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 … More→
Original 1930 pressing Personnel: Fats Waller, piano Recorded September 11 and September 24, 1929 in New York City Selection: “My Feelin’s Are Hurt” (Waller) 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 … More→
Original 1927 pressing Personnel: Louis Armstrong, cornet Johnny Dodds, clarinet John Thomas, trombone Lil Hardin Armstrong, piano Johnny St. Cyr, guitar Pete Briggs, tuba Baby Dodds, drums Recorded May 7 and May 10, 1927 at Okeh Studios, Chicago Selections: “Willie the Weeper” (Melrose-Bloom) “Alligator Crawl” (Waller) So far, Deep Groove Mono’s coverage of … More→
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→
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→
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→
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→
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→
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→
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→