Date:	01-Jun-1998 22:38:57
From:	Paul Abella (Pabella3)
	As a musician, I can see both the ups and downs of the vast reissue programs being put forth by the record companies right now. I think Joel Dorn and the guys at 32 Jazz should be commended for a great job. The Roland Kirk reissues alone deserve a gold medal. Other reissues by Pat martino, Sonny Stitt, the various artists collections and just about everything they've put out has been golden. They get two thumbs up from this jazz fascist! Verve's Talkin' series is pretty hip too. They're putting out sides by Diz, Jimmy Smith, Geroge Benson, Cal Tjader and countless others that are actually relevant to this generation of potential jazz listeners, a segment that too many record companies write off. In this same vein, Blue Note's Rare groove series and their recent slate of reissues in general has been a mixture of funky hip and cool martini music. Not only smart, but good sounding too. OJC (fantasy/Riverside/Milestone/Prestige) has done an outstanding job of reissuing close to everything of merit on their labels. On the other hand, the people at the Rhino Atlantic Jazz Gallery need to be slapped. They've released the deathly important stuff: Trane, Ornette Coleman, Mingus, Ray Charles, and the like. But what about albums like "Talk to the People" by Les McCann, or "Herbie Mann at Newport" or Chick Corea's "Tones for Joan's Bones" or anything else I can think of? So much has not been reissued that I am thoroughly disgusted by the lack of attention Rhino puts on this facet of their label. What this all means is that many of the labels out there are putting some damn fine music back in the hands of the people that need it most: those of us that wouldn't hear it otherwise. It's a blessing of the highest order. The only way that we'll be able to forge into the future is to know our past, and these old school albums are one of the best ways to learn that history. Wow, I've written a lot. Keep Your Ears Open, Paul

 

Date:	02-Jun-1998 08:48:06
From:	jim smith (smithj@pbs.port.ac.uk)
	You have to have foundations,bricks without straw just wont do.More to the point,is'nt great to at last to be able to listen to the sessions you were never able to hear first time round

 

Date:	07-Jun-1998 19:33:05
From:	C Husbands
	Jazz is not just an American art form; it is an AFRICAN American art form. The contributions of white composers and artists to this genre - and indeed all forms of Black music - cannot be denied, nor should they be. However the music industry is riddled with racism, and Black musicians have been cheated, mistreated and marginalised by this industry. You may be asking what this has to do with reissues? Well, whenever I grab a rare gem and take it home, as I often do, I cannot help wondering about the musicians and composers who created the music. Reissues are of fundamental importance; but so is recognition. As an Black composer an artist myself, I would like to be reassured that reissued music is not giving audiences pleasure while denying its creators their due. Sadly, I don't expect to be.

 

Date:	17-Jun-1998 21:28:30
From:	Douglas Payne (dpayne@ix.netcom.com)
	I agree with many of Paul's comments. 32Jazz has done an especially good job of reissuing music, bringing long-lost greats (Grant Green's "Iron City") and new releases from the archives (Zoot Sims, Sonny Stitt) into circulation at excellent, affordable prices. GRP's new Chessmates series is a very encouraging sign too. But the other companies tend to do jazz and jazz reissues a great diservice. How many MORE CD reissues of "Kind of Blue" do we need? Why do we need a $19 20-bit version of "My Favorite Things" when you can still get the original issue of the CD for $10? Why does one major label continually issue compilation after compilation of the same material, with themes of after-hours jazz and acid jazz, instead of just issuing the original recordings? What's worse is the very nice first-time old reissues coming from some of the major labels right now -- on sale at Tower for $16-$19 when you can buy any new smooth jazz or pop CD for around $13. After one of these major labels recently reissued an expensive CD of one of their low-selling artists when the inexpensive version of the same CD was still available, I asked if there was a chance that any of this artist's other LPs would be released on CD. The answer: we're waiting to see if this CD sells. Yea, right. The only CD his fans can get, they already have. Good move. It seems as if they're begging you not to buy reissues. I review a lot of reissues for All About Jazz...and I'll probably continue to do so (maybe I'm living in the past). But, I commend the Japanese labels for their commitment to jazz and jazz reissues. CDs are expensive in Japan and they're hard to get in the US. But the Japanese have always treated jazz and jazz reissues with the love and respect the art deserves (original graphics, first-rate sound). American companies usually regard jazz as just a commodity. Guess we'll just have to keep on suffering American jazz reissues.

 

Date:	18-Jun-1998 00:09:52
From:	Matt O'Neil (moneil@concentric,net)
	As a former pro musician, now community college instructor and avid jazz fan, I'd like to offer a perspective that as yet hasn't made this page. Our school boasts a fine "History of Jazz" course. The instructor is a retired psychology professer whose passion for jazz and the folks who make it is preceeded only by his knowledge of same. A major portion of his course is appreciation of the music and it's makers and his primary tool for demonstrating his points is his vast C.D. collection. For the interested student it is incumbent upon them to buy some or all of those C.D.s. Without much more explanation, let it suffice to say that I believe the more jazz fans there are, the more enlightened and aware our society becomes and reissues help to make that possible.

 

Date:	08-Jul-1998 15:32:51
From:	Everett Kalafatis (everettxxx@.com)
	As a fan, and not a musician, I would have to say yes. For the general fan compilations usually serve their intended purpose, and god knows there enough out here already. But fans of a particular musician love extended linear notes and song documentation as well as a few bonus tracks. And while the cost is generally higher, this is not always the case. For example consider Sony's reissue of Billie Holiday's "Lady In Satin" The new reissue retails generally for $9-12 at stores in my area, which is the same price as the The Columbia Jazz Masterpieces CD issued in the mid 1980's. You can't tell me the packaging doesn't look more enticing to a jazz novice curious about a particular artist or an established fan who also looks at music from a historical perspective. And besides, if you own the original cd version, no one is forcing you to shell out more money a second time for essentially the same product. CD reissues of original albums are always welcome-more product availability and choice for the consumer is never bad, even if the label's intentions amount to nothing more than greed. I will agree that there are too many compilations out on the market which only confuse the novice and infuriate jazz fans of an artist-this appears to be more commonplace than with rock cd's. How many jazz round midnight cd's to we really need in the market anyway? But overall, reissues are very healthy and beneficial.

 

Date:	17-Jul-1998 07:07:35
From:	Ken Dryden (kenjazz@vei.net)
	The flood of reissues has been long overdue; 32Jazz, Fantasy's OJC series, Blue Note, and Verve have all been excellent, but nobody mentioned Mosaic, the label that puts a lot of care into each set they put out. My only gripe is the failure of companies to specify just how limited a "limited edition" is. Ther's no clue as to how many copies are pressed of each title in Blue Note's Jazz Connosieur series, while Verve Elite Editions finally started putting the actual number printed on the front sticker beginning with their May 1998 reisssues. It has been made clear that both of them are supposed to be one shot pressings with no follow up repressings. I've yet to figure out how limited Fantasy's limited edtions are, the only ones I've noticed as being out of print in their catalog are the Elmo Hope final sessions, which are now available from Evidence as a 2 CD set. One other thought about reissues. I love hearing viable alternate and unissued takes, but is it necessary to put out every single 3 second false start in a session, as some producers do? Not everyone has a programmable CD player to journey around these things.

 

Date:	22-Jul-1998 14:45:36
From:	ChriS
	I was born in 1961 and would never have heard some of my favorite music from the late 40s up to the early 60s without these reissues. To me, the marketing and royalty discussions are separate issues (and believe me, they've been around a lot longer than "AAJ" or this thread has -- if she was still around, you could ask Big Mama Thornton, who had a regional hit with "Hound Dog" in 1953, three years before you-know-who struck gold with it. THOSE are the kind of "re-issues" I REALLY have a problem with...)

 

Date:	03-Aug-1998 16:50:36
From:	John Dean (Johndean2@compuserve.co)
	Reissues are arriving in the UK like never before. Personally I am over the moon since I can now catch up on good clean CD versions of LPs I missed or could never afford when a student in the 50's. The recent Pacific releases are fabulous and have been impossible to track down on vinyl. Good on yer Pacific, Blue Note , Verve, Columbia etc.

 

Date:	30-Jan-1999 19:56:12
From:	Martin Nickison II (afro@cboss.com)
	I feel that re-issues are great. Why by the new 20 bit My Favorite Things? Depends....If you want better sound, go for it...just the music, might stray from it. Jazz is great, and I am glad that it's now re-issued on vinyl, disc, and other media forms not so popular today. Some think it's too much, but thank God that Coltrane from John Coltrane on Impulse/MCA was at Barnes and Noble today...well worth it. I will be getting lots more of Coltrane..and if it took 30 years and Michael Cuscuna to re-issue the Blue Notes and the Coltrane's, he deserves the profit !

 

Date:	01-Mar-1999 18:52:24
From:	Martin (MRT@switchboardmail.com)
	2 reasons for and one against. 1. Sound quality. The new reissues sound MUCH better than the previous generation cds and almost as good as the original lps. I find myself trading in my previous generation issues of Impulse, Blue Note and (especially) Columbia cds for the new reissues. 2. Accesibility. If it weren't for the reissue programs, I would not have been able to develop my interest in jazz over the last 5 years. Currently, most of the catelogs of the jazz greats are in print. BUT 3. The record companies had better not rely too much on great artists of the past. We are currently at a point where there is less to reissue. If they do not start producing some seminal albums by young artists of today, there will not be anything to reissue in the future. Jazz could become like classical where there are 100 versions of the same thing. That would not be a good thing.

 

Date:	28-Mar-1999 20:17:00
From:	jj
	Re-issues are a great thing. If the 'jazz industry' (ha...) had to survive on a few classics comming off the press and whats out there today....I believe that the most die hard 'lets revive this....lets keep it alive' jazz fans would turn away. Music today in every genre is suffering from a major artistic, expressive, and soulful melt-down....and these records of the past offer insight and hope as to how we might, as artists, musicians, technicians, writers, music buffs, promoters etc.,.... once again achieve the individuality, expressiveness, wisdom, and soul that once existed. Not to copy it exactly and clone it.... but to get back on track of being hip.... getting with it....are you playing music?....or are you playing licks you learned in some laboratory somewhere?...... Just turn on a television set if anybody isn't sure of the reasons why the creative world is diminishing, or read the news paper or take a walk down the street. Listen to what the people you work with or go to school with talk about...listen to the way many 'adult' parents talk to their children....look at how we communicate with each other. And to the person up above....jazz, in all the different lights that we see it in....today...would not have become what it became (and I'm not talking about some of that b.s. thats floating around these days) had it not been for the mixing of Blacks and Whites in a musical sense..... African American...Euro-American....whatever..... most of the key contributors were African American. And this music...(which is vast and highly diverse) would have never even come close to how we see and hear it today had it not been for these two cultures that slammed into each other somewhat violently hundreds of years ago and up to this day. And they flexed and convulsed, scraped and bled and grew and strained and tore appart... tried to come together again and fell a part again...and blacks in America carried the brunt of this struggle. But there were also interludes, friendships that lasted, some that broke, there was trust and morality, trust and betrayal, the exchanging of cultures, both voluntarily and involuntarily.....there was teaching, bloodshed, hope, leadership and lies....and above all life and music. And one of the most expressive and hip (and complex) forms of music the world has ever known came from all this. Most of the best in jazz were African American, the most expressive, the most original, the most innovative...the most soulful.... and the best of these could hang with any of the most technical White musicicians..... in time.......the seeds that lead to revolution in American music (Beebop) were partially sewn by a White guy.... ps-- I'll take Jug any day over Zoot on the saxophone: a simplified scenario might go like this...... (there probably wouldn't have been a Lester Young had there not been a Coleman Hawkins, Frank Trumbauer, Some say Bix Biederbeck....I don't know about that one....Buster Smith, Lester's father, some of his contemporaries, many unknowns etc.) (there probably wouldn't have been a Charlie Parker had there not been all the above (plus hundreds of others..... you know......) and musicians like Don Byas, Art Tatum, and although he played a little corny, Jimmy Dorsey use to flip Charlie Parker out regarding the speed and passages he use to play.....Benny Carter should be in both of these and although many saw Prez as an opposite to Hawk.....guys like Bechet and Hawkins just about paved the way for every jazz saxophonist ......when ever you start making lists regarding Art or Music.....you get into trouble....you can't "hold" or "possess" music, and think of all the unknowns who helped all the "better known" musicians out....and the colors did vary

 

Date:	28-Mar-1999 20:20:29
From:	jj
	Re-issues are a great thing. If the 'jazz industry' (ha...) had to survive on a few classics comming off the press and whats out there today....I believe that the most die hard 'lets revive this....lets keep it alive' jazz fans would turn away. Music today in every genre is suffering from a major artistic, expressive, and soulful melt-down....and these records of the past offer insight and hope as to how we might, as artists, musicians, technicians, writers, music buffs, promoters etc.,.... once again achieve the individuality, expressiveness, wisdom, and soul that once existed. Not to copy it exactly and clone it.... but to get back on track of being hip.... getting with it....are you playing music?....or are you playing licks you learned in some laboratory somewhere?...... Just turn on a television set if anybody isn't sure of the reasons why the creative world is diminishing, or read the news paper or take a walk down the street. Listen to what the people you work with or go to school with talk about...listen to the way many 'adult' parents talk to their children....look at how we communicate with each other. And to the person up above....jazz, in all the different lights that we see it in....today...would not have become what it became (and I'm not talking about some of that b.s. thats floating around these days) had it not been for the mixing of Blacks and Whites in a musical sense..... African American...Euro-American....whatever..... most of the key contributors were African American. And this music...(which is vast and highly diverse) would have never even come close to how we see and hear it today had it not been for these two cultures that slammed into each other somewhat violently hundreds of years ago and up to this day. And they flexed and convulsed, scraped and bled and grew and strained and tore appart... tried to come together again and fell a part again...and blacks in America carried the brunt of this struggle. But there were also interludes, friendships that lasted, some that broke, there was trust and morality, trust and betrayal, the exchanging of cultures, both voluntarily and involuntarily.....there was teaching, bloodshed, hope, leadership and lies....and above all life and music. And one of the most expressive and hip (and complex) forms of music the world has ever known came from all this. Most of the best in jazz were African American, the most expressive, the most original, the most innovative...the most soulful.... and the best of these could hang with any of the most technical White musicicians..... in time.......the seeds that lead to revolution in American music (Beebop) were partially sewn by a White guy.... ps-- I'll take Jug any day over Zoot on the saxophone: a simplified scenario might go like this...... (there probably wouldn't have been a Lester Young had there not been a Coleman Hawkins, Frank Trumbauer, Some say Bix Biederbeck....I don't know about that one....Buster Smith, Lester's father, some of his contemporaries, many unknowns etc.) (there probably wouldn't have been a Charlie Parker had there not been all the above (plus hundreds of others..... you know......) and musicians like Don Byas, Art Tatum, and although he played a little corny, Jimmy Dorsey use to flip Charlie Parker out regarding the speed and passages he use to play.....Benny Carter should be in both of these and although many saw Prez as an opposite to Hawk.....guys like Bechet and Hawkins just about paved the way for every jazz saxophonist ......when ever you start making lists regarding Art or Music.....you get into trouble....you can't "hold" or "possess" music, and think of all the unknowns who helped all the "better known" musicians out....and the colors did vary

 

Date:	13-Apr-1999 21:20:22
From:	Edo
	Re-issues are great. We have chance to get all those sold records. Re-issues give "fresh blood", new start into jazz.

 

Date:	22-Apr-1999 09:52:27
From:	Derrick Smith (dasmith@iei.net)
	My take on this is almost conservationist. It actually seems like a material waste (and of course a waste in artistry) to record an album, say like many of Rahsaan Roland Kirk's albums that may not have sold well originally, then to just let the tapes gather dust, never again to be heard. People make albums in order to satisfy market demands of the moment, for sure, but they also record for posterity, in the hopes that something constructive will be taped and heard by future listeners. On the other hand, there's the tug-and-pull of the desire and need to foster new talent and create new music for these times. It seems that often the reissues receive more exposure than the new music. And if you can go pick up a reissue from 1949, one from 1971, two from 1958, all that music may create a false impression that there were "golden years" when there were simply too many good albums to choose from. I certainly agree that many of the newer jazz musicians are talented but hackneyed; but we should remember that even back in what seems like the golden eras of jazz (or of any other music) musicians had to take it composition by composition, gig by gig. There was no concrete plan, there was no guarantee that the music would be great (and for that matter, we must ask the question: does a reissue verify the greatness of an album, or does it simply "manufacture nostalgia"?) We should pay our respects to the old masters, but always keep our ears - and our wallets - open to anyone in these times who is making the journey.

 

Date:	31-Jan-2001 18:18:42
From:	Amy Garland (jazbilly@bellsouth.net)
	I am concerned with the re-issues as my brother in law's landmark alum "Jazz Winds From A New Direction" was re-issued over and over. The only problem I have found with it is that the artist do not get paid for it. I know that Hank didn't. It is my hope that other artist who have had their works re-issued are being paid for all of their hard work. Amy Garland www.hankgarland.com

 

Date:	20-Feb-2001 21:38:23
From:	Tony (TOPZ65@aol.com)
	I think reissues are great. Although they need to start reissuing the not so popular ones. Just because some critic isn't calling a particular album a classic doesn't mean I don't think it is.