I swear that I've never been in Remco's living room (so far), but in this case you wouldn't need to have been. I remembered a label head actually announcing this intention and even mentioning a few artists by name in Billboard. However, my memory was playing tricks when it came to specifics, apparently: The item I'd read was actually about VIA. The following appeared on July 11, 1998: LEGENDARY JAZZ LABEL ESP is to be resurrected by Dutch indie VIA Records after 15 years in hibernation. VIA has acquired the right to use the trademark of the Woodstock, N.Y.-based label and the old ESP "hippie" logo for 12 years, with the option to buy the company, owned by Bernard and Flavia Stollman, after the first six years. All ESP titles, such as albums by Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, and Bud Powell, will be made available again through VIA. "We were looking for ways to get inroads for our own catalog into the international market, including the U.S.," explains VIA GM Ben Gieskes. VIA, which recently acquired the rights to distribute BMG's jazz catalog in the Benelux, will transfer saxophonist Yuri Honig and Dutch pianist Michiel Borstlap from its own roster to ESP. Seems to me that there was also a later piece in Jazziz that touched on the subject and talked about Calibre - I'm pretty sure of it, but I can't seem to find it right this minute. Steve Smith ssmith36@sprynet.com -----Original Message----- From: zorn-list-admin@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:zorn-list-admin@mailman.xmission.com]On Behalf Of Remco Takken
Calibre briefly reaps the benefits of name recognition, which they'd hoped to funnel into new recordings a la Impulse. This one is so on the mark, I just can't believe you weren't in my living room, where Bernard Stollman heard for the first time that there were going to be 'new' esp disks. You should have seen the look on his face. And mine, when I discovered I slipped my tongue. Always thought the new recordings belonged to the package deal.
Is there anybody out there who has actually seen NEW esp cd-titles on Calibre?