Guest Column: An LP Trip To NY
Thanks again to Rudolf for his very special guest column on French Vogue. It is garnering quite a bit of attention and conversation. We will be offering a few more guest columns in the next week. One of our regular patrons, Don-Lucky, is at the Ottawa Jazz Festival and has promised some reports and another regular patron, Jason, offers up this item about a recent trip to New York, where he paid a visit to the famous world headquarters of Jazz Collector. Here’s Jason:
“After several 84-hour work weeks I’ve finally gotten around to accepting Al’s offer to blog about my trip to NYC. Last April the wife and I made our way from Boston for a show at the Apollo. Since the show wasn’t until much later I thought I’d make a first time trip to Infinity Records out on Long Island after reading about it here. Only I never made it.Since we weren’t familiar with the area I contacted Al. And in our conversations an invitation to look through the records he was selling was extended. This sounded exciting. And it was. Al is a very gracious host, and I had a great time. Because the pile I was amassing was primarily Prestige LPs, Al asked if that’s what I collect. I wouldn’t say I collect any one label or artists. It’s more of a hodge-podge of parameters, a checklist if you will. If the checklist is greater than 50% I purchase it. The list includes the artist, the label, the year it was recorded, the type of music, the sidemen, the design of the cover and the song titles, as well as the overall condition. I guess I’m looking for a “total package” experience when I buy.
Time was winding down before Al had to leave. And a last minute push yielded Dick Johnson on Riverside. Al noticed it had a feelable mark so he threw it on to see how it affected play. His face lit up as listened and he said, “Listen to that guy blow”. For a moment I was afraid this lp wasn’t going home with me.
Saturday was lax. The wife and I had no plans so we just walked through Manhattan…right by Academy Records. Funny how these things happen, right? Academy was a disappointment. Their jazz section was small. Very small. Limited to one or two bins. It seemed more of an afterthought, especially compared to the expansive classical selection they stock. Maybe it had treasures in it, I’ll never know. Several employees were unloading a recent collection acquisition and had piled everything on top of the two bins.
When the wife decided she wanted to get her hair cut I insisted. And promptly ran several blocks to the Jazz Record Center. Jackpot! Very, very nice store. Most of what I found I already owned. And I had to keep in mind how over budget I already was. However I did find two items that were too good to pass by – Howard McGhee on Savoy and Curtis Amy on Pacific. I definitely will pay another visit to the JRC this October when I hit the WFMU Record Fair. Now if I can only convince my law firm partner to go with me…”
Jason, thanks for the kind words. Here’s a tip for future NY visitors — there’s more than one Academy store. There’s the one on 18th Street that specializes in classical — that sounds like the one you stopped at Jason. There’s one that has a very nice jazz section with a pretty good number of collectibles — that one is at 12th street off First Avenue. That’s the one to visit. There’s also an annex in Williamsburg in Brooklyn, but I haven’t been there so can’t report on whether it’s worth the trek.
Al,you beat me to the punch on this one! Jason,if you’ll look up academylps.com(I believe that’s their Ebay handle),you can click on “About Me” to see a sampling of some of the jazz vinyl they’ve sold. It’s a cool store to browse,with some knowledgeable jazz guys behind the counter. Don’t fret though,Jason-October is right around the corner…(Just trying to keep it posotive,bro!)
Jason, nice to hear your experience in New York.As a Dutch man (from Amsterdam) i always have the romantic dream of going to N.Y. to buy jazz records, but i am always wondering if you can buy those in NY nowerdays. In amsterdam there are about 5 shops where you COULD find Blue notes.Mostly Liberty ,sometimes 1rst or second pressings. Most of the time they have about 4 or 5 Bn’s… how is it in NY. Do you have shops where they have like 100 BN’s or is it the same, and just 5 or 10…??..And how many (worthwhile) shops does NY have..5?10?20?
Maarten – I’m a Bostonian by default, so I’m only familiar with what NYC area stores from what I’ve read here. At the time I went to the Jazz Record Center they had only a handful of “original” Blue Notes. And apparently I never made to the right Academy location (just when I thought I was crossing stores to visit off my list, they pull me back in!) or Infinity so I can’t speak to those either. The WFMU fair had a good number the last time I was there though. Anyone with a better knowledge of the NYC market care to advise?
Alas, there are no shops with hundreds of Blue Notes lining the bins, except in our dreams. Jazz Record Center probably has the best selection, but they also put a lot of stuff on eBay. Otherwise, it’s catch as catch can at places like Academy or Infinity, where you might find five or 10 Blue Notes on a given day, perhaps a few originals or Liberty pressings and none at bargain prices.
to Jason:… Only don’t tell me there are no records. Because it insults my intelligence and makes me very angry. 😉
Hi from Spain,
Could anybody tell me something about the jazz record stores in San Francisco? Only Amoeba, or there are more to visit?
Best regards
Marmarosa,
If you make it over to the East Bay, be sure to check out The Grooveyard in Oakland, they specialize in Jazz vinyl.
Amoeba has a shop in the east bay (Berkley) as well, as does Rasputin’s. In SF try Jazz Quarters on 20th Ave. He’s only open in the afternoons Tues.-Sat. You should call to make sure he’s there. Vinyl only at Grooves on McCoppin. Recycled on Haight is a few blocks from Amoeba and has managed to stay open. In Berkley there’s a new shop called Dave’s Records on San Pablo. Vinyl only, with excellent jazz. Have fun.
I should know better, the town is Berkeley. Dave’s is 2634 San Pablo 510-666-0336. Grooves is 1797 Market 415- 436-9933. Jazz Quarter is 1267 20th Ave 415-661-2331. Recycled is 1377 Haight 415-626-4075
Thanks Bill and welcome to the site. This is great information. If it’s OK with you I might pull it out and put it into a separate post so it’s easier for people to find while searching.
that is a good idea, Al.I think many people,such as i, still like to buy in record-stores instead of the the internet, to get that discovery-vibe going… It would be great to have a post/list with good jazz record stores in all the big places in the world. So if people go to visit citys they have always some adresses to spend all that money.
It is always difficult to find the GOOD stores if you are visiting unknown cities. If you like some adresses from Amsterdam and The Netherlands just let me know.
Thank Bill for the post.
Hi, Maarten. Yes, I would love that. If you can send it to me via email — al@jazzcollector.com –I can do it as a separate post so it will come up in searches.
Geez,it seems like just the other day that I was crawling on my knees,checking out the “understock” at King Karol’s old 42st. store. All I found-and what I kept coming across far too often-were multiple copies of George Shearing Meets The Montgomery Brothers and those Riverside compilations(you know,the ones with the models on the cover that would make a complete figure when placed alongside others in the series?). No original Blue Notes,no original Riversides. Long gone-and that was Summer,72’…yeah,”just the other day”. For me,Ebay is the new “floor crawl”-without all the dust and the opininonated floor clerks!
…that’s “opinionated”,for those that keep track of these things.
Thank’s to everyone for the information. I would like to share with you the spanish stores, but…. we live in a desert.