Yesterday I went record shopping @ Jerry’s Record’s in Pittsburgh, PA (Squirrel Hill area). This is one of my favorite places on planet Earth, and was voted #17 among the coolest record stores in America. And by record stores I am referring to those places that sell the big round black Vinyl things, which make sound by placing a needle directly on the surface, not CD’s (no disrespect to the compact disc). Actual record stores can be few and far between nowadays but if you search hard enough you’ll find one. Even though I am a huge fan of iTunes and the download revolution, I still love visiting Vinyl shops to acquire music. I could go on for days on why I love vinyl: the sound, artwork, nostalgia, smell (lol), etc, but I wont elaborate any further. Instead I am revealing a shopping philosophy I always do when I go called the “chance record”. My rules for the chance record go like this; Has to be something I’ve never heard before Price cannot be more than $3 Have to be intrigued at first glance by the front or back cover Cannot sample the record in the store before purchase Must resist asking someone any ?’s or feedback on it I have discovered so much great stuff this way that I most likely would’ve passed up. I always vary it up too, picking different genres or eras. When I started to really get into Jazz I picked up Hank Crawford “I hear a symphony” as a chance and that changed my life forever. That opened me to checking out lots more stuff from CTI records, a label that rostered quite a few Jazz artists which have become some of my favorites. Yesterday’s chance record was “Soul Coaxing” by Raymond Lefevere and his Orchestra. The cover has a vibe of 60’s - 70’s lounge music, and one of the tracks on the back is “Groovin”, which I figured was a instrumental version of The Young Rascals tune. I was correct on that, and the other tracks I listened to were very laid back w/ lots of instruments. Overall what I heard so far I liked, definitely good for a Sunday afternoon listen!
top of page
bottom of page
Comments