Upcoming Verve SACDs from Analogue Productions

Any info on if the Verve program will continue under a new mastering engineer?

Also, would be nice to have a list of titles released and then a comparison to the Drakes.

 

Anyone know why Ella & Louis Again was issued by AP as only a single disc without all of the tracks originally on the 2 LP release?

 

I can't answer your question, but I do know that there were two releases back in the 1950s, Ella & Louis, a single album (Verve MGV-4003, 1956), and Ella & Louis Again, a double album (Verve MGV-4006-2, 1957). Analogue Productions released both, on 2 SACDs:

Nos.1 + 2

 

The AP SACD for Again only contains side 1 and 2 of the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_and_Louis_Again

Any idea why the SACD didn't include side 3 and 4? Are they not considered part of the true original album?

 

I have no idea. Maybe they plan to release a second SACD volume - that's pure speculation, though

According to the Michel Ruppli Clef/Verve discography the songs on the original set were recorded during different sessions in 1957.

 

Strange. I hope there is a good reason why they left off sides 3 and 4 then as there is more than enough space on an SACD for them.

 

I agree, it's weird. I also never understood why they didn't include the extra tracks on some of their impulse! SACDs - but that's a different topic. Maybe it's got something to do with the cost of licensing, which seems to be pretty steep for SACDs - or so I'm told.

 

I hope your speculation is correct. I would buy the second volume of Ella & Louis Again to get the rest of the tracks. This is great stuff.

 

Here is the email response I got from Acoustic Sounds regarding the incomplete Ella And Louis Again SACD release.

Dear Bryan,

Thank you for contacting Acoustic Sounds, Inc.

Regarding the Analogue Productions SACD reissue of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong/Ella and Louis Again (CVRJ 4017 SA) and our decision to release it as a single disc set, please understand that this title was part of a larger Verve reissue series of 25 titles. That series was conceptualized as a vinyl LP series. We chose 25 Verve titles to release as two-LP, 45-RPM sets. We wanted each title to be just two LPs. As this was primarily an LP series, all of our mastering decisions were made with the LP version as the focal point. We decided to include the SACD versions to satisfy those customers who were interested in that format. But in the case of the Ella and Louis Again, because we wanted to limit it to only two 45-RPM LPs, we chose to stick with just the nine tracks. In fact, this title, though commonly thought of as a double-disc set, has in fact previously been released as two separate titles.

We are in the process of working to secure the rights to another 25 Verve titles, with plans to again release them on 45-RPM LP and SACD. While we can't guarantee that this reissue series will in fact come to market, those are our plans. Also, should this second set of 25 Verves come available, it won't be for at least a few years. However, if we do reissue that second set of 25 titles, we do plan to include the second part of the Ella and Louis Again.

Thank you for your inquiry.

Nate Lennox

Acoustic Sounds, Inc.

 

Thanks for getting to the bottom of it. Although it's an explanation I don't think it's really a satisfactory one. Perhaps they shouldn't have picked a 2 LP (@33) set to put on 45 if they weren't willing to do it on 4 lp's.

So basically we get half an album with the possibility of the opportunity to pay for part 2 someday.

 

I thought the explanation was a bit lame myself but it is what it is I suppose.

 

I'm seeing the bright side and hoping those next 25 titles come to fruition. Though I don't have a big interest in Ella.

 

Thanks for sharing their response!

And I agree, that is really frustrating - getting half an album is like getting only half of a painting. Hrmmm I guess I will skip this one then...even though I was really looking forward to the release.

 

They wanted to limit the next instalment to one 45rpm disc only, which will be named Ella & Louis Again Again. This will be followed a few years later with a further instalment released on 7" EP named Ella & Louis Again Again Again and then a final limited numbered instalment on 78rpm shellac disc named Ella & Louis Again Again Again Again. When asked why, Nate Lennox responded: Because this is how it was conceptualized. And because we wanted to.

(The above is satire)

 

The newest shipment of Verve SACDs are pretty nice. Man, I love the EMPATHY SACD. It sounds great and the music is fantastic. This has just become a new demonstration disc for me.

 

I have that on an old Verve CD combined with the other Evans/Manne combo outing- could be a Dennis Drake - I can't check now. Not sure if I'm going to add that to my Bill Evans SACD collection. I like the music, but am not wild about it.

 

Are there (or will there be) more Verve titles announced after the twenty five in this series? I would have thought AP would include at least a few of the Ella Fitzgerald songbooks in a Verve series!

 

It's strange how UMG/Verve has treated those titles. You'd think the Cole Porter Songbook, which I (and I suspect many others) would consider a landmark recording, would have been a candidate for a high rez version, when Verve, itself, was releasing them. To my knowledge, it has never been released in any high resolution format (in Japan or elsewhere). The only Songbook high rez of which I am aware is HDTracks release of the Rodgers and Hart Songbook.

 

I was excited for a moment then because i thought VERVE the band were on SACD. Urban Hymns in 5.1 would be a treat.

Oh well.

 

The Charlie Byrd/Stan Getz Jazz Samba disc is great, such an important album in the bossa nova scene

 

HDTracks release of the Rodgers and Hart Songbook
Do you have/like that one? Someone at Audio Circle forum was disappointed with the sound (liked the VME CD better!). The mp3 sample data indicates Sterling as the source, so guessing it to be the Kevin Reeves version, it should at least equal the CD?

Anyway AP or some 'audiophile' outfit should have a go at remastering these!

 

I do like it overall. I should do a close analysis as I have the 1997 CDs as well. As I've stated on other threads, the mix of mono and stereo tracks differs. It is a tragedy that that the download contains the stereo version of "Tramp." The CD contains the far superior mono mix. On the other hand, the mono version of "Dancing on the Ceiling," only available on the download, is ravishing.

 

I did a comparison last night between my VME (mastered by Suha Gur and Fred W. Meyer) and the HDTracks release (96/24) focusing primarily on Ella's voice. The HDTracks version was significantly better. Her voice was purer, sweeter, warmer, less harsh.

Other notes. The HDTracks is modestly lower in volume than the VME. The VME seemed to emphasize midrange; the HDTracks definitely had more bottom and perhaps more at the top.

I do not believe that the improvement was due solely to the superior resolution; it sounds like a different mastering to me. Also, as noted the two versions differ as to mono/ stereo track selection. From the tracks I've heard, I wish they had stayed completely in mono, but in most cases I can live with the stereo. I'll keep the VME for "The Lady is a Tramp" in mono.

 

I just played this and have to concur. I thought this was a great SACD, both music and sound quality. Not sure why Greenwood has a problem with it, maybe he prefers a harder bebop sound?

 

Listened to it again this week. I just don't find as interesting musically as his work with LeFaro or Jim Hall. Or the much later "You Must Believe in Spring." It always seems to become background music for me.