Weekend's Vinyl Finds

Saturday vinyl search and finds. The place was busy and crowded so the search was cut short. I did have a couple records in hand at one point that were returned to the bins. I did take home:

Jimmy Raney - 'Live In Tokyo.'  from 1976. A new name for me and certainly a different face/name than most of the recordings I see shared in the vinyl community. I noticed Sam Jones on bass and I do have an album of his that I enjoy. 

A guitar focused jazz trio recording. There's a short, very complimentary review on the All Music Guide website.

'Town Hall Concert' by Charles Mingus. Recorded in 1962 (I think) and I assume originally released then. This is a reissue and something about the feel of the record and sleeve in my hands caused me to wonder if it was possibly a poor audio quality reissue but hey, it's Mingus!! One of the masters. I gave it a spin today and it sounds great. 

Big Band or orchestra jazz on clear vinyl and Destination Moon Records. (Which caused me to smile.) Post Bop sounds.

I was intrigued by several of the album covers in both the indie rock and punk sections. Charles Mingus is always a sure thing for me. And though I think that I have pretty good intuition on such matters, I'm always hesitant to take multiple financial chances on titles that I know nothing about. I need to take notes and research such things. 

Saturday Vinyl Finds

The working day over, I ran to the local record store / drum shop, this afternoon to see what I might find ....

I've had a thing for jazz acoustic bass players lately. Stumbled across three that qualify.

I went through a saxophone phase (but not soprano) and then a trumpet/trombone phase and it's since evolved into an acoustic bass phase. There was a piano period in there at some point also. I can't visualize a drum or flute phase but who knows?

The shop owner informed me that these records just came in to the shop. Like I've said more than once before: "Timing is everything."

And I was excited to find another on the ECM label.

1) Oscar Pettiford - 'Blue Brothers' .... from 1973 on the Black Lion Records label. I love these little known but often fascinating record labels.

2) Dave Holland - 'Emerald Tears' .... from 1978 on ECM Records.

3) Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen - 'The Eternal Traveller' .... from 1985 on Pablo Records.

None of these were there the last time I was in. This is one memory issue that I don't have struggles with.

This is my idea of an exciting Saturday these days. Time spent quelling addictive urges, flipping through hundreds of previously owned records resulting in two or three vinyl discoveries. (Even had I found only one, it would have been exciting.) There are few places I'd rather be. And few modes I'd rather be in than full-on vinyl nerd mode.

Friday Evening Vinyl Finds

Friday evening, strolled into a record store, not expecting to find much but within a few minutes, stumbled across these .....

All from the 1960's with the cover photos and art that I love. All meeting my requirements for album covers (and vinyl too) in good condition. I generally won't even consider the purchase if the cover is looking chewed up and tattered. 

It was one of those record buying excursions where I walked out of the shop, feeling like I had found treasure. None had price tags attached so I had to ask. Those moments the shop owner spends researching the titles on Discogs, always frightens me. Especially when it involves vinyl from the 1960's. The resulting asking price was very much less than I was expecting.

The finds? Well, it was like .... Here's a stack of randomly placed records, I wonder if there's anything eye catching, to take home?

These moments of discovery are always exciting for me. 

Glen Campbell's recording if 'Wichita Lineman' has been a longtime favorite of mine. Though it's not on this record, it was exciting to find a recording with another great, old classic 60's pop tune, 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix.' It was all over the radio back then.

CD and Vinyl Finds

A few weekend finds. (I'm always looking.) Quite a few Blues recordings added to the cd section since the last time I looked. Compact discs and vinyl found ......

'Between Life & Death' from Studebaker John. From 2004. Slide guitar. There's never enough slide guitar in the world.

'Revelator' from Tedeschi Trucks Band. From 2011. I'm always a sucker for slide guitar. Southern-Rock, jamband tunes. A musical lineage stretching back to The Allman Brothers.

'Eye to Eye' from Ronnie Earl, Pinetop Perkins, Calvin Jones & Willie Smith. A 1996 recording. 

'.... at Home' from Julie London. On vinyl from 1960. Torch singer. 

I remember her from the 1970's television show, 'Emergency.' It was years later when I discovered she was a jazz and pop vocalist in earlier days.

Today's Vinyl Finds

Hit the road again, ending up in Albany Oregon and within thirty seconds of walking in the door of the record shop, found another Gordon Bok album on vinyl to go with the other that I found two or three months ago in Corvallis. 

Titled; 'Peter Kagan and the Wind' from 1971. I had never seen these records in over half a century of record collecting. It feels like finding hidden treasure.

A few minutes later, I came across, 'Wade In the Water' by Ramsey Lewis from 1966, on Cadet Records. 

I've said this before, but I love the cover photos and design of records from the 1960's. I might have to create a section on my shelves specifically for these. 

From the All Music Guide review: .... "this record evokes its era indelibly."

And then, 'Dance' by the Paul Motian Trio. From 1978. On ECM Records ..... I love finding these ECM recordings from the 1970's and 80's. Perhaps I'm nearing completist status. 

Fact: I had a longtime question answered recently. Does ECM stand for anything? Turns out it stands for, Edition of Contemporary Music.

I walked away feeling pretty good about my record shopping haul. These three records, two Mary Lou Lord compact discs and a Pink Floyd pin, the cover image from The Division Bell album, for $21. Afterwards, stopping at a seafood place for a delicious bowl of clam chowder, all making it an enjoyable vacation day taken from work. (Even if I had to have blood drawn in the morning.) All days should be like this.

Chico Hamilton

'The Dealer' by Chico Hamilton. From 1966 on the Impulse! Records label.

I saw it described as, Post-Bop. It certainly sounds different to my ears than most jazz from those years. That's not meant to diminish it. I enjoyed it very much. 

There are rewards to looking up. I spotted it up high on the wall in the record store. With eyes drawn to the image on the album cover, took a photo and headed for home to listen to a few quick samples, sent a message to the store owners, inquiring about the asking price, debated with my inner voices for two days while trying to decide if I was willing to pay that price .....

.... And eventually the voice saying, 'go for it,' like it usually does, won out!! 

And now I'm going through the same process with another record. A radical departure from what I generally post about here. 'Molotov Solution' by Modern Action. Punk-rock from 2010. Again, drawn in by the album cover art.

Captured image as seen in "the wild" of my local record store.

I have nothing in my collection that could be considered, 'Punk Rock.' I've been wanting to change that status. This sounds and feels like a good place to start.

You may chuckle but when Tom Petty's first record was released, 45 years ago, I remember thinking of it as punk. I must have heard someone on the radio or in a magazine, call it that. 

Looking back, I had so much to learn. Still do. 

Kham Meslien

I noticed a person that I follow on Twitter, tweet about this recording, and because I've been obsessed with Jazz bassists of late ......

Kham Meslien - 'Fantomes ... Futurs.' Recently released in September and on vinyl. 

It feels like I ordered it a decade ago and it finally arrived today. It had been so long that I was thinking I had ordered a compact disc so was puzzled as to what was in the vinyl shaped packaging on my doorstep. Though I'm feeling ecstatic now that it's vinyl. 

Kham Meslien plays double bass, both bowed and plucked. Fascinating listening. Amazing album cover photo, overriding any possible uncertainty or hesitation towards deciding to purchase. 

The French album title translates to: 'Ghosts ... Future.'

Encore

I apparently didn't get enough last night. so tonight, I returned to Robert Haigh and his record, 'Black Sarabande.' From 2020 on vinyl, also on the Unseen Worlds label.

More piano, more atmospherics!!

Had to listen three or four times to the song that ends side A, 'Ghosts of Blacker Dyke.' The combination of piano, cello or bowed bass and soundwave effects took me to places hidden deep in my thoughts and dreams. Places that I didn't want to leave because there's something there, waiting for me.
Bandcamp Page 

Portico Quartet

New vinyl titled, 'Terrain' from Portico Quartet.

Discovered this group about a year ago while searching for new directions in jazz. This is their recently released recording. A fusion of sounds .... jazz, contemporary jazz and maybe even a little avant-garde or free jazz.

Makes me wish that I could review records and relay an accurate idea of what was heard. 

Fascinating looping rhythms that swirl and soar (in my case), for moments after the needle has been lifted from the turntable.

The Search for the Turtle's Navel

From 1976 on vinyl. 'The Search for the Turtle's Navel' by William Ackerman. 

Solo acoustic guitar pieces. 

It led to a decade of seeking out additional records by William Ackerman and anything else produced by Windham Hill Records. Primarily the solo acoustic guitar and piano records. 

Good things come in three's, right? I was already a huge fan of guitarists, Leo Kottke and John Fahey when I first heard this. I thought, there had to be a third.

I smile at some of the song titles and notes on the back cover ....

'The Pink Chiffon Tricycle Queen' - "Proving once and for all that speed and dexterity are not enough."

'Slow Motion Roast Beef Restaurant Seduction' - "The woman across from you is moonlit and confessing something. Suddenly the flood comes."

'What the Buzzard Told Suzanne' - "Conveys the mood of terrible heat and concerns itself with how unwelcome enlightenment can be without ice cubes."

Evening Machines

Gregory Alan Isakov - 'Evening Machines' from 2018 on vinyl and the Dualtone label. Singer/Songwriter from Colorado, first heard live on a National Public Radio broadcast a few years ago. 

Turned out to be a great day to be tuned in or else I might have remained clueless through life.

I never see any of his recordings in record stores. I finally ordered a cd offering online a few months ago. Very excited upon its arrival which quickly soured upon discovery of Rickie Lee Jones, 'Flying Cowboys' inside the packaging. Nothing against RLJ but I already have Flying Cowboys on vinyl in my collection. After the passing of a month or so, I decided to take another chance on this one. 

Alive On Arrival

I still remember a few things so clearly .....

The late 1970's ..... Punk and New-Wave had kicked in the door, demanded our attention and was dominating what was being heard. It seemed like music was rapidly and radically changing. Storytelling and singer/songwriters seemed to be in sudden decline.

Then this came out.

He reminded me of Bob Dylan. He played acoustic guitar, he played harmonica and was armed with great melodies and lyrics. Forty-some years later, I'm not sure if I came up with that Bob Dylam comparison on my own or if I read it somewhere. perhaps in Rolling Stone magazine? 

'Alive on Arrival' by Steve Forbert. From 1978 on vinyl and the Nemperor Record label.

Maybe my memories are skewed by the passing of years and decades, but I recall bringing home this and Dire Straits debut record, on the same day. If true, what a day that was!! 

The Return of the Storyteller

Since the earliest days of my vinyl collecting life, I've been a huge fan of 'singer-songwriters.' So, I am excited to add another .....  'See Here, I Have Built You a Mansion: Rare and Unreleased Songs' by Josh Ritter. From 2020 on red marble vinyl. 

Original songs, original lyrics, stories to be told and heard. It's always best to hear the storyteller express his/her own thoughts and tales in their own unique voice and style. I've been so heavily into jazz the last three or four years that I've largely gotten away from the storytellers.

It always feels like a genre of the 1970's but there's still plenty of these voices around.

The highlight for me though, is a cover version of the Mark Knopfler/Dire Straits song, 'Brothers In Arms.' Backed by an organ and mandolin, it's absolutely beautiful and had me lifting the tonearm and moving it back to listen again, multiple times.

Brother Jack McDuff

I guess I don't need to type out the title. It's right there for all to see, in big, bold lettering on the album cover. 

A vinyl find from 1963 on Prestige Records. Brother Jack McDuff is a jazz organist. One of those record labels that I trust for quality. 

You just never know what you're going to find on a visit to the record store and I love stumbling across previously unknown vinyl from sixty years ago.

Reading the back cover liner notes, feels like I'm in a history class. That's the way it is with records from half a century ago. I'm fascinated with the designs of so many of these older recordings.

New Makaya McCraven

 

'In These Times' by the drummer/percussionist, Makaya McCraven. Newly released and on vinyl. 

New directions in Jazz that I've been searching for. Modern Jazz, if that helps. But certainly not avante-garde. 

I discovered Makaya McCraven (along with Ambrose Akinmusire), two or three years ago and have been interested in his music since. 

I wish I had the words and ability to break down recordings. If you find yourself interested in Jazz paths beyond the traditional, then check it out. 

It's on the International Anthem Records label. I love the packaging and visual presentation of their offerings. There's obvious dedication to quality here.

With Understanding

'With Understanding' by Richard Davis. 

An incredible vinyl find from a few days ago. From 1975. A jazz bassist.  

Initially drawn in by Chick Corea's name on the cover. But it's the bass playing, often bowed here, and reminding personally of long-ago times and places, that is the exciting discovery.

This is why I often drive out of town to dig through bin and crates of previously owned records ....  in hopes of finding long hidden and unknown gems.

Warren Bernhardt

'Floating' by Warren Bernhardt. From 1979, on vinyl.

I read yesterday, that Warren Bernhardt had passed away a few days ago at 82 years old.

I recall finding this record many years ago at Djangos in Portland. I haven't listened to it much since that day but suddenly here I am, forty years later, reading of his passing and thinking about life.

I know very little about his career other than he was a member of the jazz group, Steps Ahead and that he also played with Steely Dan.

Improvisational, piano Jazz on this recording that I am truly appreciating tonight.

Basie and His Orchestra

Another vinyl find from yesterday and on the turntable today. Count Basie Orchestra - 'Basie In Europe.' A mono sound and Japanese printing. Live concert recordings from the early 1970's in Germany and France. The album notes state, "probably" recorded in Munich and the south of France.

Big Band Jazz. All Music Guide calls it a "fine collection."

The owner of the record store placed a little sticky note with the letters, "NM" on the cover  .... It eventually dawned on me that he was grading its condition, NM for Near Mint condition. And he is correct. It's a beautiful black vinyl, free of dust, fingerprints, smudges and scratches. Looks like it's never been played ....  Update: except for today.

One Flight Up

It's another Saturday morning and on the turntable is yesterday's vinyl treasure find, from 1964 on Blue Note Records, 'One Flight Up' by Dexter Gordon. 

Stumbled upon while digging through bins of vinyl records. My favorite pastime these days. 

If it's on Blue Note, I assume it will be a rewarding listen. A proper assumption in this case. If nothing else, I wanted it for the cover photo. 

Impressions of Japan

From 1964. The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Jazz Impressions of Japan. On vinyl and the Columbia Records label.

A find from earlier in the week in the new record store in town. It feels perfect for this moment, the mood I'm in and the very definite vibes of this evening.