Ultimate Jazz Archive

[juzmister]

Well I was walking in the city and went into this music store, MDC near royal festival hall, and saw the most amazing looking box set. £100 for 168 Cd's, pretty good artists to...Has anyone purchased it? I couldn't make my mind up, but may go back later...
Justin

 

[Coltrane]

""The Ultimate Jazz Archive" is the essential story of this music's development during the first half of the 20th century. Includes an informative and comprehensive 360 page book with biographies of the featured artists. Features Scott Joplin, B.B. King, Ray Charles, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra, Albert Ammons, Gerry Mulligan, Lionel Hampton, Mel Torme, Woody Hermann, Chick Webb, Stan Kenton, Bessie Smith, Memphis Slim, Kid Ory, George Lewis, Ma Rainey, Charles Mingus, Phil Woods, Art Farmer, Eroll Garner, Lester Yong, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Kokomo Arnold, Lu Watters, Kid Ory and many more. 168 CDs"


Unless you love old time music, this wont do. Its going to be music that is atleast 50 years old, and most older. Also, that list is missing people like Miles, Coltrane, Charlie Parker, etc.

As interesting as it sounds, i think you would be much better served by individual discs or smaller boxed sets. Who can go through 168 cds anyways?

 

[juzmister]

I'm pretty into the old stuff, I play in a big band...Do you think the recording quality could be off?

 

[juzmister]

Actually, I may take up your suggestion...They have a running offer 10 Cd box sets for £10, I'll go in and get some of my favourite stuff.

 

[bigshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coltrane Unless you love old time music, this wont do. Its going to be music that is atleast 50 years old, and most older.

This box might contain the cure to ignorance... like judging the quality of music by its age.

By the way, that list of artists includes some of the greatest musicians of this or any other age.

See ya
Steve

 

[juzmister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot This box might contain the cure to ignorance... like judging the quality of music by its age. By the way, that list of artists includes some of the greatest musicians of this or any other age. See ya Steve

I think I'll pick this up next week, I'll let you all know how it is...going to be a fun ripping week

 

[Uncle Erik]

You can find more than a bit of the old music over at archive.org. I've downloaded some of it and enjoy it a great deal. My only gripe with 50+ year old music is that I sure wish they had modern recording equipment back then. Still, most of it is very enoyable.

Everything at archive.org is in the public domain and the downloads are legal. They have movies, too.

 

[juzmister]

wow thanks!

 

[Coltrane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot This box might contain the cure to ignorance... like judging the quality of music by its age. By the way, that list of artists includes some of the greatest musicians of this or any other age. See ya Steve

Speaking of ignorance, how is your pursuit of modern jazz going?

And when did I say anything about the quality of the music? I was just saying it was older jazz, which it certainlly is. It is certainly not representative of jazz as a whole, only older, mostly pre-bop, jazz. The artists are indeed spectacular, but most people looking to pick up an 'Ultimate Jazz Archive' would greatly prefer more variety and more modern musicians.

 

[bigshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coltrane Speaking of ignorance, how is your pursuit of modern jazz going?

Great. I just got a stack of DVDs of a 60s television series called Jazz Scene. It was a half hour syndicated program that featured jazz artists. I've only watched the one with Cannonball Adderly so far, but the rest feature Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Smith, Phineas Newborn Jr, Shelly Mann, etc. I got a couple of episodes of a show called Jazz Casual too that feature Brubeck and Coltrane. Good stuff.

By the way, when you say "older jazz", you're referring to the lion's share of the history of jazz. You still don't get that pre-Bop Jazz is an enormous universe of music with more variety and a richer history than any other type of music that has come about since then. Try expanding you horizons sometime.

See ya
Steve

 

[Coltrane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot By the way, when you say "older jazz", you're referring to the lion's share of the history of jazz. You still don't get that pre-Bop Jazz is an enormous universe of music with more variety and a richer history than any other type of music that has come about since then. Try expanding you horizons sometime. See ya Steve

You stil don't get that

1. I am incredibly familiar with older jazz

2. 'More variety and richer history' is pure opinion.

3. The majority of people looking to get into jazz prefer the newer (ie post 1950) stuff. Atleast to start out.

 

[Steve999]

I am curious... what do you guys think of the XM radio 1940s chnanel? Is XM radio channel 4 a decent introduction to the music of this period?

 

[bigshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coltrane The majority of people looking to get into jazz prefer the newer (ie post 1950) stuff. Atleast to start out.

That isn't true. Most people come to jazz through 40s big band swing. This is the only place I've found that focuses so heavily on modern jazz. I think that's because some people here tend to judge music by the recording format.

See ya
Steve

 

[zowie]

I'm revivifying this thread to see if juzmister, or anyone else, can offer a review of the set for us.

Uncle Eric: I don't know that archive.org is completely kosher. The performers give permission for their shows to be posted, but when they do covers, I wonder (and doubt) if the composers are getting their due.

Bigshot: While I came to jazz though swing, including but not limited to big bands, I find that a lot of people come to jazz through Miles and Trane. A couple decades ago I found a lot of people coming to jazz through Maynard and Spyro Gyra.

 

[Sordel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most people come to jazz through 40s big band swing.

I wouldn't be caught dead listening to big band swing ... I came to modern jazz through modern jazz. While I acknowledge that an education in trad jazz better attunes the ear to what modern jazz is doing, it's like assuming that people come to Stravinsky via Bach, Mozart, Beethoven etc. It makes sense, but it just isn't so.