NEW RELEASES PKCD-308 The Antique Six Jazzband “Cherished”
PKCD-309 The John Maddocks Jazzmen “Behind Closed Doors”
PKCD-310 Dave Brennan's Jazz Band “Jubilee 45 ”
PKCD-311 Hokum “We're Wondering Who” (Full details of these albums are given on the "New Releases" Page)
BEWARE PIRATES! I have written in the past about pirate copies of CDs, but a recent occurrence makes the subject relevant again.
I know some fans buy a CD and make a copy for a friend. Whilst, strictly speaking, this is illegal and a breach of several copyrights it is something which is reluctantly accepted by musicians and record companies alike. It’s been going on since the cassette recorder became popular, and on a small scale, it does little or no harm to the bands.
However what is much more serious is the manufacture of pirate copies of CDs for sale. This cannot be condoned under any circumstances.
At the Keswick Festival a few weeks ago I came upon some copies for sale of one of my CDs (long since deleted from my catalogue). I thought they looked a bit odd and picked one up to have a look. It was the most badly presented home-made copy I’ve ever seen, with a nasty photo-copied booklet. What incensed me was that it had my name, address etc on it. I’ve spent years working hard to establish P.E.K. Sound as a respected label; good reputations are hard-won and easily lost. What is even more astonishing is that the person who had made these pirate copies and was offering them for sale was a jazz musician! I confronted him and he assured me that he had made only five copies which he tells me he has now destroyed.
I hope and trust this was an isolated case and is not going on elsewhere. But I urge you to be vigilant when you shop for CDs, especially at gigs where anyone could be offering pirated CDs for sale. Genuine CDs by P.E.K. can easily be identified; they are almost always either shrink-wrapped or cellophane wrapped. A few older copies might not be wrapped but they will all have the CD ‘label’ printed in black directly onto the CD silver surface. Pirate copies are most unlikely to be wrapped or printed like this.
If any of you come across obvious pirate copies please let me know which CDs are involved and where and when you saw them.
Finally, another aspect of ‘home-made’ pirate CDs is that, in many cases, they will be inferior copies which may well play badly or even not at all.
KESWICK JAZZ FESTIVAL Yet again the Keswick Festival was a huge success, despite some less than perfect weather and apparently some problems caused by possibly over-zealous interpretation of the licensing laws by Allerdale District Council staff. At one stage it seems the street parade would be allowed to go ahead only if the band stopped playing as soon as they stopped moving forward! And the Jennings Jazz Dray could play for no more than 30 minutes before it had to move! These difficulties were soon sorted out and we all enjoyed another feast of great jazz.
I recorded four sessions - Brian Carrick’s Algiers Stompers, Steve Graham’s Classic Jazz, The Dave Donohoe Band with Wendell Brunious, and The Tony Oreshko Trio with John Hallam. All the sessions went well and I’m hopeful that some will be released later this year.
By the way, following my piece of personal news in the last Newsletter, I can now confirm that Ann can be regarded as a jazz fan. She enjoyed Keswick very much and is looking forward to the Bude Festival.
LOOKING AHEAD
I have some interesting recordings booked in the next few months - Martin Bennett’s Old Green River Band, The Sarah Spencer Band, Brian Carrick’s Algiers Stompers (a Church concert), and The Big Bear Stompers. Plans are being made for new recordings by The Hugh Rainey Jazz Band and The Rae Brothers New Orleans Jazz Band later in the year.
Work continues on the recordings by The Ken Colyer Legacy NOJB, The Millennium Eagle Jazz Band, and Ken Pye’s Creole Serenaders. The first of these should be released in time for the September Catalogue; but before then it will be time for the 20th Bude Jazz Festival.
Can it really be 20 years?
Enjoy your jazz, live if possible or on CD from P.E.K. Sound.
