On Mon, 8 Jul 2002, Steve Smith wrote:
You probably wouldn't have seen the CD listed by Forced Exposure because it's not like Universal is promoting the Fuel 2000 reissues. Did you see mention of their releases by Dewey Redman or Dollar Brand & Gato Barbieri anywhere? Bruce will probably list the Braxton sooner or later... I know he's carrying them.
Fuel 2000 is a subsidiary of Varese Sarabande, one of the independent labels that Universal distributes. I'm pretty certain that their lack of promotion is due to a lack of resources, not major label indifference. A large part of the Fuel method of operation is to sub-license things from European labels like Charly and issue them in the States. This is usually done without a lot of hype - unlike Verve, which Universal owns, I doubt that you'll see adds in DownBeat for Fuel's re-issues. That said, Fuel is indeed issuing the BYG/Actuel catalog in the states. The Braxton is at least the 8th release in the series. In addition to Steve's mentions above they've also released discs by Sun Ra, Archie Shepp and The Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Don Cherry and Max Roach. The next re-issue is Sunny Murray's _Sunshine & An Even Break (Never Give A Sucker)_ which comes out 07/16. Full disclosure: I work for Universal. That said, I'd be happy to send out a list of what Fuel has re-issued so far and keep people up to date with releases if anyone's interested. Regards, Paul