After the mess with the European version of the Marvin Gayes reissue, I spontaneously pulled the trigger on the Tubby Hayes Boxset (just to see it drop in price after my purchase). With the rising price level of the Tone Poets, BNC, and AS series, 185 Eur for this set seemed rather attractive. And I am happy I did it. I love the lining box and especially what I am hearing. Tubby's sax sound really meaty, present, and somehow ripe. Soundwise I am just happy. Musicwise, well, it's not Rendell/Carr level, but decent (spinning the 2nd record right now). The scanned sleeves look a bit silly (like the Pink Floyd once), but honestly, for 15 Eur/record, I am fine. Mastering seems superb to me. Vinyl is very silent so far, but both LPs I played are warped (coffee-cup) - it would be great to get some info, whether or not that's always the case, or would it be worth exchanging the box. It can be fixed with a clamp, but I find it inconvenient. Overall great value for money and rather a steal. BTW: played all Rendell/Carr reissues recently. My appreciation grew even higher. This is as good as it can get - both, from an artistic and technical standpoint. Oh, Equation in Rhythm is nice!!
Mexican Green and one other, possibly Tubbs Tours were warped for me. I chose not to return it as they were very slight edge warps. I don't think the scans are too bad. The image quality is similar to the scans used in the subsequent Decca series. If they were laminated flipbacks like those, it probably would look better but I suspect they did them as they appeared in the box to save space. FWIW, I had the 2007 Japanese LP reissue of Mexican Green and it is similar image quality. The quality of the Japanese LP sleeve reproductions are astonishing, possibly better than the Decca series' laminated flip-back sleeves.
Those Rendell/Carr titles are fire. The first week I discovered them (a few months back) I ordered all 5 from the series and Space Walk, plus the other 2 Decca releases and Prelude to the Heart is a Lotus.
Very nice! I almost forgot I got those records. Need to pull them out for a listen this afternoon. Good stuff indeed!
That's why I bought all 9 recommendations, so I wouldn't forget and they would have their own section within my jazz section.
Its a great example of why I need to slow down bringing more records into the collection at the pace I have been on. I may regret not getting a particular title, but I really need to sit back and enjoy what I already have. I tell my wife its not my fault and if you want to complain, get a hold of the key people at the labels and tell them to quit releasing so many wonderful records, because I'm as innocent as they come here.
i managed to piece together the 5 rendell/carr LPs -- took some work but i am so happy with these titles. they definitely get played sequentially and as a group ...which is really the only way to listen to them. a great sub-section in my jazz library as well.
I think we have the opposite problem with the Decca series. They have all these vanishingly rare titles lined up since last July and they are nowhere to be seen as of yet.
Ha! Probably not the best thread to post that type of comment on, its early and I was not taking that into consideration. Thus the reason @Moray made that comment. I'll have my wife get back a hold of them and say she did not know what she was thinking at the time...
Listening to the "Changes Is" album again. I didnt give it a chance the first time due to the out there beginning of the album. After playing it through though it is a very good album. Changes up as the album goes along and then when I listened to the beginning again it seemed to gel in my mind. Its so odd to me how that happens in jazz with me so much. Its like my mind rejects the music until the rejected is places in context, then it makes sense and is something I enjoy. I dont know of any other genre that has that effect on my acceptability and change of mind about an album. If that makes sense at all.
If you want to place the record in context, you ought to read the notes which they supplied with the box set: http://jazzmanrecords.co.uk/rendellcarr.pdf I think Jazzman were sending the booklets out with purchases from their online shop as well.
Is it worth paying $240 on the aftermarket in the US? Contemplating picking it up as I listen on YouTube....
That is about 200 quid which is the RRP. You can also order it from the Decca UK store and they can post it worldwide. They frequently have 20% off sales if you sign up to their newsletter, so good things come to those who wait.
If you like the music, it is certainly worth that price. By all accounts it is really well done. Personally, I only like a couple of the albums enough to where I would play them more than once or twice, so it was an easy pass for me. So I would say it depends on how much you like the music as a whole. Editing to add it has popped up several times for $200 or less on Amazon, so you may be able to get a better deal if you wait. But for how many LPs you get, $240 isn't too shabby IMO.
Currently £152.57 ($190.71) on Amazon UK. Even though I bought it from Rough Trade at their brief bargain price of £89 ($111.25) it is still in my 'saved for later' on Amazon. The price bounces up and down frequently between £150 and £200. If you really, really want it (and it is great) then just buy now. If you 'hold your nerve' it may go cheaper... or, of course, it may sell out!
When I read that, my initial thought was: I totally get it, but there are so many... But that was because I misread the quoted statement. What I was falsely reading was THE best purchase ever, and I was thinking about it (it is THAT good). ONE of the best purchases - absolutely. Without any doubt by now. On par with my reference AAA box set, the Dylan Mono Box (well, I know, the Beatles.... have it, love it). The crucial factor is.....THE MASTERING. Those records sound incredibly good. First of all, it is essential to say that I never heard an original. But for way over a year, I have been listening to almost everyday to Jazz records — mainly modern reissues (the usual suspects). And what I hear with the Tubby Hayes Boxset is absolute high-class AAA mastering, executed on the highest level. Those records are sounding so damn good; it is ridiculous. Those must have been killer recordings in the first place. I will write a sum-up after I am through all of them, but gosh, I am super happy that I went for it. It is definitely amongst the best vinyl purchases ever. I could write and praise it on and on, but try to keep it short. We have one of the most excellent Boxes (that linen!) ever, until now, perfect pressings (hope I don't jinx it), and I made my peace with the non-Stoughton covers. I really like the covers now. Although there is no Stoughton printing, they provide a good feel and great colors. Really nothing to complain about (at all). Gosh, without counting the most excellent linen box plus the booklet I still have to take a look at, we are talking under 15 EUR/disc. Ridiculous! And also the music: the same effect as with quite some BN releases. While streaming (and not so much focusing and partly fast-forwarding), it didn't grab me that much. Listening to the vinyl: very engaging, swinging, absolutely quality stuff that made me listen to the same side a couple of times before - reluctantly, more out of a sense of duty flipping it. The Bass on Tubby in NY is killing me. It sounds as good as bass can sound (I'd wish Passing Ships and others of my favorite BN records would have captured the bass like that, well....dreaming). Also, it strikes me how consistent the sound of these recordings is! Playing"Return visit!" right now, BTW. I just had a first and brief look at the Booklet. Looks interesting and informative, seems to be designed with love and care, and has nice photo reproduction. Well, done, Decca - again! Wow. Nothing beats a well-recorded, well-mastered, and flawlessly pressed all-analog recording. As good as a digital mastering can be (Pink Floyd), there IS a difference. And this is the quality I am looking for. Go for it, forum fellas!
This is prompting me to play something from the Tubby box myself today. I also love Csdpar Sutton-Jones's mastering on this and everything involving Gearbox. For me the obvious key to enjoying these records is Tubby's compelling playing, itself... seems obvious, but I've actually enjoyed the ones that aren't as well regarded as the best, like the 'pop' album thanks to Tubby's playing.
Honestly, you almost have me thinking I need to reassess Tubby a bit……..I’m like a broken record on this thread but he is one of the few UK Jazz giants that never really grabbed me (and I have tried a few different things by him). I have no doubt he was hugely influential on the Brit Jazz scene……..but his sessions always seemed more akin to what was coming out of the US at the same time…..rather than that unique sound you get on the best Brit Jazz stuff (Rendell, Carr, Westbrook, Mike Taylor etc). My loss I’m sure - and I am sure I’ll regret not picking up that box sent whilst it is in print!! BTW, any word on when/if we might get more from this series. It seems to go very quiet - then bubble back up with a Twitter post - but nothing official from Universal.
I think that's a reasonable enough statement, in broad terms. For me, it's the pure quality of his playing that caught me though.
So this probably isn’t exactly the correct thread, as it isn’t Decca or UK Jazz, but we’ve discussed quite a few Jazzman releases in here, and I have to give a quick shoutout to an album I picked up from them recently; Sketching the Unknown by the Sokratis Votskos Quartet. This album was released in 2019 and I cannot recommend it enough. It’s been spinning on repeat in my house lately and I can’t get enough. A description from Bandcamp: Linking the ancient and the modern across time and space, the Sokratis Votskos Quartet presents Sketching the Unknown – a modern jazz journey into the folk and modal music of ancient Greece. Playing rich original compositions, the Quartet draw freely on Greek and Balkan folk sources, jazz idioms, and the classical makams of the near East. Returning to ancient Greek modes such as Dorian, Phrygian and Lydian, a fresh perspective is brought to the modal style that was popularised by Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock. Expertly versed in musical theory, the pioneering jazz players that adapted these modes for the new jazz of the late 1950s and 1960s worked in full knowledge of their ancient Greek historical origins. The musical freedom offered by these ancient scales helped them take their music to a higher level as they laid the groundwork for the spiritual moment in jazz. On Sketching the Unknown, the Sokratis Votskos Quartet brings that process full circle, linking today's jazz back to the ancient modes and microtonal folk music of Greece and the Near East. Deep modal jazz sounds from an ancient source!
