Old Vinyl, New Bottles, Craft OJCs

The Christmas holidays have always been a time when I liked to splurge on records. I think it goes back to an experience when I was living on Long Island, and I walked into the Titus Oaks store in Hicksville on the day after Christmas, and the owner/proprietor had just finished putting a bunch of records into the bins, and I was the first to see them, and among the records were original Blue Notes, maybe 15-20 all together, and they were all first pressings in mint, unplayed condition, and they were priced at $5 each. Yes, that really happened. It was the early 1980s, and it was not a dream. I think that experience has stuck with me the rest of my jazz collecting days and I always make sure to check out local record stores during the week before Christmas. As Christmas time approached a couple of months ago, I started feeling that old urge surging through my body. I tried a couple of the local record stores but, alas, no luck. I couldn’t shake the urge, so I went online, as I mentioned in a post back in December (New Old Jazz, Or Old New Jazz, on Vinyl). I went on a little spree. I meant to write about it earlier, but, as you may have noticed, I have not been doing much writing these days. Listening, yes, doing my radio show, yes, but writing, not so much. So, we’ll start catching up now and see if I can inspire myself to sit down and do so more writing in the next week or so. Read more

Coming to You Live (Sort of): Jazz Collector Radio and Podcasts

I just got back from taping my seventh Jazz Collector Live radio show in the studio of WTBR-FM in Pittsfield. I’ve really enjoyed doing the show, but I have to admit that it has taken away time that might otherwise have been devoted to posting here at the Jazz Collector web site. Hopefully, I will soon be able to strike a better balance, especially because doing the radio show is getting me more involved with my collection and listening much more attentively. For example, today’s show was devoted to John Coltrane, as a leader, playing standards, on the Prestige label. Soultrane, Settin’ the Pace, Lush Life, et al. Great stuff. Last week, I did Bill Evans as a sideman, and the week before the show was devoted to Thelonious Monk. Sound interesting? Well, the shows are now available to be downloaded as podcasts. Go to this site: WTBRFM.COM. There’s a tab for shows, and under the tab for podcasts you will find the familiar Jazz Collector logo at the very bottom. Read more