(2008-07-24) saul watson
Discovered in Yorkshire, one of the most comprehensive and diverse jazz vinyl collections has finally come out of storage, and it’s all in mint condition.
“Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny”, so said Frank Zappa in his Be-Bop Tango lyric. Fittingly, this collection of jazz records liberated from their darkness after 20 years in storage also has a certain odour, reminiscent of halcyon days when record shops were indeed full of vinyl.
Amassed over a 25 year period this collection represents many a facet in jazz style, from American swing, modern, vocal, be-bop and west coast, to rare recordings in experimental and avant garde form. Davis, Coltrane, Basie, Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Art Pepper, Stan Getz, Shelly Manne, Dizzy & Bird, Clarke & Boland, Mingus & Monk; they’re all there, along with hundreds of their peers and contemporaries.
One of the highlights is the sheer concentration of British jazz artists, with rare pressings from tenor sax & vibe legend Tubby Hayes, baritone sax man John Surman, pianist & composer Mike Westbrook, ‘Britjazz’ stalwarts Ian Carr, Don Rendell and Stan Tracey. Some of these original pressings now fetch hundreds of pounds and have never been reissued on CD.
The previous owner was fastidious in his care for this collection. Despite their age they remain in stunning mint condition, played sparingly, and stored carefully. Many of them even retain their original pre-decimalisation price stickers. When he died, over 20 years ago, the collection stood dormant, unplayed, and locked away in purpose-made cabinets. Until now.
Co-founder of 991.com and the company’s resident jazz fan Julian Thomas said.
“With over 2500 records to sort, assess and describe, the next few weeks promise some superb offerings for collectors and fans of original UK pressing jazz vinyl. You could wait a very long time indeed to find some of these records again, particularly given their wonderful condition. Jazz on vinyl really does have something extra that CDs or MP3s just cannot capture or replicate.”
991.com is the world leader in rare and deleted records, cds and music memorabilia. It is also home to the ‘one you haven’t got’, the missing piece of your collection. 991.com has a dedicated team of experts with over two decades of experience in sourcing, authenticating and selling memorabilia.
###
Julian Thomas 01474 815 099 julian.thomas@991.com
Saul Watson 01474 815 007 saul.watson@991.com
You can visit the 991.com Jazz collectors store here: http://991.com/CollectorsStores/Genre/Jazz.aspx
Website address: http://991.com