The Sixth Day of Second Discmas

Well, Week 2 of Second Discmas is in high gear, and here at Second Disc HQ, we can’t get enough of the great music of the silver screen and the Great White Way!  Today, we’re sharing the immortal music of Hollywood and Broadway with you!

Thanks to our fantastic friends at Kritzerland, we have two amazing prize packs for you today!

Our “Screen” pack is a triple-threat of soundtrack classics, including two from the legendary Elmer Bernstein!  From Bernstein’s pen comes the Original Soundtrack Recording of 1957’s Drango, as well as Kritzerland’s landmark 100th release, the expanded Original Soundtrack of 1961’s Summer and Smoke!  The third treat in this set is Francis Lai’s mesmerizing score to Another Man, Another Chance (1977)!

For our musical theatre buffs, our “Stage” pack is a duo you won’t want to miss!  I wrote of Kritzerland’s 2010 remix – reinvention, really – of the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s Promises, Promises: “A real revelation!  I’m usually hesitant to use [that word] as it’s a mite hyperbolic. But this completely remixed version of the album (from the edited eight-track session masters), produced by Kimmel, mixed by John Adams and mastered by Nelson, is worthy of any and all plaudits sent its way. The remix allows the score to be heard anew…Listening to it, I actually felt as if I was in the Shubert Theatre, circa 1968.”  And now the single-disc score, completely remixed and remastered, can be yours!  Promises is joined by the soundtrack to a movie about the making of a musical: the deliciously bawdy The First Nudie Musical!  Not only is the delightfully wacky soundtrack completely remastered and expanded, but your CD has been autographed by the 1975 film’s star, producer, director, composer and lyricist, Bruce Kimmel!

You can win these prizes by e-mailing us (theseconddisc (at) gmail (dot) com)!  Just be sure to include your name, city and state in your email, and put “Second Discmas” in the subject line, along with your pick of “Stage” or “Screen.”

But that’s not your only way to win!  You can also “like” this post as it appears on Facebook or retweet the post on Twitter!  Drawings for Kritzerland’s Broadway and Hollywood classics must be received by Wednesday, December 21, at 3:00 p.m. EST.  But if you enter today’s drawing and aren’t a winner, don’t worry!  You’ll automatically be entered in all the rest of the Second Discmas contests!

Don’t forget to check back each day this week for more prizes, and be sure to tune in to Kritzerland’s irreverent new web series, Outside the Box, for a fresh and funny look at a very offbeat theatre company!

Analogue Launches Audiophile Reissue Series for Prestige Label with Davis, Rollins, Coltrane

With a brand-new decade just around the corner, and his finger on the pulse of the bustling, inventive New York City jazz scene, Bob Weinstock must have been reasonably confident that day in 1949 when he christened his record label “New Jazz.”  But he set his sights even higher when he renamed the label “Prestige” a year into its operations.  That lofty moniker, of course, proved prescient when Prestige became home to the likes of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk and other musicians who redefined the art of jazz.  Weinstock’s controversial practice of refusing to pay artists for their rehearsal time just may have resulted in some of the most spontaneous and immediate improvised music ever.

Prestige was sold to Fantasy as the 1970s began, and today falls under the umbrella of the Concord Music Group.  Hardly a year has gone by without a new reissue of a Prestige classic, and 2012 will be no exception.  Audiophile specialist label Analogue Productions (the company behind the recent SACD releases for Nat “King” Cole and Pink Floyd, and an upcoming series for The Doors) has announced a two-tiered program that will eventually include a full 50 titles from the heyday of the legendary Prestige label.

The Prestige Mono Series comprises 25 of “the most collectible, rarest, most expensive titles ever,” according to the label.  The Prestige Stereo Series will be dedicated to “25 of the most audiophile-sounding Rudy Van Gelder recordings ever made,” referring to the legendary New Jersey-based engineer behind the console for many of Prestige’s recordings.  All 50 titles in both series will be mastered from the original analog master tapes, and released on both vinyl (cut at 33 RPM and pressed at Quality Record Pressings) and hybrid SACD.  Kevin Gray (a frequent colleague and collaborator of Steve Hoffman, with whom he teamed for the Nat “King” Cole series) will master each title.  The mono series has confirmed releases coming your way from Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Hank Mobley, Thelonious Monk, Jackie McLean and more!  (Rollins recently made headlines as a recipient of a 2011 Kennedy Center Honor!)

Analogue is promising a lavish packaging style for these reissues, with “deep groove pressings [for the vinyl releases], just like the originals where there is a deep groove that appears to be cut into the record label area of the disk, the result of the die that was used in the old presses in the ‘50s.”  That’s not all.  The new Prestige series will feature “original tip-on jacket facsimiles with the original thick cardboard stock. The monos are pressed with a flat-edge, no groove-guard flat profile, just like the originals. The SACDs will be packaged in mini-‘old style’ gatefold jackets. These jackets feature printed wraps mounted to chipboard shells, producing an authentic, ‘old school’ look and feel. Some people call these ‘mini-LP’ jackets.”  In summation, Analogue states, “the sound, the pressing quality, the look – everything will surpass the original Prestige LPs.”

The first 1,000 LP copies of each title in both lines will be numbered. Analogue is offering a subscription series for diehard collectors interested in owning each title.  LP series subscribers can reserve their same serial number for each title in the series, and series subscribers will enjoy free shipping and be charged for their records only as they ship.  More information is available directly from the label at (800) 716-3553.  Each title will, of course, be available individually through the usual channels.  The standard MSRP is $30.00 for both vinyl and SACD.

The 25 mono titles have already been announced, with the stereo slate to follow soon.  Hit the jump for a complete list of all 25 mono releases!