Ella and Louis Again SACD........half baked.

Am I missing something...if so I will gladly offer a complete retraction.

I am very familiar with this set as it has been a part of my mother's collection for as long as I can remember. About 3 or 4 years ago I bought the Verve remaster edition reissue. The original LP was a double album set (4 sides) with 19 songs. The Verve CD reissue mirrors the LP content with two CDs.

The Analog Productions SACD to be released in July is half baked......literally. And may be false advertising, too. It only contains content of the first two sides of the LP release. More than half of the *music* is missing. That is too much. We are talking about music from two of the greatest American music legends of all time.

A few weeks back I complained about a Ray Charles Analog Productions SACD that did not include 5 songs from the original recording session that are included with the CD reissue. These songs, three or four which are memorable performances, had been excluded from the original release because of the capacity limits of the LP. It's a shame that the SACD suffers this major penalty.

But the "Ella and Louis Again" SACD, exclusion of even *original* content is borderline egregious if the music is your main priority (over *possible* sound improvements). It should be retitled "Ella and Louis Again "abridged" or "Part One".

I do support Analog Productions (but I won't be buying this SACD) and if you want to buy this one go right ahead. But because of the great *music* that has been amputated from the SACD you owe it to yourself to spend $13-$15 and buy the two Verve CD set which happens to have very good sound.

Otherwise, the music, even the 9 titles on the SACD is great stuff. My only complaint is that there are not nearly enough Armstrong solos. The musicianship is top tier from Ella and Louis as expected (they don't always appear together), but from Oscar Peterson, Heb Ellis, Louie Bellson and Ray Brown, too.

Robert C. Lang

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Part 2 of my list of hi-rez discs that... - Pete Watt 15:02:06 06/18/12 (14)

RE: Part 2 of my list of hi-rez discs that... - Jwm 12:26:52 06/21/12 (0)

RE: Part 2 of my list of hi-rez discs that... - terrycym 04:16:33 06/21/12 (1)

I'd still like to own the SACD - Metralla 06:30:14 06/21/12 (0)

RE: Part 2 of my list of hi-rez discs that... - fantja 15:41:58 06/20/12 (0)

RE: Part 2 of my list of hi-rez discs that... - Bruce B 13:04:17 06/19/12 (0)

RE: Part 2 of my list of hi-rez discs that... - Disbeliever 22:40:26 06/18/12 (0)

Why didn't you get the new Ella and Louis or Illinois jacquet? - Jazz Inmate 22:38:18 06/18/12 (7)

Ella and Louis Again SACD........half baked. - Robert C. Lang 12:11:35 06/19/12 (4)

I'm lucky if my baby lets me listen to jazz for more than 10 minutes in a row - Jazz Inmate 20:57:30 06/20/12 (2)

Proven antidote - Robert C. Lang 12:55:51 06/21/12 (0)

Perhaps it's time to find a new baby Jazzman - Ozzie 10:57:41 06/21/12 (0)

Thanks for the warning; if true, very uncool about the missing 10 tracks! nt - Mudshark 14:36:16 06/20/12 (0)

Thanks for the tips. I already own the original... - Pete Watt 08:00:19 06/19/12 (1)

Swing's the Thing by Illinois Jacquet - Jazz Inmate 09:19:14 06/19/12 (0)

Follow Ups

Ella and Louis Again SACD........half baked. - Robert C. Lang 12:11:35 06/19/12 (4)

I'm lucky if my baby lets me listen to jazz for more than 10 minutes in a row - Jazz Inmate 20:57:30 06/20/12 (2)

Proven antidote - Robert C. Lang 12:55:51 06/21/12 (0)

Perhaps it's time to find a new baby Jazzman - Ozzie 10:57:41 06/21/12 (0)

Thanks for the warning; if true, very uncool about the missing 10 tracks! nt - Mudshark 14:36:16 06/20/12 (0)

Ella and Louis Again SACD........half baked.

Post a Message!