About a year ago, when I first sat down to work on my Rudy Van Gelder presentation, I compiled a (necessarily large) playlist on Spotify of albums he recorded that I hadn’t heard. Among those were maybe around a dozen recordings done between 1953 and 1955. Unlike other Van Gelder dates from around this time that are drenched in spring reverb, these… More→
When I first began collecting vintage jazz records, I quickly noticed that Sonny Clark’s Cool Struttin’ is a very in-demand album and considered by many to be a classic. Additionally, I noticed that original pressings fetched in the upwards of two thousand dollars. At some point I became aware that this third/fourth Liberty pressing with original mono Rudy Van Gelder mastering existed, but it still… More→
I don’t exactly remember what piqued my interest in this LP. I think it started when I came across a copy of Gil Melle Quintet, Volume 2. Tal Farlow is on that LP. I also think I was just getting into ten-inch LPs and Rudy Van Gelder’s earliest Hackensack recordings. This album is rare in any format. There’s only one track buried in an obscure Farlow compilation on Spotify and only two… More→
First off, sorry about the flip-flopping regarding the shutting down and reopening of Deep Groove Mono. Last year was an interesting year as a collector. In short, I tried to make some “power moves” in purchasing some expensive records and equipment. Months later, it just didn’t feel right. I felt like I was spending beyond my means, and… More→
This hobby is all about patience. Several years back, a friend of mine who is almost exclusively a collector of rock and disco twelve-inches randomly scored an EX original pressing of this album for 30 bucks at a shop in Troy, New York, just a 15-minute drive up the Hudson from my native Albany. Try as I have to pry it from… More→
Back in 2010, I first got interested in collecting vintage jazz records by way of the Blue Note Album Cover Art book. Since then it’s been glaringly obvious that Larry Young’s Unity sports one of the most popular and timeless covers in the legendary label’s catalog — there’s even a copy of it on display (alongside BLP 1530… More→
Before I started collecting vintage jazz records, a friend of mine who is a jazz drummer let me borrow a bunch of jazz CDs to rip to my computer and this was one of them. At the time, I pretty much took all the John Coltrane he had, not having any idea of what was what. But a couple songs on this album, “Central Park West” and… More→
When I started collecting, I bought into the popular opinion that Jimmy Smith isn’t “collectible” and didn’t pay him any attention. But then I found this great 1965 German documentary on him serving as evidence of how “incredible” he really was. From the live performances where he plays with so much heart and frankly, tears it up… More→
Not only is Horace Silver a favorite jazz composer and musician of mine, this is one of my favorite albums of his. If I had to guess, Silver was given the title of leader on this early Jazz Messengers effort since, unlike the Birdland and Bohemia Messenger LPs of the same era, all but one of the selections here were written by Silver, who only… More→
It’s rare that I hang on to a record in VG condition, but this record has a couple things working for it: 1. Despite the pops and ticks, it has no groove wear, 2. I got it for (the vintage jazz record collecting equivalent of) a dollar bin price, and 3. The music and performances are both spectacular. Like my copies of Saxophone Colossus… More→