I’ve had a lot of people ask me whether “Promises, Promises” is available on CD. The answer, unfortunately, is no. Bill Jennings, curator of Better Living through Show Tunes, tells me that Rykodisc is currently negotiating to release several ’60s soundtracks on UA, the label that “Promises” came out on, most notably Frank Zappa’s “200 Motels.” Bill says Ryko isn’t much interested in Broadway, but if they do cut the deal to release UA material, that would be the time to push for a CD re-release of “Promises, Promises.” “In the best of all possible worlds,” Bill adds, “it would include the ultra-rare London cast as bonus tracks.”

CDNow says the release date for UNI/MCA’s “Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits” has been pushed back to Oct. 7.

Courtesy of the New York band P.P.O.C., there are RealAudio recordings of Medeski Martin &Wood performing “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” from the “Back to Bacharach” concert on Sept.

14, 1997. It’s 8:21 long in streaming audio.

The festival was organized by John Zorn’s Tzadik label, with Zorn himself curating. Tzadik recently released “Burt Bacharach: Great Jewish Music.” I finally purchased the CD last week and was blown away. It’s a must have for any fan of Burt who also enjoys new music. The arrangements are sometimes traditional, sometimes radical, but they’re all excellent. The Tzadik site includes two RealAudio samples from the collection, Wayne Horvitz’s arrangement of “Close to You” and Elliott Sharp’s “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.”

Also, Thoughtscape Sounds has an almost complete catalog of Bacharach CDs imported from Japan, most selling for $25.99. “Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits, with three extra tracks not on the original lp, sells for $32.99. I’m pretty sure the domestic release of “BB Plays His Hits” will be the same package, only selling for a more reasonable $9.99.  I’m not endorsing, just informing.