Kamuca is a very bold and confident player in the Pres/Zoot/Getz mold and, on this record, is especially strong on the ballads and mid-tempo numbers, particularly “Nevertheless” and “What’s New.” I can’t say I was surprised at the quality of his playing, because he’s always been respected by people that I respect. I just never took the time to listen closely. I was somewhat surprised at the quality of the recording on the album, which is excellent. I need to take the time to listen to more records on the Mode label to see if this quality was consistent across the label. Or perhaps our readers will have their own experiences and observations to share. A quick search tells me this record in M- condition, as my copy is, will sell in the range of $300 o $400. Now that I’ve given it a careful listen, I can say pretty clearly that if/when I begin selling off my collection, this will likely be one that stays with me. I can also trace when I purchased this record: It was from the Bruce M. West collection in Baltimore, circa November 2013. I can tell from the distinctive date etched in the upper left hand corner on the back. Kind of a nice way to keep track of the amazing records I acquired in that collection.

Staying on the West Coast, and catching up on a previous jazz record on eBay, I was fairly shocked to see the final price on the Jack Sheldon Quartet Jazz-West record were were watching. When we wrote about the record (Listings and Musings on Rare Jazz Vinyl), it was in the $200 price range, and we kind of assumed it would end up at perhaps $400 or so. We were wrong. Jack Sheldon, welcome to the $1,000 bin. The record wound up selling for $1,111 with 13 bids and 6 bidders. Wow. I do not own an original pressing of this record, but I do own a reissue, which is in The Berkshires and which I will also put on my turntable this week. It’s definitely fun newly discovering or rediscovering old music on records that are already in your own collection, yes? Perhaps we should all go through a reorganizing exercise every once in a while.

I got notice in email of the upcoming “43rd Annual Jazz Record Collector’s Bash” scheduled for June 23-24 in Edison, NJ. I used to attend this event regularly, but it’s probably been more than 20 years since I went. Now that I have my home in The Berkshires, spending a weekend at a Hilton Garden Inn in Edison NJ poring through 78s and LPs versus being on the lake is very hard to justify. Anyway, I’m sure it will be fun and, who knows, maybe it will rain the entire weekend and I’ll choose Jersey over The Berkshires. Not likely, but you never know.

Speaking of events, we are getting close to the annual WFMU Record Fair, which will be held in Brooklyn again this year, the weekend of April 28-April 30. I used to be a regular here as well, as a seller, but as some of you may recall, I had either a breakdown or an epiphany (See You In Brooklyn? Not Anymore) and sold all of my duplicates to one of my favorite dealers from Japan. That was two years ago and I have ZERO regrets. I am tempted to bring a bunch of records this year just to pare down my collection but, to be honest, just the thought of loading records into the car, hauling them to Brooklyn, setting up a table and sitting there for three days is about as appealing to me as listening to Donald Trump lie about anything and everything.

Finally, there was an interesting note from a reader whose grandfather was a bass player with Louis Jordan in the 1950s. He sent me a couple of pictures, one of his grandfather playing with Jordan, the second of a young man that he thought might be Charlie Parker. I could see pretty quickly that the man in the second picture was not Bird, so I told him so. There’s still an open question of whether this person was anyone of note. It is not someone I recognize, but perhaps someone here may know. In any case, below are the two pictures:

I just received a note that the 40th annual Jazz Record Collector’s Bash will take place June 27 and June 28 at the  Hilton Woodbridge in Iselin, N.J. Not a lot of details yet, but there are always sellers with lots of records and there are usually films and discussions and music as well. I used to attend regularly and scored some nice records, but I haven’t been in years. June 27 and June 28 are prime bass-fishing season up in The Berkshires, so nature calls. I will, however, be at the WFMU Record Fair, which will take place this year May 30-June 1 in New York City. I will have a booth for Friday only, selling some of the duplicates from my recent score in Baltimore. Normally I would also be bass fishing on that particular weekend, but I have a personal engagement in Manhattan, so I’m stuck. But I’ll also have some nice records with me.

Here’s an interesting article: The Vinyl Revival: Who — and Why — Are Those Folks Buying Records Again. It’s nice to see that younger people are discovering what we’ve known all along: There’s no better medium for owning and listening to music than vinyl.

The Art Blakey A Night At Birdland Records Volume 1 and 2, Blue Note 1521 and 1522, have been added to the Library of Congress list of recordings to be preserved in the National Recording Registry. Nice honor for some great records. I would have been nice to have seen the original covers with the release, or even the original 10-inch covers, rather than the reissued cover. But that’s just a quibble. Always nice to see jazz recordings from the era receive honors and accolades, long overdue, wouldn’t you say?

I also received my notice and contract for the WFMU Record Fair, which will take place

Nov. 22-24 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York. This is usually the top event for buyer and sellers in the NY metro area, and possibly across the entire Northeast. You may recall that the 2012 event was cancelled because of Hurricane Sandy. I am still debating whether to get a table for the event this year. I do have a lot of nice doubles to sell, and I am not on eBay these days, so it is likely I will be there for at least one day, perhaps two, with a Jazz Collector table. I’ll keep you posted.