A Convention of Jazz Record Collectors. Really.
I saw a note that the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors is meeting this weekend in New Orleans. Sounds like it may be fun, with classic films, live jazz and, of course, dealers selling records. I’m not a member of the organization and I don’t know anyone who is. Seems kind of funny, I guess, that I do this site called Jazz Collector and there’s an association of jazz record collectors and I don’t know anything about it. The explanation, I think, has to do with the way I’ve always approached this lovely hobby and the way most of you in the Jazz Collector community seem to approach it as well, and that is: We seem to enjoy the thrill of the hunt, and the hunt tends to be a relatively solitary endeavor. I remember when I used to go recording hunting with my friend Dan and there was always a battle for the best records: Who saw it first, who wanted it most, who just had to have it, who would be willing to pay more. At some point I realized it was more fun to go hunting by myself and then tell him about the scores after the records were safely ensconced on my shelves. The idea of joining an association of collectors never had that much appeal. Here at Jazz Collector we can share
our love of the hobby in relative anonymity and we can share our scores after the fact. But I’m not opposed to the idea of an association and perhaps next year I’ll attend the event (if they invite me). In the meantime, if there are any “Jazz Collectors” who are also members of the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors and you would like to talk about the association and the convention, please feel free to do so here at Jazz Collector. I’d be happy to give you a guest post or two or three and I’m sure we’d all love to hear about what’s taking place in New Orleans this weekend. Wouldn’t we?
What kind of sleeves do you guys use? Heard horrific stories about ruined records and PVC
http://recordcollectormag.com/letters/ruined-vinyl-the-sequels
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue38/lp_sleaves.htm
I am an inactive member of the IAJRC. My late freind and fellow discographer Charlie Garrod was a founding member and his son Curt is also an inactive member. The original main direction of the group was 40’s & 50’s recordings, but it has become a collection of very old men collecting pre-war 78’s. Probably not of much interest to members of this group.
Agree with Terry after having reviewed their program a couple of years ago. So maybe there is a market Al for all those wax cylinder recordings you have been hoarding all these years 😉
You know, I do have about 1,000 78s. But I like them and even listen to ’em once in a while.
I’ve been a member or the IAJRC for many years. I consider my dues a charitable contribution. I can’t remember an issue without an article about Bix or Bunny. It gets a bit frustrating, but some of us are trying to change all that. I write a column about recent jazz vinyl (my review of Fred Cohen’s Blue Note book was reprinted here). My friend Stu Kremsky writes reviews of all kinds of contemporary cds including avant, post-bop, fusion, and hard-bop including reissues of note (Mosaic, Blue Note etc.). Some excellent writers such as Doug Norwood contribute as well. It is an almost moribund institution that needs a shot of new blood. I hope some readers here will consider joining and perhaps writing for the journal. Any member can contribute and I’m sure most of you could learn and also contribute something interesting.
Al,
Would those be Blue Note and/or Prestige 78’s!?!
A few Blue Notes, a ton of Prestiges. Years a go — probably 20 years — the Jazz Record Mart in Chicago, then on Grand Street, had rows and rows of Prestige 78s in unplayed mint condition. They must have purchased them directly from a warehouse. I was in Chicago on business, snuck off to the record store and pulled out piles and piles of 78s. The question was: What to do with them? I lived in New York. I went out and purchased a small carry-on piece of luggage. loaded it with 78s and hauled it on the plane with me back to NY. The hardest part was actually lifting it up and putting it into the overhead rack. The thing must have weighed at least 100 pounds. When I got back to New York I shared the score with my friend Dan. He made me promise — next time I was in Chicago I’d have to get him a batch as well. So, next time I was in Chicago a few weeks later, I brought an extra carry-on bag with me, loaded it up with Prestige 78s, and did the same thing all over again. It was worth it for sure and I still have all of those 78s still here in my collection.
Oops. In my previous post I was referring to the IAJRC Journal. I forgot to mention that besides their annual meetings, the IAJRC publish a quarterly journal. Since most members don’t make it to the conventions, the journal is the most tangible part of membership, although they also produce cds and(now oop) records including the 1st release of the Stars Of Modern Jazz concert from Carnegie Hall on Christmas day 1949 with tracks from Bud Powell, Miles, Getz, Tristano, and Sarah Vaughn.
I attended the convention this year and had a great time. I’ve been a member for a while and since the convention was close to home I wanted to check it out. The group seems to focus more heavily on the prewar music but there were plenty of people there with interest in postwar music as well. There was a nice focus on New Orleans which I enjoyed and a few presentations stuck out for me. One was made by Charles Suhor and was about modern jazz in postwar New Orleans. I was so fascinated I purchased his book and plan to check it out this week. There was a very touching presentation with Eva Taylor’s grandson and a Danish man who brought her over to tour Scandanavia in the 70s, many years after her career was over in the 30/40s.
Mostly, i enjoyed meeting people and chatting. I sat with a very nice table at the banquet and talked with some interesting people.
Al, I’m not sure whether it’s worthwhile hauling your records down or not but I would think you would enjoy the convention at least. There are plenty of attendees very knowledgeable about the era of jazz that you focus on here(our interest are very similar, and I had plenty of great conversations).
I don’t know if I will be attending next year, it depends on many factors. But I will attend again in the future.
Also, for everyone’s info, there were some nice records at the convention but I didn’t notice too many premium records fetching $100+ prices. I bought about 10 records at $3-$5 each. I did get Riverside 231 “Gin Bottle Jazz” in VG++/VG++ condition. I haven’t heard it yet, will probably listen once and it will go on the shelf, but grabbing a white label original Riverside for $4 was hard to pass up for me. I also found a very strange Andrew Hill/Johnny Hartman live album from 1961 on the VGM label. I had never seen it before, and the sound quality is not great, but I couldn’t pass it up at $2.