Tim Niland on his blog, Jazz & Blues Music Reviews has a very interest take on The Keepnews Collection of Jazz Reissues that Concord Music has started issuing. These are reissues of discs that Orrin Keepnews had produced and many include alternate takes and new liner notes. Keepnews himself includes some commentary that Tim does characterize as "a little self-reverential." He does raise the issue of the producer (or engineer as in the case of the many recent Rudy van Gelder reissues) receiving co-billing with the performers. "But do they deserve co-billing with the musicians on these CDs? They did not in most cases compose songs or perform on instruments, but as a result of their longevity they are honored as if they were performers." More provokingly he comments, "Keepnews and Van Gelder certainly deserve their place in jazz history, but giving them equal billing with the musicians on classic albums seems a little bit much." This is concise and thought-provoking.
Here is a link to this specific blog entry, Revisionist History
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