Home » Jazz Articles » My Blue Note Obsession » : Not Feelin’ All Right: Guilt and Those Cheap Imported Box Sets
: Not Feelin’ All Right: Guilt and Those Cheap Imported Box Sets
I still buy – not often, but sometimes – those cheapie European boxes, knowing they take bread from Blue Note’s breadbox.
Chick Corea
piano1941 - 2021
He said (and I'm paraphrasing from memory): "If you like jazz and you like this record, please don't copy it. Buy another copy. The jazz market is small, he said, and most jazz musicians don't make much money. Unlike rock stars, most jazz musicians aren't getting rich. When you copy their records and give them away, you're taking bread from their mouths. If you really love jazz and want it to thrive, BUY jazz records and support the artists you like."
That made an impression on me. Obviously, because I remember it all these years later. And I didn't tape the record. (Well, I didn't tape THAT record. I did tape others, and I felt appropriately guilty about it.)
Fast forward to 2016.
Recently I was in my local record store. I was browsing through the jazz section when I suddenly realized: There are an awful lot of new, cheap, imported box sets. The store owner must have just gotten a big batch.
You know the kind. They come from European labels like Enlightenment and they sell for about $20. They usually have four or five CDs, covering eight or ten entire albums. The music is always from the 1950s and '60s, and they usually claim to be The Complete This, or The Classic That.
I was stunned. Not surprised, really, just shocked at how many were there, and for so many different artists.
Now, we're all used to seeing cheap box sets of
Louis Armstrong
trumpet and vocals1901 - 1971
Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto1920 - 1955
Billie Holiday
vocals1915 - 1959
Hank Mobley
saxophone, tenor1930 - 1986
How could you NOT buy something like that for $20?
Of course, it's not exactly a box set. There's no box, for starters, and no liner notes, either. But jeez—all that great music! Sure, I already had some of it, but not all of it, and not all in one place.
So yeah, now I feel guilty.
Over the years, I've bought several cheap European box sets like that.
Wes Montgomery
guitar1923 - 1968
Phineas Newborn, Jr.
piano1931 - 1989
Because I know the score. I'm not na?ve. I know how these "boxes" came to be. In Europe, the copyright on most music expires in 50 years. The albums enter the public domain. And so every schmoe with a printing plant can steal the old records and reprint them. Instant box set!
This is bad. I know it's bad. And yet, there you go—I bought them. I may buy more. I try not to. I know I'm cheating the artists and the labels. But boy, it's hard to resist.
As a Blue Note fan, I understand better than most what this does to my favorite jazz label. Blue Note, of course, has a tremendous back catalog. I'm sure it's a substantial portion of the label's income. I'm sure records like
John Coltrane
saxophone1926 - 1967
Art Blakey
drums1919 - 1990
Herbie Hancock
pianob.1940
I know Blue Note was reborn in recent years. I know
Norah Jones
pianob.1979
Don Was
bassb.1952
I know all that, and I wish Blue Note well. I even buy some of their new albums, or CDs, or whatever they're called now.
And yet I also still buy—not often, but sometimes—those cheapie European boxes, knowing they take bread from Blue Note's breadbox.
Don't hate me, Chick. I already hate myself for doing it.
Tags
My Blue Note Obsession
Marc Davis
Chick Corea
Louis Armstrong
Charlie Parker
Billie Holiday
Hank Mobley
Wes Montgomery
Phineas Newborn Jr.
The Three Sounds
John Coltrane
Art Blakey
Herbie Hancock
Nora Jones
Don Was
Comments
PREVIOUS / NEXT
Support All About Jazz
All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.
Buy Now
