Going in the opposite direction, I received an email with the subject line: NJ RECORD BASH SIGNOFF. This was a long-time event, nearly 50 years, according to the email. It was usually held in June at a motel or hotel in New Jersey. This is another one I used to attend regularly, back in the 1980s and 1990s. I remember one time getting there early and setting up a table and the guy next to me was setting up and he had a pile of original Prestige Swingville records in mint condition and I bought the entire pile for about $5 each. I still have those records. Sorry to see the Bash go, but the financial model must be a challenge these days, what with eBay and social media and people no longer getting together to socialize as they used to.

I’m on the mailing list for the labels doing reissues, such as Craft and Blue Note, but unfortunately I’m not on their promo lists for review copies. In any case, the email in box had a promo for new issues from the Original Jazz Classics series from Craft, including Introducing Lee Morgan, The Young Lions from VeeJay, and This Here is Bobby Timmons from Riverside. Blue Note is taking orders for a three-LP Tone Poet set of The Complete ‘Round About Midnight at the Café Bohemia from Kenny Dorham. This would comprise the original Blue Note 1524, plus the two Japanese LPs issued in the 1980s.

The rest of the records I bought were fill-ins, such as the Booker Ervin, Heavy!!!, Prestige 7499. This was priced at about $30 for an original pressing and I was pretty sure the pressing I had at home was a later green pressing. Of course, once I got home and looked at my copy, it is a blue label, so now I have two. Beyond the records in the photo, I came home with a bunch others that were $3 or $4 each, including an original New York label of the Musings of Miles, Prestige 7007. The cover is beat, but the record looks decent. I’ll clean it up and put it on the turntable. For $4, I couldn’t resist. Who could, could you?

Anyway, it was fun going to a record show again. I hadn’t been to one all through Covid and it was nice to be in the action. It was also nice to see that there was a big crowd and a lot of young people. The jazz selection wasn’t bad – I passed up some nice records that I’m sure other Jazz Collectors were able to purchase and enjoy. Next time the show comes to town I’ll let you know in advance. I may even be tempted to get a table of my own. After all, I have now have copies  of Booker Ervin Heavy and the Musings of Miles to sell.

This was an original pressing. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG+, but I can assure you looking at the picture very few of us in the Jazz Collector world would consider it VG+, what with clear water damage on the bottom corner. Even with that damage the record sold for $455, which is a bit of a shocker to me, and probably to CeeDee as well, which is why it ended up in my email box.

Then there was this one, a record I would never normally watch or notice, leaving it to our friend Clifford to mention: The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Les Stances of a Sophie, Pathe C-062. This was an original pressing listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG- for the cover. It sold for $335, which I assume is a high price for this particular record in this particular condition.

Also in my mailbox was a reminder that there will be a jazz record show in my neck of the woods this weekend, the 43^rd Annual Jazz Record Collector’s Bash at the Hilton Garden Inn in lovely Edison New Jersey. It is a two-day affair, Friday and Saturday. Normally this is an event that I would not be able to attend, as it takes place in June every year, a time when it is nearly impossible to pry me from my home in The Berkshires. In fact, I haven’t attended one of these in probably 20 years. But this year is different. The Lovely Mrs. JC has requested my presence in New York this weekend because she has purchased some theater tickets and because she has a conference that she needs to attend, which happens to take place on Saturday during the same hours as the 43^rd Annual Jazz Record Collector’s Bash. So what shall I do while she is in the conference? You guessed it. I will drive out to lovely Edison New Jersey for the 43^rd Annual Jazz Record Collector’s Bash. Well, wouldn’t you?

BTW, discerning readers will note that the picture with this story is a retread from a previous show. When I got home I realized I forgot to take a picture, so . . . .

I just received a note that the 40th annual Jazz Record Collector’s Bash will take place June 27 and June 28 at the  Hilton Woodbridge in Iselin, N.J. Not a lot of details yet, but there are always sellers with lots of records and there are usually films and discussions and music as well. I used to attend regularly and scored some nice records, but I haven’t been in years. June 27 and June 28 are prime bass-fishing season up in The Berkshires, so nature calls. I will, however, be at the WFMU Record Fair, which will take place this year May 30-June 1 in New York City. I will have a booth for Friday only, selling some of the duplicates from my recent score in Baltimore. Normally I would also be bass fishing on that particular weekend, but I have a personal engagement in Manhattan, so I’m stuck. But I’ll also have some nice records with me.

Here’s an interesting article: The Vinyl Revival: Who — and Why — Are Those Folks Buying Records Again. It’s nice to see that younger people are discovering what we’ve known all along: There’s no better medium for owning and listening to music than vinyl.

The Art Blakey A Night At Birdland Records Volume 1 and 2, Blue Note 1521 and 1522, have been added to the Library of Congress list of recordings to be preserved in the National Recording Registry. Nice honor for some great records. I would have been nice to have seen the original covers with the release, or even the original 10-inch covers, rather than the reissued cover. But that’s just a quibble. Always nice to see jazz recordings from the era receive honors and accolades, long overdue, wouldn’t you say?

I also received my notice and contract for the WFMU Record Fair, which will take place

Nov. 22-24 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York. This is usually the top event for buyer and sellers in the NY metro area, and possibly across the entire Northeast. You may recall that the 2012 event was cancelled because of Hurricane Sandy. I am still debating whether to get a table for the event this year. I do have a lot of nice doubles to sell, and I am not on eBay these days, so it is likely I will be there for at least one day, perhaps two, with a Jazz Collector table. I’ll keep you posted.

get there when the doors officially open at 4 p.m. on Friday and, if you’re really smart, you should hook up with a dealer and get in even earlier to be there when the other dealers arrive. Even if you miss out on the most collectible – i.e., expensive – records, there is always a ton of good jazz vinyl at this show and it is often at reasonable prices, depending upon the dealer. I don’t think I will be getting a table this year – haven’t gotten one yet and I imagine it’s sold out – but I’m not all that prepared. Having moved twice this year, to the city and to The Berkshires, I have many records in storage and I haven’t sorted them out or labeled them yet. Perhaps next year when things settle. Besides, the weekend of the show is also the birthday weekend of the lovely Mrs. JC and there are other celebratory plans in the works.

Tina Brooks True Blue. Which is all a long way of saying that the real way to work these record shows is to get there hours before the show opens and walk around as the dealers are setting up. This works best if you get a table as a dealer and sell some records yourself. I would normally do this, but I had to be out of town on Friday and Saturday. So, by the time I got to the show when it opened on Sunday, I assumed  that the early birds had already scooped up all of the bargains, and there would be nothing worthwhile left for me. And, I was right. There were still some sellers with some nice records, but they had lasted through the weekend because the prices were out of whack. I saw a copy of Charles Rouse, Yeah on Epic for $1,000 and it wasn’t even in M- condition. I saw a lot of other records where the price didn’t match the condition, or the condition didn’t match the price. So I passed.

Among the people I asked about the show, the consensus was that it was pretty much business as usual. There were definitely fewer sellers than in past years, and attendance on Sunday seemed to be down. One seller said the Sunday attendance was the worst he had remembered in four years of attending the show, but Saturday was perhaps the best attendance. There were a lot of jazz records in general at the show: In fact, just about every table had some jazz. But there were only a few tables — perhaps five or six — that had any worthwhile collectibles and by the time I got there they were probably cleaned out of the ones that were realistically priced. Anyway, I would have preferred to have been there on Friday when the dealers were just arriving and unpacking. If anyone was there during that time and would like to share his or her experiences, please feel free to comment on this post. Oh, there were a couple of people interviewing and filming people for a short documentary about vinyl collectors. Who knows if this ever see the light of day, but I was among those they interviewed. I’ll keep you all posted if anything ever comes of that.