Adventures in Jazz Collecting, Tokyo Style
One of our readers living in Japan recently sent a note with a story to share so I said, please, write it up. He did and here it is:
By Stuart Levine
I am a regular reader (living in Japan), who especially enjoys Al’s record-collecting adventures. Well I have one of my own to share with the Jazz Collector community. It all started last September in Tokyo. I had heard of Disk Union and wanted to see it for myself. Perhaps, I could score on a nice LP. When I got off the train at my exit, I could immediately see it to my left – an impressive brick building with a large Disk Union window sign. The only problem was this was not the store noted for its jazz inventory. The real deal, Disk Union “Jazz Tokyo” was about six blocks away. Had it not been for a fellow Southern Californian (wearing a Dodgers cap) walking me over to the right store, I would have come away from this experience very disappointed. My good fortune really started when I was introduced to the head buyer of used jazz vinyl, a soft-spoken gentleman named Katsu. He invited me to come back three months later on Dec. 19th when the store was having a big Blue Note record sale, to the tune of 500 original mono and stereo LPs.
I got back to Tokyo the day before the sale, spent a night in a hotel and was #2 in line outside the store the next morning (the line had started forming at 5:00 a.m.). It was first come, first served. I asked the guy in front of me what record(s) he was looking for. He said, “J.R. Monterose, Blue Note 1536 and Horace Parlan’s “Us Three.” Luckily, he was not after True Blue. But I sure was, and Jazz Tokyo had a nice VG++/VG++ copy. That’s when the fun began. I raced over to the wall where 4041 was placed, only to feel hands across my back and shoulder. Were these normally well- mannered Japanese climbing over my body in an attempt to steal True Blue from my rightful grasp? To make a long story short, I took possession of True Blue, paid $1,600 (200,000 yen).
For more on the Blue Note sale, follow this link. There, you’ll see the images of all those records and by scrolling down, more details on each one.
http://blog-jazztokyo.diskunion.net/Entry/22011/
Oh my, the George Wallington “Showcase”, one of my holy grails. Nice collection of B notes.
Congratulations to Stuart –> “The earlybird catches the worm” as we say it in german…
Once I had the opportunity to buy a simular collection and of course I picked it completly,
so I could save about 20 – 30 years of my life by collecting them record per record.
interesting…
but not as evocative as Baltimore…
this just feels like, if you have the corn…it’s yours.
Where’s the chase!
JOK it looks like that Showcase is still there….for $500 bucks. Glad i got mine for $25 at a record show a few years back. Thats too much coin for my blood. As for the story, The True Blue is certainly one i would have considered too. Congrats!
Just a few days ago I picked up JR Monterose on Lexington(VG+ cover and NM vinyl) for $300 and a dead mint black label “giant steps” for $40! From the same collection a few months back I got a mint mono review copy of “roll call” for $350 and three Michael Garrick 60s albums for $25 each in NM shape…
Japan would kill me..amazing selection but prices seem “on par” with the internet.
high prices, but it is sure nice to see someone buying “true blue” at an actual record shop! and there’s nothing like getting that grail for yourself. good for you!
Mark can I come hang out where you live? That giant steps is still sadly on my to do list, not to mention those others! Love that there are still great records out there to be found for reasonable prices!
Oh, … my GOD!!!
You’ll have to forgive me… I’m still trying to recuperate. I think I nearly had a brain aneurism.
Good thing for me I don’t live in Tokyo. I probably would’ve sold my house!
Dave
Mark….do you live in an internet free Narnia? Amazing
I always like a good deal, but I’d be happy paying prices that are on par with eBay if it meant I could physically hold the item in the store.
Imagine whoever it was that originally purchased all those and how they got from the east coast to disc union. Talk about effort.
Mark has friends that are in high places although still earthbound.
I agree with GST — I’ll fork over if I see something in a store that’s in nice shape. However, I’ve not crossed the four-figure barrier on a single item.
Yeah this collection is certainly not from a store; the record stores around me are absolutely dreadful.
I’ve never cracked the 4 figure mark either but came awfully close when I bought “amalgamation”. I’d love to go to Japan one day, and I’m sure if I saw a minty first press of “independence tread on sure ground” or “2 to 10 saxophone adventure” for $1000 I’d probably cave in and fork over the dough 🙁
Never crossed that barrier myself, don’t plan to! Had a fun garage sale find recently. In a box of old french Christmas music and old Toto albums there was, in perfect condition the New Phonic Art Free Improvisation box set on Deutsche Gramophon. I asked the women how much, she said $100. I thought to myself, thats about right, and was going to offer her $80 when she said “just kidding, fifty cents”! Needless to say, I said “ok”! What I always wonder, in cases like this, is where is the OTHER stuff! Noone owned just that record,and a bunch of crap 80’s rock. Oh well, we all enjoy the hunt!
Ha, weird. I think I paid about $100 for my copy 15 years ago!
…I love visiting Japan, and have been lucky enough to have travelled there many times over the years. They really immerse themselves into their selected professions, and have a way of capturing the truest aspects of that occupation, then pushing it as far as they possibly can while preserving its heritage. (Especially when it comes to their love of extreme vintage audio equipment for example) I certainly look forward to checking out Disk Union next time I am there. (I suspect these guys are among the many buyers who have sent their low-ball offers on items I’ve posted on ebay over the years…) I’m surprised to hear that in this day and age they had such a great sale on original Blue Notes, as one would expect that the demand would be quite high, so much so that they couldn’t keep them on the shelves to begin with. It’s almost like going back in time and dropping by places like the old Commodore Record Shop or Time Square Records (even Blue Note and Prestige) and just picking them up fresh off the press despite the obvious price inflation in this case !
I hold my personal cap to $50 and have broke it only once (for a red vinyled copy of Bob Gordon’s “Moods in Jazz” on Tampa) and that was because I felt sorry for the old gentleman who was selling it.
I love these old Blue Notes, but I won’t pay a penny over fifty bucks for that George Wallington. One of these days, I’ll find it. I have a pretty cool jazz collection and the fifty buck limit has served me well. And, the fifty buck limit has kept me married.
Hey Jok, limiting by home records to about 75 linear feet keeps my marriage intact (the rest need to be in my office!). I suspect the the Blue Note sale involved them holding items back from their general shelfs for some time, or it was a collection (or number of collections) purchased. When you have all in one go a mass of Blue Notes like that, well you attract greater attention, and folks line up, collectors travel, etc and so forth. I rarely pay more than $50 for a record, it needs to be something I have been looking for for a long time, and that I know I cannot simply get via ebay or a high-end dealer (or if I can, it would be crazy money).
I went to the Canby record show yesterday (Canby, Oregon) and they had quite a few Blue Notes there. And, they were reasonably priced (and for me, that’s under $50), but alas, there were none that I was looking for. But, I did score Clifford Brown’s ensemble on Pacific (10 inch), Gigi Gryce on Jubilee, “The Young Lions” on Vee Jay, and Art Pepper on a Vogue label (“Getting Together”). Got all 4 for $63. Nice haul if I say so myself.
The Young Lions is a wonderful and underrated record, both the performance and sound quality.
Oh, sorry, and I forgot I picked up Ron Carter’s “Where?” on Status. That was the find of the day (I am a huge Dolphy fan)!
I used to have a cruddy-sounding Status pressing of the Carter that I got for a buck. Didn’t keep it – really hissy vinyl and at the time I was unmoved by the music. Maybe if I see a better copy I’ll give it another shot.
I (also) have a NM- copy of Tina Brook’s “True Blue”.
Every time I put it on my turntable (no matter my frame of mind) my gratification index goes through the roof. I can’t begin to explain or quantify the joy and adulation I get from each and every listening experience, it’s something few people in the world ever have the opportunity to experience.
It’s hard for me to estimate the value or disparage the prices paid for Blue Note’s rarest gems especially Tina Brook’s True Blue which has brought me so much joy over the 10+ years I’ve owed my copy.
However I can say with a high degree of certainty that…..10 years from now you won’t care how much you paid for it, but what you will care about is the music……….
Enjoy True Blue, it is truly remarkable!!!
Is True Blue really that remarkable?
Agreed it’s a very good Blue Note session…and it’s bloody rare in any condition, but I don’t think it’s in the same league as Giant Steps or Colossus or even Dexter’s Go..IMHO.
For me the scarcity of a record isn’t what constitutes it’s greatness. No way. A trophy indeed it is, a nailed on Masterpiece …..hmmm not for me.
Thoughts?
adamski,
i totally agree but saying a record like true blue isn’t as great as giant steps is like saying the sun isn’t the biggest star in the galaxy. it’s still fuckin huge, man.
plus, having a rare thing that also sounds great is really, really fun!
Gregory the fish..I hear you. I have just played True Blue (not original, Jap reissue) and it is a good record, a very good record indeed, but it ain’t no milestone in the genre. I too have many rare records, like many of us here on JC and totally agree it’s fun putting them on and knowing you have that trophy. But I thinks i still stand by what i originally said, the scarcity of it don’t make it a remarkable record. Agreed it’s a lot of fun owning them and even more fun spinning ’em!
“True Blue” is a darn good record,but it is about as good as 100 other records i would step over to get to the really good records. If you are so inclined you can go to Youtube and search for “Tenor battle Tina Brooks and David Fathead Newman” This footage appears to be from Brazil in 1964 with the Ray Charles Orchestra.Brooks is not running in the money in this tenor battle.You tell me. Tina…you know we all love you.
I agree that “true blue” is a great album. But is it in the same league as “giant steps”, “blues and the abstract truth”, “kind of blue”, etc? No!
@Jazzcourier – thanks for the heads up on the Youtube clip. Got to agree, Fathead pretty much blows him away there. I bought True Blue on Connoisseur CD in 1994, and liked it well enough. I then read the Rosenthal “Hard Bop” book, which IMO helped to create a mystique about Brooks, which perhaps wasn’t quite in keeping with the reality. I have a couple of other Brooks LPs on CD, “Minor Move” and “Back to the Tracks”, which I never play now. That said, I do absolutely love Freddie Hubbard’s “Open Sesame”, which is pretty much the brother of True Blue.
I really like True Blue a lot. Brooks is a fantastic player who should have had more opportunities to record, imperfect as the sessions we have access to may be.
adamski,
yeah i was just saying: really good session + rarity = desirable. it’s good enough, and it’s rare.
GTF..I hear you
I am enjoying the conversations that have spun off from the “I waited in line and bought a Blue Note in Japan” story. Question: Does your experience–yes, you– suggest that most jazz collectors/aficionados also have musical training at some point in their lives? For example, when Fathead “blows away Tina” in Richard’s thoughtful comment above, does that discriminating assessment (typically) require musical training in his background?
I have to admit hard to compare anything to Colossus and Blues and the Abstract Truth (Stolen Moments).
Giant Steps I find really challenging and don’t much care for Dexter’s “Go.” Maybe it’s the bright recording, especially the drums. Would much rather listen to “Tanya” from One Flight Up.
(from the dude who bought “true blue” in Japan)
Maybe to state the obvious, I think each person’s opinion on a great jazz record is different, and while musical training may influence one to prefer an album over another, it doesn’t make that opinion any less legitimate. I agree that purchase price or scarcity can skew my opinion of a record from time to time. It’s like wine, if you know it costs more, you enjoy it more and you even convince yourself it tastes better. And it’s hard to completely remove that bias. You’d think someone who is a wine aficionado would be able to discern high quality wine from lower quality wine, but survey after survey proves it’s difficult to do. However, I know what I look for in a record, and because I played jazz through college, it typically relates to the musician’s technical prowess of the instrument I played and the specific brand of jazz I prefer.
I played tenor saxophone for 3 years in Junior high school so clearly I’m an informed expert on saxophone players 😉
I think that True Blue is a great session but it’s high price is based on other “collector” attributes than the performance itself. Just the week before Tina Brooks played on Freddie Hubbard’s Open Sesame with almost the same line up with McCoy Tyner on piano. McCoy Tyner’s playing elevated every session he played on, I don’t feel like he ever received the recognition he deserved. John Coltrane choose him as his collaborator/muse for good reason. McCoy plays also plays on some of Joe Henderson’s and Wayne Shorter’s most sought after recordings. I always felt he never just simply comped but rather laid down a sound stage for any artist soloing to play within.
Who knows what John Coltrane’s Legacy we would have been gifted playing with anyone else.
@Daryl – I played alto saxophone (badly) for a few years if that’s any use to you? I’m not sure whether your response was rhetorical or snarky, but IMO you can HEAR Fathead sounds better on that clip. Tina tone is thin and his phrasing is less assured, he sounds a bit cowed to me.
These debates are interesting!
See how different we all hear, Woody, whilst I really like Tyner as a pianist i don’t get the same connection to him as
say Kelly or Evans, I know completely different styles but his solos on a lot of records irritate me a bit. I find the long runs and big Chords repetitive… Although i really dig his own recordings, Nights of Ballads and Blues, standing out for me. His period with Coltrane was incredible but some of the session stuff on other Blue Note artists LPs don’t grab me.
I’ve seen him live countless times and he never fails to shine though.
(I know i’ll be hung drawn and quartered for that)
I’m surprised my comments congratulating a reader on the purchase of “True Blue” evoked such a visceral response from some here. Furthermore, I’m not clear on why the questions posed or the comparisons made are relevant. However for the sake of discussion…
Is John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” better than Tina Brook’s “True Blue”?
I’m always perplexed by these types of comparisons because I don’t know what qualifications could ever be used to determinatively and conclusively say one session is better than the another.
Is Giant Steps more technically difficult music than True Blue?
Are the musicians on Giant Steps (somehow) all better than those on True Blue?
Did Giant Steps cost more money to make or is the engineer (someway) better?
Perhaps in error some readers have confused the word “better” with preference. Preference, perception, and choice are all individual personal attributes. More specifically, preferences are just opinions, and certainly not determinative or conclusive regarding any jazz session or comparisons between sessions.
Jazz has always been, over analyzed, over scrutinized and persecuted. Jazz should be respected for what it is, a personal experience with personal preferences. My preference is not to chose between these two “remarkable” sessions (i.e. Giant Steps and True Blue), and not to disparage either session, but celebrate these two artists, through the collection of their extraordinary music.
@Adamski – No my friend we’re good. Each of us being emotionally moved by different styles and artist enriches us all. When someone disagrees with my personal opinion of an performance usually makes me want to listen to their favorite’s with new ears. Sometimes I gain a greater appreciation of what’s been shared with me….sometimes not. It’s all good.
Woody, Damn straight mate, It’s all good.
stuart – btw, there’s a more appropriate exit to take for the jazz tokyo store; the southernmost exit up the stairs. the brick store across from the station is the “shin-ochanomizu” store and also has a jazz section that, imo, shouldn’t be missed. cheers!
Hello Jazz Enthusiasts! My husband, who was a jazz nerd, recently passed away and he has an outstanding collection of albums, CDs, and some cassettes. In his lap album collection is: Clifford Brown Memmorial Album, Theloneous Monk – At Town Hall, Lee Morgan-City Lights and Search for the New Land, Freddie Hubbard-Blue Spirits, John Coltrane-Blue Train, and lots, lots more. I am located in Tampa Fl. The collection is extensive. Let me know of any interest.
Hi Carol,
I am so sorry for your loss. As a fellow Jazz lover, I am interested in your husband’s jazz collection. I live in Florida a few hours outside of Tampa. Please respond by email. My personal email is Time2do100@aol.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
I have a Giant Steps mono black label VG+ (record) NM cover for $450 plus shipping if anyone is interested. This would be in August when I return back to the states (Las Vegas). But what I really have in mind is trading my Giant Steps and paying some hefty cash for a NICE first mono pressing of Hank Mobley “Soul Station.”
Music as an art form is universal. What music one likes is personal. Lets leave it at that.
I would love to go to Japan, just to experience first hand their love for our vintage culture artifacts. I may purchase a token or 2, but my hands will likely stay in my pockets.
Getting a holy grail, or even finding a great collection is a wonderful event. With the vinyl resurgence, new collectors in the market, and the prevalence of the internet, it is more difficult to find collectible LPs. But they are still out there. One needs knowledge to know when you find something, and one needs patience to keep looking !
I do, indeed, feel lucky to have attended such an event. It seems it might not happen again. Here’s what the store manager had to say when I inquired about the possibility of a winter 2016 sale.
“Blue Note record sale had taken place only one time an year at only JazzTOKYO for last a couple of years. I think that was on December every year. But, I have have to say that We were very very lucky at every sale. Because, We could gather enough titles of original pressing (and 2nd) for little while to have a big sale like last one (where You got your True Blue at). It’s really hard to say when the next Blue Note record sale will be held. Maybe on this December, Maybe never be held, Who knows ?”
Having my own minor “vinyl” collection, I can truly appreciate your enthusiasm. As a musician, collecting vinyl is simply a hobby but not an investment. I try to find what I like or what I remember. I have an extensive CD collection as well as quite a few tapes (cassette, reel to reel and DAT) that contain music from the past 100 years or so. I keep these as part of my musical library and my personal performance heritage. I wish I had the time to collect and preserve vinyl. If I need a recording I just download now or find the “re-issue” CD. I don’t take the time or make the effort to get the “real” thing. I eny you and your enthusiasm! Keep up the faith.