Customer Reviews

Complete Hot Five & Hot Seven Recordings (W/Book)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The reprocessing on this (...) compilation is among the worst in years: thin, harsh, and (on the first two CDs) with nearly overwhelming surface noise. Take it from a collector who owns original copies of many of these sides: The originals do NOT sound this bad! Some selections on the first CD were obviously taken from old tapes (a telltale "pre-echo" is clearly audible) rather than being freshly remastered. The noise problem abates somewhat on CDs 3 and 4, but the transfers remain curiously thin and harsh with an inexplicably weak bass compared to the brilliantly recorded originals. Incidentally, all four CDs had glue on the playing surfaces (removable with alcohol; but why should one have to clean a $ set?). The accompanying hardcover book is visually stunning if you can overlook the warped binding boards, and it's not without some sloppy discographical errors. (Among other gaffs, Sony apparently is trying to rewrite record-industry history, making the ludicrous claim that they -- rather than Columbia and Okeh -- produced the original issues!) A far better alternative, at half the price, is JSP's Hot Five/Hot Seven set, masterfully reprocessed by John R.T. Davies. You won't get a book, but you'll get clean, richly detailed transfers that do justice to these historic sides in a way that this set does not.

Columbia missed a trick with this one. Although they succeeded in removing most of the snap and crackle of the original 78s, the resulting sound quality is flat and lifeless. I suppose Columbia was aiming this product at a general listening audience as opposed to a dedicated afficionado of oldie jazz. Perhaps Columbia reasoned that the average listener would find the surface noise distracting. But this music should sound better than it does in Columbia's presentation of it. Yes it sounds clean, but it also sounds dull. There's no bloom on the trumpet tone!

JSP's (much cheaper) issue of this wonderful music is also available on Amazon. The powerful sound of Louis's trumpet comes through much better on their box set.

First of all, the music is five stars plus. I've had these tracks in many different configurations over the years, and they sound better now than ever before. The packaging looks good, and the booklet is informative and classy, but Columbia did us a great disservice by the shabby packaging of the discs themselves.

The discs are where the music is, folks, the heart and soul of any package, and they should be protected. When those discs are slipped without protection into cardboard half-sleeves held to the "endpapers" of the book by a glue that appears similar to rubber cement, the CDs get scratched, and the glue adheres to the CD edges, even making their way onto the surface. Bad, Columbia, bad. This is like when record companies used to put LPs into a cardboard sleeve without a liner.

When you get this set, take the CDs out, clean off the glue, and put them in protective inner sleeves before reinserting them. Fortunately, my CDs seem to play all right, but my CD player is excellent at error correction.

This would be a five-star review, were it not for the packaging. This is like shipping a priceless crystal vase in a cardboard box without padding.

Outstanding! Amazing! I can't believe it. This greatest of all music in the history of the world has never sounded so good. In 1925 at the OKeh Chicago recording studio they had one acoustic horn with a mechanical diaphram and stylus cutting a disc matrix turning on a 78 RPM speed controled turntable. Many of these songs based on those same master records have been issued before on 78, 33 1/3, and CD, but they always sounded like 1925 records before. Now OKeh/Columbia/Sony have put out the same songs on these 4 CDs and made them sound like state-of-the-art 21st century recorded music. I can't believe it. I would have said it couldn't be done before I heard these 4 CDs. Jazz fans of the world owe OKeh/Columbia/Sony a debt of gratitude for issuing Louis Armstrong - The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings. Outstanding! Amazing!

I have at least half of these Armstrong 78s in my collection, and they are master pressings, not dubs. When played with a proper sized needle and equalized properly as well, they sound many times better than the tracks presented here. This collection is an inconsistent sonic mess. The timbre of the songs changes from track to track, some of the speeds are wrong, the volume levels are all over the place, and the overall listening experience is brash and painful. I don't worry so much about surface noise, and this collection has plenty. But a bigger issue is the way the music has been EQ'd --- in many cases an unnatural bass boost that makes the bottom end sound boxy and muddy, and which consequently makes the already-hyped highs sound even thinner and brasher by comparison. There was obviously no attempt made to properly compensate for the turnover frequencies of the original records, and it's a BIG problem for me. The collection sounds like many contributors sent in material transferred/remastered 'their own way' and the result was just thrown together as a finished product. I was very, very, very disappointed; and feel that the inflated purchase price is not justified.

The hard bound book is nice, but is mostly filled with fancy, decoratively framed pictures and montages; very little real reading. Also, after 2 or 3 'readings', pages began to detach. Extremely cheap manufacture. The CDs had glue all over them, which I had to clean off before they would even play.

There is mention in the notes about 'unauthorized' reissues done previously; I assume they are referring to the John R. T. Davies version on British label JSP, which is sonically FAR superior to this set, and by the way, legal according to European copyright law. Well, if Columbia Legacy could learn how to put out a decent product, people would buy it, and they wouldn't have to present Mr. Davies' excellent work as suspect.

Don't waste your money on this one.

I jumped at the chance to get this set and was utterly disappointed with the shoddy packaging (glue on 3 of 4 cds) and the lifeless remastering. The JSP set is far less expensive and the sound is infinitely better--rich, deep, warm, and clear. JSP doesn't have a big book or great photos, but its liner notes are incredibly informative about the music. The essays in this box seem more intent upon endlessly emphasizing that this music is great art. (I know that already!) If you're relatively new to listening to older jazz, the JPS remastering will show you just how good recordings from the 1920s can sound. (And no glue!)

I'm not going to labor on the fact that this music is fantastic, cornerstone of jazz, indispensible, blah, blah, blah. We all already know that. I want to talk about the sonic quality of these recordings.

I read so much about this John RT Davies guy, who mastered the JSP label box set of these same recordings. I heard so many positive things about his skills, particularly on that set, and how the sound is allegedly far superior to the Columbia version. I had to get BOTH to compare. I bought this newly revised 2006 edition of the Hot sessions released by Columbia/Legacy/Sony/BMG (the official edition), and the imported box set on the British JSP label (NOT affiliated with Columbia/Legacy in any way).

The late John RT Davies, who mastered the JSP set is considered so good, that people on Amazon claimed that that collection (mastered from old 78s), was far better than the engineers at Columbia, using the original masters (owned EXCLUSIVELY by Columbia.) Heck, RCA & Columbia thought he was good, as i've seen his name adorning very LEGAL pressings of all sorts of old jazz under the RCA & Columbia labels, right here in the U.S.A. So, he certainly had some clout, and some talent.

Unlike almost every reviewer on here, i do not consider the JSP box set to sound better than the official Columbia release (2006 version). However, i still think it sounds pretty good. There is something important to consider. While Davies is considered a true master at...well, remastering, his work at JSP comes up flawed, because he did not have access to the original masters, which are safely secured in Sony/Columbia/Legacy's vaults. He had to use old 78's (the kind you bought in the store) to make these new masters. So, while he may have picked 78's that were better preserved, and had seen less action, he was still using the next generation of recordings.

When you master from the originals over and over and over again, you tend to add all kinds of artificial pops, clicks, hisses, and such into the original disc (Bing Crosby had to re-record White Christmas in 1947, because the original 1942 recording was pressed so many times, it sounded horrible). Therefore, if you use a pretty clean 78, you can avoid much of that, and come out with a cleaner master to make into a CD. When you add some digital noise removal systems (essentially computer programs), you make them even cleaner, and if done right, still not sacrifice the integrity of the music (more or less).

Sounds pretty cut and dry right? The 78's should sound better then, right? Why wouldn't Columbia re-master their collection from old 78's as well? A very important reason, actually. When you copy old 78's, instead of the original pressings, you move at least one generation away from the original performance. Everytime you make a copy of a copy, the sound gets muddier, with less distinction and more distortion. Certainly, with skill and technology, it can be minimalized, but the fact remains.

Soooooooo.......my analysis? The JSP set sounds a tad smoother, with less pops. The bass is a little deeper too, however a bit muddier (slightly distorted). The Columbia set from 2006 DOES have a bit more scratchiness, and the bass is not quite as deep. However, the sound is CLEANER, and...my favorite descriptive word in this whole review...more TRANSPARENT. That's right. Every instrument in the Columbia set is more distinct from all the other instruments. The sound feels light, airy, and alive. The JSP set, while more smooth doesn't have that clarity of the original recordings. They sound more like...well, records.

So, which is better? There's no really correct answer. It's a matter of taste. For ME, the Columbia set wins, hands down. I'm 31 years old. For most of my musical life, i grew up listening to CDs. However, many people have fond memories of what their old collection of vintage records sound like. What you hear on records that you don't hear on CDs is distortion. It's slight, but it's certainly there. Technically, CDs are cleaner, and more accurate representations of the actual music than records ever were. But people have aural memories, and THAT'S the sound they want to hear. It's a very natural, and totally unconscious reaction. We like what we know. Everytime i buy better speakers, amps, etc., i always miss the sound of my old, inferior equipment...for a little while. Then as i use it, my ears adjust to the new sound, and i ADORE it. Anytime i've tried going back to the OLD set-up after that, i had a much stronger negative reaction than i did when going UP in quality. My ears became adjusted to what's better.

So, here's my recommendation:

If you don't have those fond memories of old vinyl or shellac discs, and grew up on CDs, then the Columbia set is 150% better. The sound is cleaner, tighter, more distinct instrumentally, and contains less distortion. You get music that's closer to reality. The drawback of course, is you will hear a bit more crackle, and a tad less bass.

If you DO have those fond memories of the big black discs, and you remember the warm, rounded sound that made you feel like cuddling up in a blanket with a cup of cocoa & a wish on a star, then you really need to get the JSP set instead. If you also happen to listen to rap in your Escalade, and you like to hear the bass completely distorting, but you think you wanna try some early Satchmo, then you NEED that set. Don't even think about buying the Columbia version. Just remember, while the JSP is smoother, it is also further away from the original performance, so the sound is muddier and less distinct.

I've compared nearly every track on both sets. They both sound pretty good in their own ways. While i certainly prefer the clarity of this set, i also think the JSP set is worth owning...for some people. You just have to decide what kind of person you are.

I was so excited to get this set. Upon opening it one disc fell on the floor, one other was scratched due to the hard card board sleeving, and the other two discs had glue all over them. After a half hour or so of working them to a state I could play them, I was too disappointed to enjoy the set. The book is great as is the music even if it is a bit thin; however, this is some of the worst packaging I have ever seen. I plan to return it and search for the JSP set others have recommended. Shame on Columbia for employing such incompetent packaging engineers. The great Louis Armsrting deserves more attention to detail.

The music on these discs is incredible. These legendary sides invented the language of modern music and are incredible just for their historical significance. BUT...they are incredible music as well. I bought the set (and after cleaning the glue off, but more on that in a minute) and listened to it back-to-back-to-back-to-back. What a ride! Just incredible phrasing and humanity in the music. On Ken Burns' Jazz, Wynton Marsalis said it best that Louis Armstrong was the greatest expresion of humanity and that greatest expression of musical sophistication in Jazz history. Simply superb mastering brings needed vitality to the set (the acoustic sides especially). What wonderful music.

The packaging, however, STINKS!!!! I read the reviews here and was loathe to buy the set but finally broke down...and sure enough the endpaper had already separated for the book's cover and the CDs has rolled into the glue - which was STILL viscous. I had two CDs covered with glue. I had to go straight to the local Office Depot and get some natural solvent and empty jewel cases. With all the obvious time and expense Sony went to in producing this box, why cut corners that can destroy the discs???? Unfathomable.

Get the set for the music. But just bring some solvent and empty cases.

I just want to alert other consumers to the awful packaging job Sony has done on this CD box. I bought it because of the reviews in the media even though I already own several of the individual Hot 5&7 CDs and even one or two on lp. I wish the reviewers had been a little more consumer oriented, but I guess they get their copies for free. I was very disappointed with my purchase. When I opened the box, the CDs were stuck to the adhesive holding the package together. I could not pry them out of the cardboard without scratching them. The packaging is so bad, I haven't gotten around to comparing the sound to what I already have to see if it's an improvement. I don't want to struggle with the package until I get some empty jewel boxes to store the CDs without damaging them further. I don't care how retro-cool something looks, if it's not also user friendly, FORGET IT. I would advise potential purchasers to go with the alternative set recommeded above. If you still want this version, watch this space, as I'm probably going to sell mine and get the one without the book.