Author Archives: Richard Capeless

RVG Legacy: Preserving the Legacy of Rudy Van Gelder


It is with great pleasure that I announce the launch of RVG Legacy, a new website dedicated to preserving the legacy of Rudy Van Gelder. Since the pandemic has taken away all opportunities for me to give my presentation on Rudy in person, I decided to build a website that would essentially deliver all the content of my talk virtually. In the spring I wrote the narrative, then over the summer I put everything together and developed the site. More→

Confessions of a Vintage Jazz Record Collector, Part 2


While I have never felt apologetic about my sincere adoration for music, sometimes I do struggle with feelings of guilt related to how important collecting is to me. I spend a lot of time thinking about and partaking in this hobby, and my propensity toward anxiety and obsession has made my active participation difficult at times. At this point in my life, some of the old challenges have compounded and new ones are presenting themselves… More→

Shellac Spotlight: Fats Waller, “My Feelin’s Are Hurt” / “Smashing Thirds” (Victor 38613)


While I still haven’t delved all too deeply into ‘pre-bop’ jazz, I managed to find another great 78 from that era. For a stretch in 2019 I was accustomed to seeing the silly grin on Fats Waller’s pudgy face regularly while volunteering at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Footage of Waller performing was part of a video on loop there, and I was regularly reminded what a natural entertainer Waller was… More→

Shellac Spotlight: Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven, “Willie the Weeper” / “Alligator Crawl” (Okeh 8482)


So far, Deep Groove Mono’s coverage of 78s has been limited to the very first 78 I ever acquired and the Dual idler wheel turntable I recently picked up for its popularity with 78 collectors. Since I have replaced that first 78 with a cleaner copy, abandoned the economical Califone portable featured in that post, and now prefer my modified Technics 1200 to play 78s over the Dual, this in some ways is my… More→

Jazz Collectors of Instagram: Interview with @gstvinyl


Wrapping up the second season of Instagram interviews with our fourth and final episode, we turn to a West Coast collector with an early presence in the online jazz community. As a result, I have long had a ton of respect for @gstvinyl or just “GST”, a humble collector with a deep collection … More→

Jazz Collectors of Instagram: Interview with @araggywaltz


If vintage jazz record collecting were a contest where collectors set out to prove just how much the act of collecting really is “about the music” and not about the object, Tarik a.k.a. @araggywaltz wins, by a long shot. I’m sure many of us could admit that collecting feels slightly competitive at times … More→