldn't ask anything to get more info.

This is what stuff like Yellowjackets is paying for.

Good business is not just about taking!

[clifford_thornton]

Huh.

Alkebu-Lan tapes went back to Mtume (his estate has them), though perhaps Tolliver has copies.

I thought all the Dolphy Series material was with Clifford Jordan and his estate. 

Keno Duke is indeed a mystery! According to a comment on the LJC blog, Duke was a NYC cop who moonlighted playing jazz… the photos I’ve seen of him appear to show a man well into his 50s or older by the mid ‘70s, so my doubts are that he’s still with us.

Whatever the results of this Mack Avenue thing are, we can at least hope that these reissues are done properly… which was not always the case previously (bootlegs in the late 90s, needle-drops in the last decade).

[felser]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

This is what stuff like Yellowjackets is paying for.

Good business is not just about taking!

Yep, I adore Norah Jones because her 20 million album sales funded that massive Blue Note reissue campaign!

1 hour ago, clifford_thornton said:

Huh.

Alkebu-Lan tapes went back to Mtume (his estate has them), though perhaps Tolliver has copies.

I thought all the Dolphy Series material was with Clifford Jordan and his estate. 

 

Either Tolliver misspoke (he texted in during the webcast) or else he meant he holds the master tapes to what is being released by Mack Avenue in this series.  I suspect the latter.  Do you know anything about whether the Mtume estate has any plans to lease Alkebu-Lan to anyone?

[bertrand]

23 hours ago, felser said:

A couple things I noticed on the Mack Avenue website:

1 - The Pharoah Sanders album will be available on CD on April 25.

2 - The Tolliver Slugs looks to be one CD from the artwork, and the bonus cuts aren't mentioned.

3 - The huge digital sampler is free!  I ordered it, received confirmation, awaiting delivery.  The site also has the CD's available for preorder, $15.98 each.

Where did you get the Free sampler? I better grab one before they are out of stock.

[Chuck Nessa]

1 hour ago, clifford_thornton said:

I thought all the Dolphy Series material was with Clifford Jordan and his estate. 

 

Yes, circa 1980 Michael Cuscuna set up a meeting with for Clifford to pitch the sale of the Dolphy Series Masters to me. I could not afford the deal and still regret it. I was so bummed, I didn't buy the Mosaic box.

[felser]

1 hour ago, bertrand said:

Where did you get the Free sampler? I better grab one before they are out of stock.

https://mackavenue.com/collections/strata-east

They seem to have changed the content to the sampler link, where you cannot order it now the way I was able to do so yesterday (and I never received it after I did order it yesterday).  They seem to have turned it into streaming, and you choose a streaming library to pre-save it (amazon in my case). 

Edited February 12 by felser

[BFrank]

The Chinen discussion was interesting today.

I was hoping they might discuss the Clifford Jordan Strata-East Mosaic box and how that came to be. It's discussed in the booklet, but would have been nice to hear more about it.

[mhatta]

3 hours ago, clifford_thornton said:

Keno Duke is indeed a mystery! According to a comment on the LJC blog, Duke was a NYC cop who moonlighted playing jazz… the photos I’ve seen of him appear to show a man well into his 50s or older by the mid ‘70s, so my doubts are that he’s still with us.

 

I am also interested in Keno Duke. I think he was not a superduper drummer, so it makes some sense that music was his sideline and his main job was being a cop (like bassist Gary Mapp), but I regard him highly for his Walter Bolden-quality song writing ability and running a nice jazz label: Trident. His photo is on the back of the jacket of 1975's Crest Of The Wave (Trident), but for me he doesn't look like in his fifties and looks about 3-40 years old -- he often worked with Frank Strozier, George Coleman and Harold Mabern, so I'd guess he's a bit like them, might be born in the late 1930s or so. He may be from Memphis, Tennessee, like them, or maybe even Chicago. The last release from Trident was in 1982(Benny Powell's LP, Duke not present), so he might be dead around that time.

Edited February 12 by mhatta

[felser]

The Rouse, Tolliver, and Cowell are available for pre-order on Amazon for top-dollar prices.  I'll wait out to check other sources before ordering.

[sidewinder]

I will be interested in reports on the new LPs but to be honest am more than happy with my Pure Pleasure LPs, various originals and what is included on those Mosaic/Select sets. Will probably go for the Heath Brothers release and others not already purchased.

I'll have to dig out my Keno Duke 'Jazz Contemporaries - Reasons In Tonality' - an unexpected find at a shop in Australia.

Edited Wednesday at 04:46 PM by sidewinder

[Pim]

1 hour ago, sidewinder said:

I will be interested in reports on the new LPs but to be honest am more than happy with my Pure Pleasure LPs, various originals and what is included on those Mosaic/Select sets. Will probably go for the Heath Brothers release and others not already purchased.

I'll have to dig out my Keno Duke 'Jazz Contemporaries - Reasons In Tonality' - an unexpected find at a shop in Australia.

The Tolliver I’ve got mostly on the Mosaic set which is great. I also have quite a lot them Pure Pleasures and I like them a lot. Jordan’s Glass Bead Games truly sounds amazing. So not interested in replacing any of them. I hoped they’d pick titles PP left on the vaults…

[Pim]

Now this would be a great candidate. Deserves a good reissue.

[Harbour]

5 hours ago, Pim said:

Now this would be a great candidate. Deserves a good reissue.

Yeah this was the only Japanese Strata CD reissue that I have that seems to be a needle drop, and not a good one either, there have been two subsequent versions on Solid Records, anyone know if they are any improvement?

[JSngry]

7 hours ago, Pim said:

Now this would be a great candidate. Deserves a good reissue.

Rights reverted to Sullivan, who the yot it out on Inner City.

[clifford_thornton]

On 2/11/2025 at 11:09 PM, felser said:

Yep, I adore Norah Jones because her 20 million album sales funded that massive Blue Note reissue campaign!

Either Tolliver misspoke (he texted in during the webcast) or else he meant he holds the master tapes to what is being released by Mack Avenue in this series.  I suspect the latter.  Do you know anything about whether the Mtume estate has any plans to lease Alkebu-Lan to anyone?

yeah, they were going to work on it with a known/regarded label and unfortunately that did not come together. I am hopeful something works out.

Re: Duke, funny, he looks older to me but could be 40something in the photograph I've seen (from the Trident LP). Pretty sure he is no longer alive, but I have no confirmation to back up that assumption.

[felser]

The "Strata-East: The Legacy Begins" sampler is now available online.  Incredibly generous, free access to over four hours of S-E music.  If you're not familiar with the catalog, check out the offerings.

https://mackavenue.com/collections/strata-east

7 hours ago, Harbour said:

Yeah this was the only Japanese Strata CD reissue that I have that seems to be a needle drop, and not a good one either, there have been two subsequent versions on Solid Records, anyone know if they are any improvement?

The Billy Parker and Descendents of Mike & Phoebe Japanese CD's I have are (bad) needle drops, and cost me a lot.  There may be more.

[mjazzg]

I wonder whether this new reissue campaign explains why Pure Pleasure's SE ended so quickly. 

[T.D.]

2 hours ago, felser said:

The "Strata-East: The Legacy Begins" sampler is now available online.  Incredibly generous, free access to over four hours of S-E music.  If you're not familiar with the catalog, check out the offerings.

https://mackavenue.com/collections/strata-east

The Billy Parker and Descendents of Mike & Phoebe Japanese CD's I have are (bad) needle drops, and cost me a lot.  There may be more.

I have a P-Vine Japanese CD of Descendants of Mike & Phoebe (PCD-23846, 2006) that sounds OK, never suspected a needle drop (granted, my sound quality expectations of Strata-East are not high). I'll spin it again soon (one of my favorite S-E releases) with more critical ears.

Listening now. I wouldn't rule out a needle drop, but if so it's a quality one. No joke, I've heard some pretty good sounding needle drops.

Edited 15 hours ago by T.D.

[jlhoots]

Is the Rouse any good?

[felser]

5 minutes ago, jlhoots said:

Is the Rouse any good?

Yes, and quite a funky departure for him.  I used this on a BFT several years ago:

 

1 hour ago, T.D. said:

I have a P-Vine Japanese CD of Descendants of Mike & Phoebe (PCD-23846, 2006) that sounds OK, never suspected a needle drop (granted, my sound quality expectations of Strata-East are not high). I'll spin it again soon (one of my favorite S-E releases) with more critical ears.

Listening now. I wouldn't rule out a needle drop, but if so it's a quality one. No joke, I've heard some pretty good sounding needle drops.

I'll go back and relisten (good excuse anyways).  The Billy Parker CD sound is criminally bad, I remember being angry when I received and played it.  Agreed that needle drops can be done well.

[bertrand]

3 hours ago, felser said:

The "Strata-East: The Legacy Begins" sampler is now available online.  Incredibly generous, free access to over four hours of S-E music.  If you're not familiar with the catalog, check out the offerings.

https://mackavenue.com/collections/strata-east

The Billy Parker and Descendents of Mike & Phoebe Japanese CD's I have are (bad) needle drops, and cost me a lot.  There may be more.

Is the sampler streaming only?

[felser]

Just now, bertrand said:

Is the sampler streaming only?

Yes

[BFrank]

10 hours ago, felser said:

The "Strata-East: The Legacy Begins" sampler is now available online.  Incredibly generous, free access to over four hours of S-E music.  If you're not familiar with the catalog, check out the offerings.

https://mackavenue.com/collections/strata-east

The Billy Parker and Descendents of Mike & Phoebe Japanese CD's I have are (bad) needle drops, and cost me a lot.  There may be more.

I've listened to some of it - VERY impressive!