The Savory Collection to finally be released?

Svanis1337

What is this? I can find no other information on it. It even includes your very own aluminium disc!

oddopolis.com/portfolio_page/the-savory-jazz-collection/

bopster

@Svanis1337 - this article came out in 2011:

Copyright Laws Limit Availability of National Jazz Museum’s “The Savory Collection”

Last year, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem acquired a private collection of nearly 1,000 jazz recordings from the estate of William Savory. What makes this collection so remarkable is that it is comprised of unpublished recordings of some of the greatest jazz musicians of all time—Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and many others.
In the late 1930s, William Savory (born William Desavouret) worked for a studio that transcribed live performances for radio networks. At the time, technology was limited to 78 rpm shellac discs that only held about three minutes of recording time. Bands, which contracted with the networks to make the recordings, would perform arrangements that worked within the confines of the recording limitations.
But Savory apparently was a technical genius, and while commercially recording 78s, was privately recording on bigger discs (12 to 16 inches) made of aluminum or acetate, and at slower speeds (33 1/3 wasn’t officially invented until after WWII by a team that included Mr. Savory). This allowed him to capture performances that were not staged for recording—longer versions of rehearsed material, improvisation, and jam sessions that were otherwise heard only by live audiences.
There is nothing to suggest that Savory hid what he was doing, but neither did he attempt to publicly distribute or commercialize his recordings. In fact, he allowed only a few to even hear any of his recordings during his lifetime, and no one really knew how many he had until after his death in 2004, when his son saved the recordings from being tossed out with the garbage. It was only then that the size and quality of the collection was discovered. Although much of the collection was damaged, only about a fourth was considered to be in very poor shape, and despite damage, the quality of the recordings was impressive. Savory clearly knew what he was doing.
The National Jazz Museum (NJM) is currently in the process of digitizing the music, and a few short excerpts are available online at the museum’s website. (Even if you are not a jazz fan, it is worth checking this out to hear the quality of these untouched recordings from the late 1930s). Beyond that, one can make an appointment with the museum to hear more.
Sadly, although the NJM would like to make all of the recordings publicly available, commercially or otherwise, it may never be possible to purchase recordings of all or even a significant portion of the collection because of current copyright laws. I’m a fan of copyright laws. I respect the body of law intended to protect and compensate the creators of literary, musical, and artistic works. So why, if everyone is willing to pay for the privilege, can’t these recordings be publicly distributed? Because most are considered “orphan works”—material for which copyright owners cannot be determined.
There can be numerous copyright owners with rights in a single performance, e.g., the writer(s) of the music and lyrics, the arranger, the publisher, the performers (as a band or individually), and the broadcaster. These recordings were created outside the scope of the contracts between the networks and the performing musicians, and subject to no separate written contract.
Although Savory apparently kept a meticulous catalog of the recordings, he probably didn’t record the name of each performer, nor have a written agreement himself with any of the performers. Clearly, Savory did not contemplate distribution of the recordings, and identifying and locating the persons with legal rights after nearly 60 years is clearly a Herculean task. At the same time, distribution without authorization could subject the user to substantial damages for “willful infringement,” while use without compensation would be unfair to the creators and their heirs, and an economic windfall to the distributor.
Recommendations for resolving or at least reducing the impact of orphan works have come from various industries and interested parties, including the Copyright Office, and the matter has twice been introduced before Congress. While no proposal is perfect, there are a number of reasonable recommendations that could make it easier to identify copyright holders, eliminate the risks associated with intentional infringement, and/or provide for compensation to copyright holders should they emerge and make a legitimate claim.
Although individual constituencies might be able to resolve these issues for some industry segments (books, photographs, commercial film, etc.), it is unlikely that a universal solution will be resolved without legislative action. Unfortunately, Congress is busy doing nothing about more critical issues, so I’m not holding my breath on this one. And yet, I so want to hear every minute of this music! Maybe the National Museum of Jazz allows camping.

Svanis1337

Fantastic reply, I knew most of it. I haven't heard anything of it being released, which is why this finding really gave me hope. Apparently it's a collaboration between UMG and the museum...

Looks like a sweet box set. Seems legit.

bopster

And features the Django/Ellington Carnegie Hall concert!!

pickitjohn

Not sure we will ever see this release

Tried to dig up some more info...

http://www.quora.com/Jazz-Music/What-are-the-best-recordings-from-the-Savory-Collection

Feb 10 2015

Jeffery Burr Jazz musician and Senior Music Analyst @ Pandora

The recordings are available, if you go to the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Releasing the records commercially has been deemed to be to complex legally. The question of ownership is purported to be some kind of intractable problem.
I was lucky enough to have the NJMiH come to me - a couple years ago Loren Schoenberg brought his presentation about the Savory collection to my area, and what he does for these events is hire a band to react to/interpret selections from the collection. I had the pleasure of participating in that capacity.
We had a "rehearsal" which really just consisted in him playing notable selections for us. I sure wish I could remember everything I heard, but standouts included Coleman Hawkins playing "Body and Soul" (recorded within a year or so of the original hit version), and a solo performance by Django Reinhardt, on a regular electrified archtop, which would make most modern-day "gypsy jazz" devotees' heads explode (it sounds nothing like our narrow modern conception of European swing music - in fact Loren asked me who I thought it was and I guessed George Barnes).
There is some great Count Basie with Lester Young, some Billie Holiday, and plenty of less familiar items. The thing about the recordings is that they are live performances rather than studio dates, so you get to hear these people in a looser more comfortable setting, stretching and taking more risks.
I gather there is a fair amount of more commercial stuff too, novelties, hokum and that in-between "jump blues" or what I call proto-R&B. (We heard some joker doing "Tea For Two" as a kind of homage to cannabis) of it is cultural treasure, in my estimation. It makes a good reason to visit NYC, if you needed another. (

Svanis1337

Strange though to find this box-set image that was released less than a month ago, that isn't on the museum's website, but rather on the website of a company that designs box set collections, packaging, advertising... oddopolis.com/about/ Smells real fishy. They wouldn't have gone through the trouble of doing this unless something was in the works. Someone paid them to do this. UMG/Savory it says. And the museum hasn't published a statement saying that they're cooperating with UMG, and UMG/Savory must mean that some sort of foundation or similar has been created under the Savory name. I'm thinking it'll all be unveiled in time. IF they actually solve the legal issues. Perhaps they already did, hence the box set. We can only guess.

Universal Music Group is the largest music corp. in the world. Surely the legal hurdles would be easier to traverse with their lawyers and knowledge.

Buco

I think this would be one of the very rare instances where cunning corporate lawyers' creativity would be welcomed by common music fans people with both sides hoping for the same outcome.

Svanis1337

Incase anyone missed it, the Savory collection is being released since September 2016, with two volumes out so far and more planned for 2017.

jazzmuseuminharlem.org/the-museum/collections/the-savory-collection/

Buco

Some crazy awesome jams on these!
With the background noise of the audience it has the power to transport you back in time.
Some of the tracks are very noisy but when was the last time you were able to hear a 7-10 minutes cut from the late 30s?!

Russell Letson

Too bad it's only available via iTunes. (I've had to hoover that mess out of my computer once, and I'm hesitant to reinstall it unless I can find a quick way to de-infest after I have what I want.)

Buco

I don't use iTunes, I subscribe to Apple Music and these albums can be streamed.