A Sh*tload of music for not much moola...
polksda
Posts: 716
(If you're not a fan of either classical music or vintage jazz, it's probably best you move on...)
Box sets always intrigue me in terms of value for the dollar, you just have to be careful with some of them as to the level of performances. In the case of these box sets though, it really doesn't matter.
These first two I had been watching on the UK and French Amazon sites, as they perpetually had the best prices on these, but now the U.S. Amazon site is carrying them both at VERY nice prices. I bought a pair for my mother for her birthday, and while I was at it I picked a pair up for myself.
If you take the time to read through the reviews, they are uniformly quite positive. While there are certainly better performances of individual works, the overall level appears to be quite high. Just getting a "complete" set of works (as we know them) is a feat unto itself... doing it at a dirt cheap price point is absolutely wonderful.
Note: The Mozart set is performed on period instruments rather than modern instruments, so the sound may not be what you anticipate in many cases, e.g., what are modernly performed as piano works are performed on harpsichord. This aspect of the set actually intrigues me.
Mozart Complete Works (170 CD Box Set). $90.99 shipped.
Bach Complete Works (155 CD Box Set). $99.99 shipped.
(continued in next post due to exceeding character count...)
Box sets always intrigue me in terms of value for the dollar, you just have to be careful with some of them as to the level of performances. In the case of these box sets though, it really doesn't matter.
These first two I had been watching on the UK and French Amazon sites, as they perpetually had the best prices on these, but now the U.S. Amazon site is carrying them both at VERY nice prices. I bought a pair for my mother for her birthday, and while I was at it I picked a pair up for myself.
If you take the time to read through the reviews, they are uniformly quite positive. While there are certainly better performances of individual works, the overall level appears to be quite high. Just getting a "complete" set of works (as we know them) is a feat unto itself... doing it at a dirt cheap price point is absolutely wonderful.
Note: The Mozart set is performed on period instruments rather than modern instruments, so the sound may not be what you anticipate in many cases, e.g., what are modernly performed as piano works are performed on harpsichord. This aspect of the set actually intrigues me.
Mozart Complete Works (170 CD Box Set). $90.99 shipped.
Bach Complete Works (155 CD Box Set). $99.99 shipped.
(continued in next post due to exceeding character count...)
Post edited by polksda on
Comments
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For you vintage jazz afficionados (modified from a summary I posted on another site late last year; no longer available on Amazon or eBay it seems, but CDUniverse appears to have it):
The Big Band Box (40 CD Box Set). $55.95 + S&H.
If anyone's looking for a nice comprehensive anthology of big band music, I recommend checking out "The Big Band Box". It's a 40-CD set (792 songs) that can be readily obtained on Ebay or though Amazon. I paid $53 including shipping for mine. It's basically 20 2-CD cases, with each 2-CD set devoted to a particular big band (a couple of volumes are split across 2 bands, 1 disc each).
I've not listened to all of the discs, but the ones I have listened to sound quite decent from a noise standpoint, given the era.
The "box" isn't anything special, just a cardboard box to hold the CDs.
In a nutshell, the artists included are:
Duke Ellington (3 CDs)
Count Basie (2 CDs)
Benny Goodman (2 CDs)
Glenn Miller (2 CDs)
Tommy Dorsey (2 CDs)
Harry James (2 CDs)
Artie Shaw (2 CDs)
Woody Herman (2 CDs)
Cab Calloway (2 CDs)
Gene Krupa (2 CDs)
Stan Kenton (2 CDs)
Chick Webb (2 CDs)
Jimmy Lunceford (2 CDs)
Erskine Hawkins (2 CDs)
Fletcher Henderson (2 CDs)
Charlie Barnet (2 CDs)
Benny Carter (2 CDs)
Bunny Berigan (2 CDs)
Louis Armstrong (1 CD)
Dizzie Gillespie (1 CD)
Lionel Hampton (1 CD)
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And my favorite box. This is a summary I posted on another site back in November 2006. Pricing still seems to apply.
I had my doubts when I ordered this boxed set, but now that I've had it for a few weeks, this item is way cool.
If you're into old-time dixieland, swing, bebop, or big band jazz, you may want to look for "The Ultimate Jazz Archive." It's a 168-CD boxed set covering 1899 through 1955. It's done as a 1 disc-per artist configuration, so obviously the discographies per artist are far from complete, but it gives the widest cross-section of musicians I've ever seen in one place. If you're looking for obscure old-tyme music, this is it.
The CDs are in 4-CD jewel cases (not slim-line, they're a proprietary type I've not seen before; several of mine got cracked in shipment, but I emailed JPC and they sent out 6 replacement jewel cases at no charge -- great customer service!).
Each 4-CD jewel case is referred to as a "set":
Set 01-09: 36 CD's - Classic Jazz, Ragtime, Dixieland
Set 10-16: 28 CD's - Blues
Set 17: 4 CD's - Boogie Woogie
Set 18-32: 60 CD's - Swing To Bebop, Modern Jazz
Set 33-37: 20 CD's - Big Band
Set 38-42: 20 CD's - Vocalists
You can find it sometimes on Ebay, but it usually ends up going for too much money. I ordered mine from JPC.de.
Including shipping from Germany, it cost about $125.... less than a buck per CD.
Artists included:
Scott Joplin - 1899-1917 [60:56]
Original Dixieland Jazz Band - 1917-1921 [53:54]
New Orleans Rhythm Kings - 1922-1935 [60:05]
King Oliver - 1923-1930 [53:01]
Jelly Roll Morton - 1923-1927 [58:26]
Duke Ellington - 1924-1927 [60:25]
Bix Beiderbecke - 1924-1928 [64:36]
Buster Bailey - 1924-1942 [62:32]
Johnny Dodds - 1923-1929 [65:38]
Louis Armstrong - 1926-1931 [68:08]
Luis Russell - 1926-1934 [61:11]
Red Nichols - 1927-1928 [47:37]
McKinney's Cotton Pickers - 1928-1929 [70:55]
Jack Teagarden - 1928-1934 [50:36]
J.C. Higginbotham - 1929-1940 [67:38]
Benny Carter - 1929-1933 [70:30]
Clarence Williams - 1929-1930 [68:12]
Fletcher Henderson - 1927 [71:39]
Jabbo Smith's Rhythm Aces - 1929-1938 [74:33]
Rhythmakers, The - 1932 [43:51]
Sidney Bechet - 1932-1939 [59:48]
Washboard Rhythm Kings - 1933 [60:15]
Mezz Mezzrow - 1936-1939 [60:46]
Pee Wee Russell - 1938-1945 [65:40]
Muggsy Spanier - 1939-1944 [50:35]
Bud Freeman - 1939-1940 [72:28]
Eddie Condon Dixieland All-Stars - 1939-1946 [60:20]
George Wettling - 1940-1944 [51:10]
Lu Watters - 1942 [60:12]
Bobby Hackett - 1938-1944 [62:07]
Edmond Hall - 1941-1944 [70:48]
Barney Bigard - 1944 [59:24]
Kid Ory - 1948 [51:52]
Wilbur De Paris - 1951-1952 [62:58]
George Lewis Ragtime Jazzband Of New Orleans, The - 1952 [58:59]
Louis Armstrong - 1955 [63:38]
Bessie Smith - 1923-1931 [70:48]
Ma Rainey - 1924-1925 [50:11]
Mississippi John Hurt - 1928 [38:21]
Tampa Red - 1928-1942 [54:56]
T-Bone Walker - 1929-1946 [59:14]
Josh White - 1932-1936 [61:30]
Blind Willie McTell - 1931-1933 [70:08]
Big Bill Broonzy - 1932-1946 [47:52]
Leadbelly - 1934-1940 [63:13]
Big Joe Williams - 1935-1945 [63:59]
Robert Johnson - 1936-1937 [37:55]
Kokomo Arnold - 1936-1937 [50:14]
Sonny Boy Williamson - John Lee Williamson [1937-1939] [63:37]
Sonny Terry - 1937-1940 [48:47]
Sleepy John Estes - 1937-1941 [73:29]
Brownie McGhee - 1940-1941 [48:55]
Memphis Slim - 1940-1941 [70:54]
Muddy Waters - 1941-1942 [51:14]
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup - Big Boy Crudup [1941-1946] [60:00]
Big Joe Turner - 1941-1946 [60:58]
Roosevelt Sykes - 1944-1950 [65:51]
Lightnin' Hopkins - 1946-1948 [47:54]
John Lee Hooker - 1948-1953 [51:15]
Johnny Otis - 1949-1950 [66:09]
B.B. King - 1949-1952 [54:42]
Jimmy Witherspoon - 1950-1951 [40:04]
Howlin' Wolf - 1951-1952 [71:23]
Ray Charles - 1952-1954 [57:05]
Albert Ammons - 1939-1946 [64:22]
Meade "Lux" Lewis - 1940-1944 [55:31]
Pete Johnson - 1944-1947 [56:40]
Various - The Big Band Boogie Woogie [1938-1956] [60:59]
Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang - 1926-1933 [53:26]
Fats Waller - 1929-1938 [61:51]
Coleman Hawkins - 1929-1935 [73:00]
Art Tatum - 1933-1941 [50:58]
Ben Webster - 1932-1944 [63:47]
Quintette Du Hot Club De France - Django Reinhardt [1936-1937] [52:41]
Benny Goodman - Small Group Recordings [1935-1936] [62:32]
Roy Eldridge - 1935-1941 [53:24]
Earl Hines - Earl "Fatha" Hines [1934-1942] [53:25]
Lester Young - 1936-1944 [61:04]
Teddy Wilson - 1934-1946 [61:28]
Benny Carter - 1936-1937 [49:05]
Lionel Hampton - 1937-1940 [71:31]
John Kirby And His Onyx Club Boys - Charlie Shavers [1938-1941] [64:20]
Charlie Christian - 1939-1941 [71:35]
Dexter Gordon - 1943-1947 [55:24]
Erroll Garner - 1944-1947 [45:16]
Slam Stewart - 1945-1946 [70:14]
Wardell Gray - 1946-1949 [74:30]
Lucky Thompson - 1945-1947 [55:25]
Don Byas - 1945-1947 [58:09]
Illinois Jacquet - 1946-1947 [54:00]
Charlie Parker - 1945-1947 [61:22]
Dizzy Gillespie - 1945-1946 [56:44]
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - 1946-1948 [65:29]
Lennie Tristano - 1946-1949 [64:49]
Thelonious Monk - 1947 [70:22]
Fats Navarro - 1947-1949 [52:39]
George Shearing - 1947-1953 [65:28]
Gene Ammons - 1947-1953 [60:11]
Sonny Stitt - 1949-1952 [72:24]
Bud Powell - 1949-1950 [39:57]
Lee Konitz - 1949-1951 [55:52]
Miles Davis - 1949-1953 [71:36]
Zoot Sims - 1950-1953 [78:42]
Herbie Mann - 1954-1956 [49:47]
James Moody - 1951-1955 [73:07]
Stan Getz - 1950-1952 [60:20]
Dave Brubeck - 1949-1953 [65:14]
Modern Jazz Quartet, The - 1951-1955 [56:52]
J.J. Johnson - Jay Jay Johnson [1949-1953] [53:47]
Gerry Mulligan - 1950-1953 [48:41]
Sonny Rollins - 1951-1953 [72:37]
Paul Quinichette - 1951-1953 [66:45]
Art Pepper - 1950-1954 [62:27]
Shorty Rogers - 1951-1956 [76:36]
Horace Silver - 1952 [44:15]
Chet Baker - 1952-1954 [51:00]
Bud Shank - 1953 [45:31]
Clifford Brown - 1953 [73:36]
Charlie Parker - 1949-1954 [70:56]
Barney Kessel - 1952-1954 [55:11]
Lou Donaldson - 1952-1954 [64:54]
Art Farmer - 1953-1956 [36:14]
Tal Farlow - 1952-1955 [55:45]
Charles Mingus - 1954 [41:52]
Dizzy Gillespie - 1953-1954 [58:22]
Phil Woods - 1954-1955 [52:59]
Jackie McLean & Donald Byrd - 1955 [40:10]
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - The Jazz Messengers [1955] [61:55]
Bennie Moten - 1930-1932 [68:51]
Jimmie Lunceford - 1930-1934 [59:00]
Fletcher Henderson - 1934-1936 [56:57]
Chick Webb - 1934-1937 [58:06]
Benny Goodman - 1935-1939 [65:01]
Tommy Dorsey - 1935-1938 [57:35]
Harry James [2] - 1937-1939 [62:42]
Earl Hines - Earl "Fatha" Hines [1937-1946] [55:19]
Count Basie - 1937-1944 [71:32]
Artie Shaw - 1938-1941 [72:50]
Glenn Miller - 1938-1941 [72:09]
Bunny Berigan - 1937-1939 [62:30]
Gene Krupa - 1938-1941 [50:21]
Charlie Barnet - 1939 [63:44]
Erskine Hawkins - 1940-1945 [59:09]
Lionel Hampton - 1945-1946 [59:46]
Duke Ellington - 1941-1947 [62:25]
Woody Herman - 1945-1954 [74:11]
Stan Kenton - 1950-1953 [65:21]
Shorty Rogers - 1951-1953 [50:52]
Boswell Sisters, The - 1931-1939 [72:58]
Mills Brothers, The - 1932-1937 [55:10]
Billie Holiday - 1933-1936 [57:24]
Mildred Bailey - 1935-1939 [58:43]
Ivie Anderson - 1932-1942 [68:08]
Ella Fitzgerald - 1936-1940 [56:12]
Andrews Sisters, The - [no information] [44:59]
Lena Horne - 1936-1944 [70:43]
Anita O'Day - 1940-1945 [68:35]
Billy Eckstine - 1944-1947 [60:21]
Peggy Lee - 1941-1953 [60:34]
Nat King Cole - 1943-1946 [60:49]
June Christy - 1945-1947 [62:57]
Frank Sinatra - 1944-1949 [67:45]
Dinah Washington - 1945-1953 [64:05]
Mel Torm -
Wow, some very sweet deals. Good find! This should be in the Deal of the Day thread!
Honoured to be, an original SOPA founding member
Stuff...
RTi12's - front
CSi5 - center
FXi3's - surrounds
RTi4's - surrounds
SVS PB12-NSD/2 - sub
Denon 3805
Rotel RB-985 5-Channel Amplifier -
I might be interested in the big band stuff. Write something about the music and sound quality once you hear more of it if you have time.
madmaxVinyl, the final frontier...
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... -
Well, music from that era (1930s and 1940s) is all in mono. The material in "The Big Band Box" is all excellent quality, i.e., not fill with pops, clicks or background hiss.
I've not listened to all of the discs in The Ultimate Jazz Archive. The extremely early material (1890s through the 1920s) is very variable in sound quality, although that's to be expected. From the 1930s through the 1950s (the VAST majority of the set) the quality is solid. The Mills Brothers and Andrews Sisters material is quite lovely, for example.
By the way, if you have an XM Radio subscription, check out the 1940s channel. It's the first of the "Decade" channels, and as such actually covers big band, jazz, and some blues from the 1920s through the 1940s. Excellent variety as well... -
"The Ultimate Jazz Archive"
That looks sweet. Thanks for the info.engtaz
I love how music can brighten up a bad day. -
I've been eyeballing the classical sets since you posted it. Thanks again."He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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"The Ultimate Jazz Archive"
That looks sweet. Thanks for the info.
I found this title in a catalog from jazzstore.com that a friend let me borrow. It was "on sale" for $599.98, down from $899.98.:eek:
Hopefully you can find a better price.Wristwatch--->Crisco -
Sure, those big box sets can be a very inexpensive way to get an introduction to collecting a particular composer or era. A little smaller box, but still a real bargain, is this 7-disc set of Tchaikovsky Symphonies and Orchestral Music available from Amazon sellers for about $25-$30.
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Great prices.
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I found this title in a catalog from jazzstore.com that a friend let me borrow. It was "on sale" for $599.98, down from $899.98.:eek:
Hopefully you can find a better price.
Actually, I give a link above where you can order it for approximately $125 shipped, depending on the exchange rate. It's where I ordered mine from, and I had no problems...
$600 is insane. -
Actually, I give a link above where you can order it for approximately $125 shipped, depending on the exchange rate. It's where I ordered mine from, and I had no problems...
$600 is insane.
I re-read that. Sorry, I wasn't trying to cast a bad light on that deal, just showing how much more you could pay if you didn't do your homework.
$125 is phenomenomally cheap. Hell, even $600 for the set works out to $3.58 a disc.Wristwatch--->Crisco -
Just curious, how is the recording/mastering quality on the Jazz Archive set?For rig details, see my profile. Nothing here anymore...
