This week’s theme: Sarah Vaughan Centennial. Featured artists include Sarah Vaughan, Clifford Brown, Cannonball Adderly, Paul Quinichette, Clark Terry, Jimmy Jones, John Malachi, Joe Benjamin, Roy Haynes, Richie Powell, Herbie Manne, Bill Eckstine, Ernie Wilkins, Wendell Cullen, Frank Wess, and more.

This week’s theme: “Live Jazz.”

Our friend Maarten Kools, who recently wrote a guest column for Jazz Collector (New Newk, New Guest Columnist) stays in touch on a regular basis, for which we are extremely grateful. He always offers insight and good energy. Here are excerpts from some recent correspondence.

“Hello Al. Hope you and the Mrs. are fine! After some time of lockdown in Amsterdam, stores are open again to visit with an appointment , so I went to buy some records today. Ihave a small budget, so i had me a couple of Liberty, UA and Japanese pressings: Jackie McLean, One Step Beyond; Louis Smith, Here Comes; Jmmy Smith, The Sermon, and a nice original of Hank Mobley’s The Flip). One original: Horace Silver, Blowing the Blues Away……VG+ but as always, plays great…

“Liberty’s and UA (mono) re-issues are gettin’ pretty costly nowadays in Amsterdam..  50-100 dollars and up. I also bought a copy of Easy Living by Ike Quebec, an album never issued until the 1980’s. Great music, cheap price. Inside there was an ‘open letter’ from 1987 from blue note/capitol. I had never seen it before, although I have some more re-issues from the eighties.

“It’s quite an emotional/ pathetic letter to jazz fans who are copping music on cassette tapes… with all that has happened since, it has a nice outdated touch. Well, in the end they were right, with the closing of so many small record shops (now because of internet).just wanted to share. Wishing you and family good health!, Maarten Kools”

Note: Maarten added a copy of the letter and I’ve reprinted it below. I hope you are not all reading this on smart phones and can read the contents. I searched the internet to provide a link, but couldn’t find a copy. We can always type it in and reproduce it at some point. This way, if someone does want to do a search on the internet, it will be there, forever.

I asked Maarten if I could publish his note. Here is his reply:

“Hi Al, please, use freely. by the way,..  the cassette tape was great ? you could make a tape with all your favorite songs  on it, and give it to the girl you liked so much. nothing’s changed…my neice , fifteen years old, makes a playlist on spotify, and sends it to the boy she likes….the format/medium changes, the essence is still the same…. and about nostalgia…some bands nowadays sell cassette tapes. Ha!”

A couple of months ago we did a piece on an autograph collector named Bill based on the sale of an autographed copy of John Coltrane, Ballads, Impulse A-32 (Autographs, Autographs, Autographs). After that post appeared, we got this interesting note from Bill: “our recent correspondences have motivated me to organize my collection. I came across one that you might find interesting. It is a rather paltry royalty check to Sonny Clark for just over $3. If he only knew what people were paying for his Blue Note albums!”

This came in unsolicited from a reader:

“I’ve been working on a website (https://www.thelinernotesproject.com) for musicians, students, and fans to explore all of the credits to their favorite albums.  No login or $$$ required – just looking to send it around and gather some feedback.  Check out the help / slide show on the home page, search for artist / musician / writer / producer / album / record label, click on any name you see to explore, and enjoy. Feel free to share the link, and let me know if you have any feedback / suggestions. Thanks.”

This also came in, quite timely:

“Hi Al. I thought you and your readers might be interested in this jazz record auction I saw on estatesales.NET.  If you type “jazz” into their search box you’ll find it no problem. (Btw…I have no skin in this game at all…I just thought it was intriguing). The collection looks to be about 1,000 records, of which about 250 are shown. Lots of ho-hum stuff to be sure, but also plenty of Blue Note, Prestige, Verve, EmArcy etc.  The sellers are looking someone to buy the entire collection.  The location is Hendersonville, TN with the auction taking place April 1, 2, 3. Alas, I live in Portland, Maine so won’t have a chance to check it out…Don”

Finally, we mourn the passing of Freddie Redd. After all of my years obsessing about Shades of Redd, I put it on the turntable the other night in a moment of solemn reflection. It’s still an amazing piece of work after all of this years. Rest in peace.

I’ve been waiting a few months to post this photo, sent to me by my friend Dan with the simple message: “Feb 4, 1958.” That was 60 years ago today, which also happened to be the occasion my fifth birthday. Quite a birthday tribute to me. We figured with Miles, Cannonball and Coltrane, it had to be a Milestones session and, thank you Internet, that is precisely what it is. If this picture doesn’t put a smile on your face, maybe you woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.

Here’s one more thing:

It looks like I may be moving in Manhattan in a few weeks and will have to reorganize my records once again. I have a really nice cabinet that probably won’t make the move with me. It holds about 1,500 records and a TV. Anybody interested, you can reach me at alatjazzcollector.com.

And, no, the records are not included. I know you’re eyeing those Impulses, admit it.