Talia’s Overflow Notes: 07/29/2013

John Coltrane – This came courtesy of the Hoffman Board, but Concord has announced that there will be a 2-disc expanded version of John Coltrane–Afro Blue Impressions coming out on August 20. It is being speculated that the bonus disc will contain tracks from what I believe is the now out of print Live Train: The European Tours box set from Pablo.

Monk, Mulligan; Adderley, Jackson – Speaking of Concord, I got an e-mail from them informing of a few CDs that I didn’t even realize had already come out this month. These are OJC label reissues of Thelonious Monk.Gerry Mulligan–Mulligan Meets Monk and Cannonball Adderley with Milt Jackson–Things Are Getting Better. These aren’t the only titles that have come out and are about to come out. These two, however, are the two really big ones which need mentioning.

The Who – Rumors have surfaced over at the Hoffman Board that Universal may be prepping a big 4-disc (just what the ratio of CD to 5.1 disc remains to be seen if the package indeed comes out) Super Deluxe Edition for Tommy from The Who. It’s anybody’s guess as to what might possibly entail the bonus material. We’ll all have to play this one out carefully and see what happens. For people to buy this again, Universal is going to have to come up with stuff that hasn’t been released before and in substantial quantity. There was a lot of disappointment with the Quadrophenia box set because the 5.1 disc didn’t cover the full album and the demos that Pete Townshend allowed to have on the box added modern embellishments put on top of the original tracks.

Rod Stewart – I can’t recall if Matt reported on this or not (I had – Matt), but I have added information on it. Universal is releasing a 2-disc archive release of Rod Stewart called Rarities on September 3. The cuts are all taken from the previous Sessions box set from 2009. The new information I can add is that all of the tracks on this new 2-disc version are from the Mercury label years. There’s nothing from the Warner Brothers years on it. It is like what is being bantied about at both the Hoffman Board and at IMWAN.

If you passed on the Sessions box because it went beyond what many consider to have been Stewart’s prime years, then this 2-disc set may be the consolation prize a fan could hope for. Speaking only from a personal critical opinion, one should not dismiss the A Night On The Town album. To supplement one’s collection beyond the Ron Wood Era of Stewart’s career, one should own the 2-disc Deluxe Edition of A Night On The Town. It was the one album where Stewart proved he could carry a believable continuance of his career.

–Steve Talia