ESP reissues
ESP reissues
Dear saturnites
Two days ago I sent the message below to this list. Because (1) no one answered or made any commentary about it and (2) I've been through some technical problems with my computer and my internet server; I decided to post it again, just to be sure that everybody receives it. So, if you are receiving this message for the second time, please excuse and alert me.
Here it goes:
.................. Hi everybody
A friend of mine gave me an issue of the belgian magazine J@ZZ@ROUND (the same friend who brought me a copy of black myth/out in space -- isn't he a nice guy?). It contains a very interesting article about the ESP reissues by the european label VIA. The author of the article, Philippe Schoonbrood, made an interview with VIA's owner, Ben Gieskes. Here's what Mr Gieskes said (a very "free" translation from french straight to english, so the subscriber apologizes in advance for any error commited during this proccess):
"I did not hesitate to travel five times to Woodstock, only to meet Bernard Stollman. I was very determined because that catalogue is really beautiful and important for the history of jazz. I had to show him I had respect for his work. I told him how I run my label in Europe and what we could offer him. So we became good friends, and we still are. Those many contacts took 18 months. I had to come back four times to NY to negociate, discuss, re-negociate, before we finished the arrangement, always surrounded by lawyers! Then, almost one year and a half was necessary to find all the bands and the covers, when they existed. It was really the chaos, the anarchy. Some bands were not fully identified: who plays? in which part? what is the catalogue reference? I was in dispair. Luckly, thanks to the internet, we found a group of fans, some collectors who had the original albums. They helped us to reproduce the original packaging and to identify some bands.
I've always been a fan of the music from the 60's and 70's. I believe the ESP documents are crucial to ilustrate the history of music. Free Jazz allowed the jazz musicians to express themselves in the most personal form and to develop their own language. Nowadays, many north american musicians are jealous about europeans, because here free jazz has been absorbed and assimilated by the other musicians. In Europe, free jazz is always present. So, this new contract respects the spirit of the label and their musicians. The arrangement says copyright will be paid in a regular basis. In fact, the pressings are limited, and a little hologram is attached to it, in order to certify the autenticity of the cd. Then Bernard Stollman will be able to
garantee the musicians they will be paid for each copy that is sold."
I believe this interview is really relevant in face of the recent discussions here concerning boots, reissues etc. I did not know about VIA, I had heard only of ESP reissues by italian label GET BACK and a dutch one whose name I don't remember right now. Their legality has been discussed here without any conclusive result, I believe.
The article also says VIA has acquired exclusive rights for the ESP catalogue. They plan to re-release 136 albums and also to record new artists. Among the material to see the light of day is the second part of Ornette Coleman's Town Hall concert, still unreleased.
Oh, the text also mentions (slightly) Stollman's bad reputation concerning copyright payments to the artists.
Any thoughts?
Rodrigo Freitas
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