The Complete Village Vanguard Sessions / Art Pepper

アート・ペッパー (Art Pepper) 復帰後のアルバムの中で最も聴き応えのありスリリングな (と私が思っている) 録音、1977年7月28日〜30日のヴィレッジ・ヴァンガードでのライブ録音。1980年に日本キングから 3枚組 LP ボックスで先行発売され、すぐあとに米コンテンポラリーから 3枚の LP としてリリースされました。現在ではライブの全貌を 9枚組 CD ボックスで聴くことができます。

Art Pepper‘s awesome live recording at the Village Vanguard on July 28-30, 1977 – I believe this session is one of the finest recordings by Art Pepper after he came back in 1975 from his long absence. This superb live session was firstly released in 1980 from Japan King label as a 3LP box set. Soon after the Japanese LP box release, U.S. Contemporary label released three individual LPs (entitled “Thursday / Friday / Saturday Night at the Vanguard” respectively). Then we now have 9CD box edition, which contains all recorded materials of Art Pepper’s better days.

[The Complete Village Vanguard Sessions]

The Complete Village Vanguard Sessions / Art Pepper

現在うちには、なぜかその 9枚組 CD ボックスが 2つもあります。 それにまつわるアホなお話です . . .

By the way, I now have two 9CD box sets somehow. Here is my stupid story behind that . . .

ご覧の通り、フロントカヴァーはほぼ同一なのですが . . .

Front covers of these boxes are exactly the same as you can see, but . . .

[The Complete Village Vanguard Sessions]

裏 (正確には巨大な帯) は全然違います。リリース年が異なるんですね。左が 2001年改訂版 (VICJ-60751/9)、右が 1996年初版 (VICJ-40401/9) です。

Back covers (more precisely these are parts of huge OBIs) are totally different. Release year (and revision) is different each other – The left copy is 2001 revised edition (VICJ-60751/9), while the right copy is 1996 first edition (VICJ-40401/9).

[The Complete Village Vanguard Sessions]

こちらは背表紙の比較。ふたつを直接比べればその違いは歴然です。

The next scan is the spines of both boxes, which looks complete different each other.

[The Complete Village Vanguard Sessions]

先日、アメリカ西海岸在住の友人より、この日本盤を探して送ってもらいたい、という依頼がありました。で、早速都内の中古 CD 屋さんに行ったところ、状態の良い中古を安価で見つけました。で、家に帰っていろいろ調べていると、どうやら日本盤 CD ボックスには 2種類あるらしいということが分かりました。そして彼からのメールをもう一度良く読み直してみると、どうも 2001年改訂版の方を欲しているらしい。

A few days ago, a good friend of mine (who lives in West Coast, U.S.) contacted me via e-mail, asking me to find the 9CD box for him. I went several vinyl/CD shops around Tokyo, and I found a used copy in excellent condition with a good price. I bought it for him, and after I came back home I looked for any information on the web, and I noticed there were two different revisions. I read his e-mail again and again, and I knew that the 2001 revised edition was the one he had been looking for.

がーん。まちがって 1996年版の方を買ってもうたやないけ . . . お金ほかしてもうた . . .

Oh my . . . I bought a wrong product, 1996 edition . . . I threw out money for a wrong product . . .

その後ムキになって、2001年版の新品を探し出し、無事友人用に入手できたのでありましたが、このミスはかなりショックでした . . .

And I was desperate to find the 2001 revised edition, and I did it! I bought a brand new still-sealed copy for him. Anyway I was in a depressed mood for a while against what I have done . . .

要するに、2001年改訂版は、ヴィクターお得意の 20bit K2 Super Coding によるリマスターということらしいです。未開封 のそのボックスを恨めしそうに見ながら、間違って買ってしまった 1996年初版を聴く私 . . .

The 2001 revised edition is a remastered version using 20bit K2 Super Coding by Victor JVC, while the 1996 first edition is not. All I could do was, that I listened to the 1996 edition (which I mistakenly bought) with a reproachful look at the still-sealed 2001 edition . . .

この 1996年版と比べると、私が長らく聴き慣れた キング盤 3枚組 LP ボックス (1980年リリース) の方が、音のガッツ、鮮度、イコライジング共に圧倒的に勝っており、ガックシ度は更にアップ。まぁ資料的価値はあるわけですから、2001年改訂版の中古を安価で入手できる日がくるまで手元においておきましょう。

The 3LP edition (which I already have for years and enjoyed a lot) from Japan King label (released back in 1980) surpasses in every respect – powerful sound, freshness and appropriate equalization. Anyway for archival purpose, I think I will keep the 1996 edition until I happen to find a used copy of the 2001 remastered edition at fair price someday . . .

[King Japan GXH-3009/11 Front Cover]

Live At The Village Vanguard / Art Pepper
(King [J] GXH-3009/11)

しかし 2001年版聴いてみたいのう。例の エヴァンスの 3枚組リマスター CD の一件 もあるし、きっといい音で収録されてるんやろうなぁ。お持ちの方の意見を聞かせて下さい。さて、友人のためにしっかり梱包して郵便局に持って行かねば . . .

I am wondering, how good the 2001 remastered edition sounds like – as I wrote in my past article, I found the 20bit K2 remastered edition of Bill Evans Village Vanguard Sessions sounded so marvellous, so I hope Art Pepper box also sounds good . . . If anybody has the 2001 revised edition, let me know what you think. Well, now I have to pack the still-sealed box very sturdily and bring the parcel to a post office nearby . . .

14 thoughts on “The Complete Village Vanguard Sessions / Art Pepper

  1. こういうのありますよネ!
    いろいろ売らんかなでメーカーも考えてるんでしょうが、
    リマスター盤とか出される度にメーカーで下取りしてくれないかと本気で思います。箱物は特に。
    で、アナログ盤回帰になっちゃうのです。
    でも例のエヴァンス3枚組というミラクルもありますからねぇ〜

  2. > リマスター盤とか出される度にメーカーで下取りしてくれないかと本気で思います。箱物は特に。
    コンピュータソフトウェアの様に「アップグレード価格」を用意してくれると嬉しいんですけどね (笑)

  3. Shaolinさん、本文とは関係ないとこですいませんが、タイトルのとこクリックするとナイスです。
    イメージが変わってたんで気になってカーソルもっていったら
     ン?
    こういう仕掛け好きです。
    ではッ、失礼いたしました!

  4. 遅ればせながら、件の西海岸在住の友人からお返事をもらいました:
    The other day the friend in the West Coast e-mailed me back on this K2 Super Coding edition:
    > やあ Kohji、確かにこの CD は素晴らしい音がしてたよ。
    > けどね、やっぱり Kohji が言ってた通り、LP ボックスの方がもっと良かった。
    > 音に命が吹き込まれているという感じ。
    > けど残念ながら LP は運転中に聴けないからね (笑)
    > ともあれ今回の一件はいろいろ骨を折ってくれてありがとう。
    > ではでは。
    > Hi Kohji- Yes the Art Pepper is wonderful.
    > You are right that the lp box set is better.
    > It has more life to it but you can’t listen to it in the car.
    > Thanks for your efforts on that.
    > As always, be well.
    この感想と、彼が自宅に持っているという超高級オーディオシステムのことを考えると、
    まぁ 2001年改訂版はしばらく買わなくて良さそうです (笑)
    His comment here, as well as thinking of his great hi-end audio system he has at home,
    I better don’t have to rush and find this 2001 revised edition for myself 🙂

  5. Not sure – to make the situation worse, Victor JVC now stopped dealing with Riverside/Contemporary/Prestige/Fantasy recordings, because as you may know the US Fantasy Records and the US Concord Records turned to be a merger as the US Concord Music Group in 2004. Now Universal Music Japan deals with such materials as Victor had been released, and all the JVC releases are now discontinued. So you’ll have to look for dead-stocks or second-hand copies in the market somewhere… I’m not sure if Universal Music Japan will re-release the JVC 9CD box in the future.

  6. thanks for your kind answer, though it’s very frustrating for me, I guess I will never hold one in my hands…

  7. Hi again Herbert-san,
    At least in the year 2007, I remember I confirmed that you could buy the 2001 edition (20bit Super K2 Coding) directrly from the Victor JVC online webshop. But it seems they stopped selling online as for now, just because of the reason I mentioned in the above comment I wrote just now.
    So I guess the rest of the possibilities you have now is, to just wait and regularly watching several on-line auction sites (Yahoo! Auction Japan would be the best place, because in Japan among music enthusiasts Yahoo Auction seems to be way more popular than eBay) and pray for some dead-stock / second-hand copies to appear…

  8. could you be so kind to send me the link for this japanese auction site? does it also have an english-version (japanese is a bit tough for an Austran).
    IMPORTANT: if you see one of it in a store, could you buy it for me?
    I would send you not only the price you pay, but 100 dollars more and a brandnew, sealed out of print fantastic 8cd-box of Thomas Chapin (nearly impossible to find in Japan).
    in the meantime, thanks a lot for your help

  9. hello shaolin, please help me!!! I have found a sealed box on the yahoo site you mentioned, but I cannot read the japanese words – I would like to contact the seller to ask if he could sell it to me directly.
    or I would send you the money in advance, if you could buy it for me in the auction.
    here is the link of the cd-box:
    http://page6.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/f57394924
    please, please help me!

  10. Hi, I sent you an e-mail regarding the item on the Yahoo auction. Take a look.
    By the way you should not feel free to include your e-mail address as well as your eBay name directly into the “comments” body itself (on the other hand it’s still safe to enter your e-mail address on the “Email Address” field though).
    You know there are countless spammers all around the world on the internet, and various kinds of “automatic crawling tools” are being executed in this every minute. They might automatically find your e-mail address as well as your eBay name, then they would possibly use the information for sending you annoying junk mails infinitely…
    So I removed your address and eBay name from your above comments for your safety. Thanks for understanding (in advance).

  11. hello shaolin-san, could you please resend the message? there was nothing in my mail-box? maybe it went directly to span, so I have stopped automatical clearing of spam for today.
    is there a chance for me to buy the box directly?

  12. I sent the e-mail again just now – check for it both in your gmail inbox as well as in your gmail spam folder.

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