Comments on: Guest Column: Record Shopping in Japan

By: Michel

Michel — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 10:16:59 +0000

We all know that the times when it was possible to find a NM Blue Note from the bin of a dummy seller at the flea market, are gone for ever. But on te other hads, if there was no Ebay, i would never have been able to catch some NEVER SEEN records. I tend to buy very very few records now. Maybe not even five in a year. But each time i buy one, its for a high price and on Ebay.

By: London Calling

London Calling — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 21:54:29 +0000

Ebay is cruel but it is a mirror on the world we live in: the market is never wrong. Every day I watch guys throw money on the table to win, and they do. Silly prices. But they got that money somewhere, on account of someone somewhere doing something that someone would give money for.

Japanese no different from anyone – hedge-fund guru, whoever.

Today I went up town to some “rare” stores and came home with a couple of Jap Labels – Kenny Dorhams “Trompeta Tocatta” (Toshiba EMI) and Kenny Burrell’s “Freedom” on King (GFX 3057) no obvious US release number.

Absolutely delighted.

So thank you Land of the Rising Sun, its a two way street.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 21:09:38 +0000

Thanks Michel,
I will check it out. It’s hard to find bargains anywhere in the world these days. Sometimes you get lucky. But as I don’t go to Paris very often anymore(I had an aunt who lived there but died 10 years ago and I haven’t been back since) if I have to take it on the chin to get some nice french records I’ll do it this time.

By: Michel

Michel — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 20:53:12 +0000

If you go to Paris, go to Paris Jazz Corner…They may have something for you, but i’m afraid you will have to show your credit card BEFORE entering into the holy grails’s room….

Those guys are fine, anyway… But i’m afraid you will not find any bargain here.

http://www.parisjazzcorner.com/

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 03:38:19 +0000

Thanks everyone for you kind words. I will definitely go to Jaro’s next time I’m in Tokyo.
My next trip is to Paris, anybody know any good record stores there? What are some quality modern jazz french labels I should be looking for. I know of Vogue, but I know there were a lot of recordings in France in the 50’s and 60’s and am looking for any cool labels and records to look out for.

By: Lester Hawkins

Lester Hawkins — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 23:56:15 +0000

I enjoyed reading that very much. I’ve heard many great things about the record-shopping experience in Japan. I have to say though, I was a little disappointed to learn just how few actual bargains I’d probably end up coming across if I ever went. I’ve always imagined there being such a surplus of great jazz there that they’d be unknowingly giving these things away, to some degree. However unlikely that may have been, I guess reading about your outing re-affirmed the reality of our global village societies; we can no longer escape information, and therefore, EVERYONE knows the going price on any given record. And if they don’t, they can find out in just a few clicks of a mouse.
Which reminds me…..in a completely unrelated experience of my own, I was in a secondhand store a few months back. The owner had about 5,000 used records of varying condition. He hadn’t sorted through all of it yet, but customers were free to go through all the crates. There was a sign that read “ALL RECORDS 5 for $20 or 1 FOR $5”. It wasn’t really the best deal considering the majority of it was your typical thrift store dollar bin fodder. But I managed to find a small pocket of MPS albums, as well as a few random soul, funk, and jazz gems intermingling with the Ray Conniffs, Herb Alperts, and Jimmy Buffets. I also happened upon a copy of John Coltrane’s Crescent on Impulse, in stereo, with the orange labels, RVG stamp etc, in absolute pristine condition. I had a feeling that it was a little too good to be true. The owner had earlier admitted to me that he knew next to nothing about music or, more specifically, records, but as he sorted through my plunder, he kept making a “hmmm” face. Then when he came across the Coltrane, which I’m guessing he only recognized because of the name COLTRANE, he paused and did the whole “now how did that get mixed up in there” thing and politely explained that he just needed to check something before he rang it through. And (as I expected) he then proceeded to do a search on ebay for the same album. When he finally found a few comparable items, he just shrugged and apologized, and then told me he couldn’t include it. He said I was free to make him an offer, but he felt it was worth at least a hundred. I just shook my head. The whole point behind my long-winded post here is that it’s getting harder and harder to find those magical bins filled with unwanted original Blue Notes. Here, in Japan, or anywhere else.
Thanks for sharing your experience.

By: duonri

duonri — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 22:33:39 +0000

Next time you are in Tokyo try “JARO Records”.
In JARO you will see 100’s of high-end jazz original in boxes, sorted by catalog numbers:
Prestige 7001, 7002 7003 ( all 50th St) etc;
Blute Note 1501, 1502 1503 (Lexington ) Etc..
Incredible !
Prices are high. Cash only.

By: japhy

japhy — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:25:46 +0000

Thanks, Mike, for the nice contribution!

By: Henry

Henry — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 10:50:38 +0000

Awesome, thanks!

By: Mattyman

Mattyman — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 22:38:56 +0000

Well, Mike, thanks for a great guest column, I enjoyed it! And to London Calling: I clicked on those YouTube videos that you shared with us and I couldn’t finish them. I mean… One original after the other and indeed even with a few titles that I had never heard of before ever, just like the guy behind the camera says here and there! 😉 So many records, so little time!
Mattyman