Comments on: Japan Record Shopping, Part Two: In Search of Jazz Bars and Vinyl

By: Dee [Dee]

Dee [Dee] — Fri, 21 Feb 2020 19:55:15 +0000

I spied a FANIA ALL STARS album, too – which excited me no end, as I’ve got an extensive vinyl collection of them along with their contemporary colleagues, competitors, friends!

If anyone reads old threads (like this one) I’d SO MUCH appreciate your guidance to find Latin and Brazilian music collectors, and have an inventory already for sending out.

Taking any reasonable offer on individual discs, or for the entire collection.

By: steven

steven — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 14:13:32 +0000

Good eye! It is, in fact, an autographed baby metal banner. Apparently they had visited the bar? I have to profess I had no idea who Baby Metal was and it seems like I wasn’t missing anything. I didn’t ask the bar owner about it as we had a rather large communication barrier other than talking about records being good and the model numbers of his JBL speakers.

By: TurboCharged Weasel

TurboCharged Weasel — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 19:25:19 +0000

My God! I hope I can someday do a trip like this myself… I tried to do this in New York (as far as records go, I don’t know how much in the way of beautiful mountains and hiking trails there are in Manhattan), but my budget was unfortunately about $300 and the jazz record climate isn’t actually as great there as I’d expect. (Lots of Tom Waits, though.) Only bagged somewhat mediocre copies of the Wynton Kelly and Julius Watkins New Faces-New Sounds records, along with a bunch of non-jazz stuff. Had some luck at the jazz clubs with McCoy Tyner and John Zorn, though. I’ve personally sold a few records to Japanese buyers, and always wondered if they had a bunch of record shops like this over there… these posts have been quite informative on the matter. As many have said before, if I someday have the money…

Also… I’m embarrassed that this is what stuck out to me the most in the wonderful pictures here, but… is that a Baby Metal banner hanging in a jazz bar? I somehow feel like there’s an interesting story there. They’re, uh… I guess “interesting” is the word I’m looking for. Metal fans were getting pissed about them for “defiling” metal a few years back, as if the late 90’s and 00’s hadn’t already done that. That has nothing to do with this site, I just wasn’t expecting to see that there at all. It’s like seeing a Slayer poster on the wall at a disco, or something. Anyways… nice pictures. We don’t really see stuff quite like this over here, and these posts are quite a treat.

By: Art Klempner

Art Klempner — Mon, 22 Jul 2019 13:11:46 +0000

I remember that 50 years ago the Japanese crate digers would show up at around the Calif. flea markets at 5:00 a.m. with flashlights and buy every Blue Note they could….How did they know about this investment opportunity ? I feel that the old saying “ you can’t be a prophet in your own land “ has a lot of truth in this case.

By: gregorythefish

gregorythefish — Sun, 21 Jul 2019 22:23:11 +0000

that last shot… everything is so clean and pristine!

By: Robert Morris

Robert Morris — Sat, 20 Jul 2019 14:00:19 +0000

Enjoyable reading…a fine Overview and Education about Jazz in Japan.

By: Jay Fulmer

Jay Fulmer — Sat, 20 Jul 2019 02:32:40 +0000

Great posts Steven, really enjoyed you sharing these experiences. Do have a few questions for you, if you are willing to answer:
When you say “reasonable prices” for Japanese reissues, can you give a ball-park figure? $10? $20? $30?
Also, would love to know what price was on the Dizzy Reece Asia Minor? That’s a rare record indeed.
Again, thanks for sharing!

By: Steven

Steven — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 16:05:10 +0000

Nice! As I wrote about the thought of a cool place with cold drinks and records while girls are shopping I thought to myself the only place I can get that around here in in my own home. You can get the Jazz Bar and Keg-er-ator, but you might lose the wife:) I’m not sure its a very lucrative venture either as your clientele is a shrinking one.

I think in Japan most living spaces are so constrained that a nice listening set up is a great luxury unavailable to many, particularly for those with a family. Going out to a place like a jazz record bar would be a treat.

By: GST

GST — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 15:29:38 +0000

DaveS is playing four dimensional chess!

By: DaveS

DaveS — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 13:16:26 +0000

Awesome postings. I am thinking of marketing my basement as a “Jazz Bar” and getting my wife to see my record collecting as a business venture not a cash drain. Plus, I can write-off the keg-er-ator purchase.