[Eagle_Driver]

Six of Duke Ellington's classic 1950s and 1960s albums on Columbia are being reissued on 24-bit-remastered CDs by Columbia/Legacy in the US. (More to come later this year.)

The six that have been announced so far are:

1. Masterpieces by Ellington, Columbia/Legacy CK 87043 (coming 17 February)
2. Festival Session, Columbia/Legacy CK 87044 (17 February)
3. Ellington Uptown, Columbia/Legacy CK 87066 (17 February)
4. Blues In Orbit, Columbia/Legacy CK 87041 (21 April)
5. Piano In The Background, Columbia/Legacy CK 87107 (21 April)
6. Piano In The Foreground, Columbia/Legacy CK 87042 (21 April)

These albums have been out of print in the US for many years, even on CD - and only a couple of those (Ellington Uptown, Blues In Orbit) have ever been legitimately issued on a US CD. And some of those titles may eventually wind up on SACD, as well.

EDIT - During the past couple of years, Blues In Orbit was legitimately available in the US only as a Classic Records 180-gram (and later, 200-gram) vinyl pressing.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Only 13 views?

Okay, so I purchased two of the three Ellington reissue CDs issued in February - Masterpieces by Ellington and Ellington Uptown. Luckily, I also own a first-pressing Columbia Masterworks copy of the original Ellington Uptown LP (ML 4639, 1953), and a 1955 second-pressing Masterworks copy of Masterpieces (ML 4418, 1951). The new Ellington reissue CDs were mastered using DSD technology - unlike most previous Columbia/Legacy jazz reissue CDs, which were remastered using the older (and inferior) SBM technology. Once enough people buy this pile of Ellingtonia, these albums can then be reissued on hybrid SACD/CDs.

The sound quality from these two Ellington CDs is better than any 70s or 80s reissues of this same material - and much better than the turn-of-the-Y2K-century import CD reissues from France. In fact, I haven't heard those two albums sound this good since when the original first- and second-pressings of this same material came out.

For the record, the three bonus tracks on Masterpieces came out on a mail-order LP, an OKeh single (OKeh was a subsidiary of Columbia) and a Columbia single during the early to mid 1950s. And the Uptown CD has been expanded to more than 78 minutes (the original Masterworks vinyl LP ran about 43 minutes), thanks to prior repackaging by Columbia during the 1950s alone: The Columbia/Legacy CD Ellington Uptown actually combines material that was issued on three or four different Columbia LPs (in addition to the original Masterworks Ellington Uptown, the bonus tracks were issued on a 10-inch Columbia LP entitled Liberian Suite {CL 6073, 1949} and two 12-inchers: Hi-Fi Ellington Uptown {CL 830, 1956} and A Tone Parallel To Harlem/Liberian Suite {CL 848, 1956}).

 

[FCJ]

Where's Bal Masque? Has it been announced?

I picked up an interesing one the other day--it's a 40-CD (yes, 40) set called "The Duke, The Complete Works From 1924-1947 on History. Who knows the source of these recordings, but I've listened to a couple of the CDs and the transfers aren't bad at all.

 

[robert]

cool. verrrrrrrry cool

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally posted by FCJ Where's Bal Masque? Has it been announced?

Not yet. But another Ellington album has been targeted for a reissue on CD in the near future (within a year): A Drum Is A Woman. No release date has yet been set.

Other Ellington albums on Columbia/Legacy CDs that are already on store shelves include Ellington At Newport - 1956 (Complete) (C2K 64932), First Time! - The Count Meets The Duke (CK 65571 CD, CS 65571 SACD), Black, Brown & Beige (CK 65566), Such Sweet Thunder (CK 65568), and countless compilations.

Quote:

I picked up an interesing one the other day--it's a 40-CD (yes, 40) set called "The Duke, The Complete Works From 1924-1947 on History. Who knows the source of these recordings, but I've listened to a couple of the CDs and the transfers aren't bad at all.

That CD boxed set was imported from England, of all places. And the transfers were done from 78RPM records that were in collectors' hands.

And speaking of Ellington boxed CD sets, I own a 24-CD (yes, 24) set (legitimately) issued by RCA/Bluebird/BMG here in the US, The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973). This 24-CD set covers everything Ellington that BMG USA has in its vaults, plus (as a bonus) the Second Sacred Concert (licensed from Fantasy Records, which issued the original 2-LP set of that Second Sacred Concert).

 

[FCJ]

Quote:

Other Ellington albums on Columbia/Legacy CDs that are already on store shelves include Ellington At Newport - 1956 (Complete) (C2K 64932), First Time! - The Count Meets The Duke (CK 65571 CD, CS 65571 SACD), Black, Brown & Beige (CK 65566), Such Sweet Thunder (CK 65568), and countless compilations.

I have them all.

Quote:

The CD set was imported from England, of all places. And the transfers were done from 78RPM records that were in collectors' hands.

No real surprise, since the copyright laws in Europe permit these types of reissues. Generally, I only expect reissues to sound this good if they are from JSP, especially those done by John R.T. Davies.