Royal Oak

I happened upon OP's autobiography in a charity shop this week. I picked it up and skimmed a few pages, and it didn't really grab me - inoffensive, slightly banal. I left it on the shelf. It's interesting what Big Beat Steve says upthread about the jazz tastes of classical music fans. I recently bought quite a big record collection, 60% classical and 40% jazz. The jazz portion was entirely typical of these collections (I've bought dozens over the years). There were over 20 OP albums, about 16 George Shearings, about 12 Dave Brubecks, about 10 Andre Previns, 15 Nat King Coles, 15 Frank Sinatras, 10 each of Duke Ellington, Basie and MJQ. You almost always find a token Bird or Miles album in these collections. This one was slightly unusual in that it had 2 Monk albums (a solo bootleg-looking thing and the Tokyo concerts) a single Bill Evans, and the real kicker - four Groove Holmes LPs.

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Haha good one, not seen that one before 👍

Deutsche Grammophon's 1980s output seems to have "admiration" as a theme...

I've never been good at cryptic crosswords, so I don't expect I'll get many right. So the titles are based on other song titles specifically, or historic events, or both? Between 1901 and 1971? Tiger Rag In The Mood Black and Tan Fantasy On the Sunny Side of the Street Louie Louie Harlem Shuffle Dance of the Infidels Sgt Pepper Well You Needn't Lester Leaps In Tea for Two

I did love that LP

Not totally clear, but I'd say Les is kneeling Woman to the right is kind of kneeling

Two for the price of one

Had a flick through my shelves

👍 agree

Yes, it is more pink than purple, you're right. It's the only Pearl Jam LP I ever had also. This one is definitely purple:

Purple? Or pink?

It is, isn't it?

First thing I thought of was "Spiegel Im Spiegel" by Arvo Part, although that's actually for piano with violin. Regardless, I love it, though there will probably be some who'd tell me I'm wrong to do so. In fact, I seem to recall an Arvo Part LP on ECM called Tabula Rasa which may be what you're looking for. It's been about 20 years however, so I could be wrong.

I think it certainly does, in the context of the general population. In my experience, I reckon a majority of jazz vinyl buyers are buying the label rather than the artist, unless you're talking the big hitters (Miles and Coltrane, again in my experience). I don't think it's as bad as classical vinyl, where if it isn't EMI, Decca or (to a lesser extent) Deutsche Grammophon or Philips, then forget it.

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This collection contained a LOT of live recordings (private pressings or bootlegs, I don't know) which I guess would mainly appeal to superfans - Stan Kenton "stans" if you will. Alas, if such a person exists, they weren't looking on Ebay at the time.

Last year I bought an unseen collection of jazz LPs very cheaply on Ebay, whereupon I found myself suddenly in possession of 78 Stan Kenton LPs. Kenton not being my thing, I tried to sell them to someone, anyone, who would appreciate them. I tried them singly, in small batches and in one whole lot, and very cheaply too. I gradually discovered that if you wanted to find the polar opposite of goods which sell like the proverbial hot cakes, then Stan Kenton LPs might just be that.

You piqued my interest.... Well the Johannesburg record shop is no more, and the street on which it stood looks in a sorry state on Google Maps. The address in Jersey was actually a hotel, also no more. A 1964 tourism guide advert I found online states "This hotel offers you comfort, cleanliness and already renowned cuisine. Dancing. Radiotel in all rooms." Radiotel, sounds very sixties.

I recently acquired Bud Powell's "Time Waits" album. The back has a sticker from "Colosseum Music Saloon" in Johannesburg. It also has the name and address of a previous owner, in Jersey (Channel Islands, not NJ). Not that interesting, though this LP has clearly done a few air miles - from NY to South Africa, to the Channel Islands, now to Greater Manchester.

The British heatwave has passed - too hot not to cool down, as the old song goes.

The latter! For balance, I guess one only remembers the times when things go wrong, subconsciously (or consciously) forgetting the thousands of letters / packages one has sent over a lifetime which arrived on time and without incident.