Hello all! Boy, do I have a story for you.
Once again thinking about Trumpet Rhapsody never being released on CD and decided to track down who currently owns the MPS rights.
After reading many (many) websites and following a long trail ( distributed by BASF from 1971, then by Metronome Music GmbH Hamburg from 1974.
In 1983 rights were sold to Philips, which then transferred it to Polydor. In 1993, Polydor subsidiary Motor Music began to release individual recordings on CD.
In 1999, Universal Jazz program began distribution) I located the Universal Group site in Germany (they, specifically have the MPS rights) and decide to send an extremely nice e-mail to them
explaining the thousands of fans (including myself) that would buy Maynard's Trumpet Rhapsody if they would consider releasing it on CD.
To my absolute surprise, I received a reply from a gentleman that said he was a Maynard fan as well and had actually never even heard of this album.
He said “We don’t seem to have a copy of the LP in our library for me to listen to” then added “though I did check and we do have the Masters”. Now, I must admit, my pulse quickened just a little when I read that.
He asked me if I might be able to provide him with some audio tracks from the LP for him to listen to. Luckily, I re-mastered that album onto CD a couple years ago, so, had them ready to go.
I sent him every track from the album as well as telling him this was indeed an excellent LP and one of my top 10 favorites.
So, it is my extreme pleasure to post his reply for everyone:
Hello Keith,
thanks for sending the tracks, it's a cool album indeed! If everything works out we will include the album in an April batch of MPS reissues:
February
Dave Pike - Noisy Silence‑Gentle Noise
Dave Pike - Infra Red
Volker Kriegel - Inside: Missing Link
Volker Kriegel – Lift
Peter Herbolzheimer – Scenes
Peter Herbolzheimer - The Catfish
Friedrich Gulda - As You Like It
Friedrich Gulda - Music for 4 Soloists and Band No. 1
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April
Dave Pike – Salomáo
Dave Pike - Four Reasons
Volker Kriegel - Octember Variations
Volker Kriegel – Tropical Harvest
Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band - Latin Kaleidoscope/Cuban Fever
Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band - Faces
Maynard Ferguson – Trumpet Rhapsody
George Duke – Jazz Workshop 1966
All the best,
Matthias
Finally the wait is over!
Keith
