I am running out now and don’t have time to do write something to express my feelings about Horace Silver yet. He was an important figure in the jazz world and in my world because he was probably my dad’s favorite musician. In the meantime, I’m sure many people want to comment on his passing yesterday, so you can start here.
Here’s some random stuff from the world of Jazz Collector.
No more J & R Music World in lower Manhattan. The iconic outlet closed last week, as reported here in the New York Daily News. The combination of music sales moving online and consumer electronics sales moving online makes it inevitable that brick-and-mortar stores such as these will struggle and ultimately have to find new revenue streams or face going out of business. I remember J&R back in the day, before CDs, when it was the place to buy records that were in print. It stocked pretty much everything and the prices were fair. But that was a long time ago. Last time I was there, maybe three years ago, they were trying to revive vinyl sales with reissues and even some used vinyl, but, with the used vinyl, the prices were way too high for regular buyers like me. Another one bites the dust.
This one is kind of silly, but it came in the mailbox: The CBS program “60 Minutes” conducted a survey and ask respondents to choose which was more important, jazz or hip hip. 73% chose jazz and 19% chose hip hop. And this means . . . .?
Somebody sent me this interview with Stan Getz from 1987, talking about drinking and drugs and jazz. Thought I’d share it with everyone. He put out some great records. Too bad he doesn’t remember making them.
I’ve had this thing in my inbox for the past few weeks and I’ve been debating whether to post it. It’s really silly. The Internet gives pretty much anyone a forum to write pretty much anything they want. So I got this email with a listing from a blog and it was something like the “10 Greatest Jazz Pianists of All Time,” which was silly enough, but then I saw that the guy did a Top 10 list of jazz albums under the dubious heading “10 essential jazz albums if you know squat about jazz but want to become more versed.” The list is so bad and ridiculous I won’t comment, other than to note the lack of any artist from before the post-Bop era, including Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. Anyway, after great hesitation (and strictly for laughs), here it is:
Allow me to lay off eBay for a moment to inform you of a couple of upcoming events that may be of interest. Coming up first is the Jazz Record Collector’s Bash, June 21 and 22 in Iselin, New Jersey, at the Hilton Woodbridge. It has been many years since I attended one of these but, hey, there are jazz dealers with records for sale, so it’s always worth a shot. They also show films and have other activities. I do have a fondly remembered record score at one of these events, a story I have told, probably whenever I’ve written about the event before. The crux of it is there was this guy with a bunch of nice records, many Prestiges and Swingvilles, and a 10-inch Sonny Criss on Clef, and they were all $5 each and I was the first one to arrive at his table. ‘Nuff said.
I also received my notice and contract for the WFMU Record Fair, which will take place
I’ve never been a big fan of social media. I’ve had a Facebook page for a few years, but I post just a few times a year. I experimented early with Twitter, but don’t use it other than for work. But . . . yesterday I was procrastinating and avoiding a writing project so I decided to go to Twitter and Facebook and finally set up accounts for Jazz Collector. I can’t promise how often I will tweet or post, but I am now there for you to find and befriend. The Twitter handle is aljazzcollector and the Facebook page is Jazz Collector and if I attract some friends I will put up some links to interesting auctions I see on eBay and other items of interest related to the world of jazz and Jazz Collector. Speaking of which . . . did you know that April is Jazz Appreciation Month? We even have a logo on our site from the Jazz Journalists Association to prove it. You can click the link to find out more information about what you can do to appreciate jazz. As for me, I think I’ll put on a record. Or two. Or perhaps a few hundred.
I got into jazz in the summer of 1970, when I was 17 years old, and I was stuck alone in the house with my father’s records. I have told this story before, quite elegantly I may add, and it can be seen here if you are interested: Song For My Father. Prior to that, like most kids my age, I was into rock and my favorite musician was Alvin Lee, the great guitar player from Ten Years After. If you listen to the album “Undead” you will hear a guitarist who was heavily influenced by jazz and was playing some great jazz-infused, soulful, bluesy and always swinging music in a rock and roll band. Sorry to say, Alvin Lee passed away yesterday. If you’re not familiar with his playing, check this out: 01 I May Be Wrong, But I Won’t Be Wrong Always.m4a 2.
You may have seen that Donald Byrd passed away earlier this week. Here’s how I’ll always remember him (as I’m sure will many others): Cristo Redentor
Good morning everyone from soggy New York City. I just received word that the WFMU Record Fair, scheduled for this weekend, has been cancelled. There is still no power in the area, subways and Path trains are down, and still no planes flying into New York City. It’s really a mess. The organizers are promising to refund everyone’s money, unless he or she would like to apply it to the 2013 fair.
