Each box contains 25 slipcase CDs, a booklet (up to 186 pages) and an index. The booklets contain extensive notes (Eng/Fr) with recording dates and line-ups. 31 hours of music in each box, totalling 1677 tracks Each track has been restored and mastered from original sources. The only reason I can think of for there not yet being a review of these four boxed sets, is that those who own them are just too busy having one hell of a blast listening to them. Some people moan about the 50 year copyright law for audio recordings in Europe, but without it this highly entertaining, eye-opening and educational undertaking could never have taken place. These 100 discs (spread over four boxed sets of 25 discs) tell the story of jazz from 1898 to 1959.
Lonnie Donegan, Tommy Steele, Lita Roza, Winifred Atwell, Red Price, Tony Crombie, Alma Cogan, Bert Weedon, Beryl Bryden and Ray Ellington are part of the colorful line up of musical talent from a wide musical spectrum that stood at the cradle of British Beat. The '50s was an extraordinary decade in the history of British popular music. On the one hand it was still basically a forum for 'light entertainment' as conceived by Tin Pan Alley moguls and broadcast by Aunty BBC. The result was a kaleidoscope of revolutionary good-time looseness in the form of Skiffle.