I thought the same but Concord Group music looks like it's distributed by Universal Music Group : Max Roach - Deeds, Not Words
Went to my local shop to buy Ike Quebec today after skipping a few issues and it seems they've decided to no longer stock it. So looks like I'll be going through the headache of website ordering. That is if the website actually works.
I have only ever bought from the website and it is working fine at the moment. As long as you accept that delivery will be 2-3 weeks and are relaxed about that then all is good. Ike Quebec is the latest to be added #39, I ordered it yesterday.
And, in fairness, I have been a subscriber from the start and have not had any problems. It worked out slower in that I am about 8 issues behind the shops (notwithstanding that I signed up when issue 2 was in the shops) but I am not in any rush.
DeAgostini Shop UK Just add item to basket and proceed to checkout, what is the problem you have?. The "more info" on each LP no longer works since the update. I have found that Amex cards are not accepted.
I've just bought Ike Quebec. I haven't seen this series before but came to it via The Beatles deagostini pressings which I am enjoying. MPO seem to do a great job. Hopefully this pressing will impress as well as the album, which I am not familiar with. Seems to be highly rated though and I fancy some late night jazz, so took the plunge!
It's a slippery slope! I bought the first issue, Miles Davis - Kind of Blue and was very impressed, so I bought the second, John Coltrane - Blue Train. Again, I was impressed. I knew very little about jazz when this series started. I've now bought around 2/3rds of this series, as well as other albums and CDs by the artists I've liked. The pressing quality and musical quality as well as the packaging has been consistently excellent. I've had no faults at all over around 30 LPs, which is very impressive nowadays. I'm thoroughly enjoying the series and there's more gems to come. The only problem I have had, and it's a major one, is that the mail order service is pathetic. The worst I've ever had anywhere. They are ridiculously slow. The last time I tried to order from them I wanted number 36 - Max Roach. They then went on to send me no. 37 - Count Basie, so I phoned the dismal customer service line, again saying I want no. 36, not 37. I again receive number 37. So I phone again, spend ages trying to get them to understand. I ask them to clarify and repeat back to me the number and title of the record I want. I then get no. 38 - Benny Carter! So, I phone again. After ages explaining to them the situation, I finally get no.36 - Max Roach. Only this time they've packaged it in a ridiculously oversized box, with no protection. So the box arrives crushed and with large tears on all four sides, the booklet is wet from the rain and the LP sleeve is creased badly. At this point I am absolutely furious with them. I phone and tell them I want a refund as I don't trust them to send the right item. I refused to send the records back as this is in no way my fault and it's an inconvenience to get to the post office. They did at least refund me and I got four free records but that's not the point. I never ended up with an as new copy of the LP I wanted. I only mail ordered in the first place because the only copy in my local WH Smith, the only stockists was creased. I ended up with a worse one. It turns out the numbers on their website, the correct ones, did not correspond to their list! How inept?! They refused to listen to me giving the correct information and went by their own incorrect information, even though I was telling them it was wrong and saying "forget your list, please just send me number 36 - Max Roach". It was an absolute farce. So basically, I love the records, but despise the badly managed and inept DeAgostini customer service, if you can call it that.
Luckily I have avoided mail order via Deagostini. I see many Beatles fans similarly fed up with the service. My local WH Smith seems to get in these jazz titles so I will try my luck there. Amazing pressing quality control, though. I presume that these are MPO pressings like The Beatles ones.
They vary. A lot are MPO, but some I cannot tell what they are, but not MPO. Whatever other pressing plants they are using, they are consistently excellent.
Sorry to hear about those problems. I seem to have been lucky. I have also bought about 2/3 of the collection so far and have only had one problem, a slight crease on one corner of a sleeve. This was early on and the packaging has since improved. I did e mail them about the small crease, only to highlight the packaging they were using, and they sent a replacement without asking for a return. I am now very relaxed about delivery expecting 2-3 weeks usually. It is confusing that they use Royal Mail 48 hour signed for and as someone else pointed out where do they go between dispatch and arriving with Royal Mail? Have never seen these in my local Tesco Extra but they do stock the Beatles series (although until 3 weeks ago they were hidden in the crosswords magazines section, now moved to music magazines}.
My local newsagent finally got in Ike Quebec! Fingers crossed Joe Henderson arrives in the shop tomorrow. I too have bought about 2/3s of them so far and luckily haven't had to deal with deagostini directly.
I am very impressed with my copy of Blue and Sentimental. A really superb pressing and it turns out that this is an underrated classic. Perfect late night listening.
Had no luck with Joe Henderson in my local newsagent, and I can't even find it on the website! Shambles.
My local WHSmith hasn't got the last couple in. Which means going without or dealing with DeAgostini again. I'm thinking of going without.
