Author Archives: Richard Capeless

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→

Vinyl Spotlight: Toshiko Akiyoshi, Toshiko Meets Her Old Pals (King Records)

Although for many years I knew nothing of Japanese jazz, our hobby has helped me become aware that the Japanese by and large have a deep, heartfelt appreciation of jazz music. Before I bought this album though, all I knew about Japanese jazz musicians was what a disgruntled New York City record store clerk told me once, that they didn’t know how to ‘swing’… 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→

Making a Case for Rudy Van Gelder’s Importance to the History of Jazz

For regular readers of this blog, recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder needs no introduction. In fact, aside from the musicians themselves, he is probably more known by jazz record collectors than any other figure in the music’s history. For collectors then, any question of Van Gelder’s importance will surely seem puzzling if not … More→

Vinyl Spotlight: Clifford Brown & Max Roach, Sweet Clifford (EmArcy EP-1-6112) Original 45 RPM 7″ EP

My relationship with the full-length album that contains this EP, Brown & Roach Incorporated, began very early on in my collecting years. I would have initially ripped the album from a CD checked out from the library and now I own that CD, which is the ‘official’ PolyGram… 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→

Vinyl Spotlight: Thelonious Monk Trio (Esquire EP-75) Original 45 RPM 7″ EP

A couple years ago I switched up my philosophy of collecting, moving away from chasing expensive, high-demand vintage jazz LPs and working harder to find less expensive, less sought-after records that managed to bring me an equal amount of joy, if not more. This is… More→

Vinyl Spotlight: Tony Fruscella (Atlantic EP-557) Original 45 RPM 7″ EP

Though this seven-inch EP only contains two songs, they are both outstanding picks from an album that shares the same cover art. I had an encounter with an original pressing of the full LP about a year ago. The European seller graded it NM/M- on Discogs and it played with absolutely terrible distortion on the trumpet. When I asked the seller about… More→