What Happened at the WFMU Record Fair?
Sorry we haven’t posted in a few days. We sold some records at the WFMU Record Fair on Friday. There were good crowds, maybe about 3 percent were interested in jazz, and, from what we sold, the bulk went to a couple of dealers, one from Japan, the other from Belgium. In walking around, we didn’t see a great deal of high-end collectibles — we didn’t bring any from Jazz Collector. Most dealers save those for eBay these days. We did see Joe from Euclid Records and he apparently had a few high-end Blue Notes, including Cliff Jordan Blowing in From Chicago, Blue Note 1549, and one of the early Lee Morgans. Joe, if you read this, let us know how you did. Also, we see that Jason Sweet, one of our other readers, commented elsewhere, so if you were there and would like to share your impressions, please feel free to comment on this post.
(Sorry I wasn’t able to stop by the show Friday, I would have liked to have said hi.)
This was my first time to the show. I have to agree with your assessment. The only real game for jazz at the show was Euclid. I had a small budget, 2/3 of which I spent at their table. The other third I wish I had.
Rather than spend it all one or two lps (easily done) I took some chances and bought a nice collection of perhaps lower-high-end collectibles. They included: Budd Johnson on Riverside, Chris Connor on Atlantic and Bethlehem, 2 Claude Hopkins on Swingville, Bobby Timmons on Prestige and I’m sure there’s one or two others.
Overall, Euclid, as a dealer, was a nice discovery from me and will be a major reason I make the trip next year.
I found some other nice Norgrans elsewhere. But the lps were sealed in mylar, and the owner wasn’t keen on me opening them to inspect. So I walked away.
I think it’s unfortunate that so many dealers save their high end items for ebay. I understand why, and I would do the same. But still, with lps half the fun is making an unexpected discovery, not punching in a name. And vinyl is too fragile to buy blind (unless you know the dealer).
I did think a lot of items at the show were overpriced. (Perhaps this is the result of ebay.) In fact, I saw a host of lps I have at the show. I didn’t realize I was a millionaire!