What's really "rare."

[clifford_thornton]

This is an interesting subject in and of itself. Dick Wright died less than ten years ago. He had been a major force in the jazz scenes in Kansas City and Lawrence, Kansas, for decades, teaching jazz history, hosting radio shows, announcing concerts, leading groups of jazz lovers. His 30,000+ LP collection was donated to the University of Kansas when he died. There was a long feature story in the Lawrence newspaper a few years later. The collection had arrived in poor order, with records in crates and paper bags, not organized. The University sorted out all of the records, alphabetized them, placed the vinyl in protective sleeves, and stored the collection in a humidity controlled room on sets of shelves. A library staff member was put in charge of administering the collection. Years after it was available to the public, not a single person had asked to borrow a record from it. The budget ran out for the administrator/watchdog for the collection. The University planned to store it in the room, unavailable to anyone, indefinitely--at least at the time of the article.

That really opened my eyes about the futility of the fantasy I had of being old and near death, donating my collection to a library, and being feted by the library as a great benefactor to all humanity because of my donation. It is far more likely that no one will want it, and my heirs will either set it on the curb for the garbage truck or they will pay someone to sell it on ebay for them.

The former University of Kansas staff member who administered the Wright collection is a member here, and of the Blue Note board before that, iirc. Brandon Burke. He used to post occasionally about his experience at K.U., but has of course moved on to other things, and hasn't posted as often lately. At any rate, that's interesting... my memory is foggy regarding the developments that occured there. I'm not sure I ever got the full story.

I remember when Brandon worked there. I thought they had another person manning the ship, and if that isn't the case and it's in limbo, I am sorry to hear that.

I had willed my collection to that archive, but may need to change that...

[marcello]

I suggest this wonderful organization, if no other:

Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection

[Shannon Dickey]

Chuck Nessa is right, in my experience.

The universities/Libraries have no use for LPs (by and large).

Think about it.

I have a friend who is nearing his early '80's, his quandry?,

what do I do with my amazing collection of (mostly) Jazz?

At first, he wanted to give it (the collection) to his alma matter,

then he got wise, and thought "Hell, they will just throw it out!.

(I have seen this happen, at the University of Denver, D.U.).

My pal has no relatives, and is now thinking hard about selling

the whole collection to a well known dealer.

Tough call, any you slice it.

----HB

[Neal Pomea]

I would get it into the hands of an organization like the Red Hot Jazz archive who can digitize it, stream it, and share it, within the bounds of copyright law. If not Red Hot Jazz, then some other organization.

If he had any Cajun material, I may be interested. PM please.

[K1969]

Hey gang -- joined the group during the "Diego Incident" and would like to stick around. Harkening back to my college days and the "Cs" I usually got in economics -- I recall the basic concept of supply and demand and how when supply was low prices were high.

As another of Diego's (bastard) babies that stumbled his way over here, it's nice to see you sticking around Brian. Though I'm not at all knowledgeable on rare recordings, one thing that I can say in general, is that as Brit, home grown UK jazz vinyl seems horrendously difficult to find compared to the US stuff. Joe Harriot, Don Rendall, Tubby Hayes, Peter King, Stan Tracey - you name it. I've been to the states three times on short stays yet always managed to find some interesting stuff in any thrift store that I ventured in. One of these trips was to San Juan Island off the Seattle coast, more famed for wild Orcas than vinly, and even there I found some nice Adderley's on Riverside. On the other hand, I've spent the best part of 34 years in London and NEVER have I found even a gnarled copy of anythjing you would recognise as decent mainstram british jazz from the 60s. There are some obvious macro cultural and demographic reasons for this, but still, the extent of the void is amazing. One contributory factor could be my own self predjudice that americans recycle their culture more whereas the stingy brits hoard it under the floorboards.

[sidewinder]

whereas the stingy brits hoard it under the floorboards.

Could be something in that. In general I think there were always more copies of the American stuff whereas British material by Ardley, Rendell/Carr, Garrick, Harriott, Tubbs etc were often pressed only in the hundreds. Subtract the number of LPs trashed over the years or just thrown out/skipped and that doesn't leave too many in circulation.

[Big Beat Steve]

Don't forget the Japanese internet invasion that snaps up a LOT of anything that even remotely reeks of !Euro-jazz".

Anyway, what you said is also true for most other European jazz-producing countries, i.e. France, Germany, Sweden, etc. Almost all you ever found in used record bins (even in the jazz racks) or on fleamarkets were the umpteenth 50s compilation by Miller, Satch, Bechet or that 50s trad/revival stuff.

Apart from the tiny production runs of the more interesting European jazz productions, those who were well-to-do or discerning enough to afford any sizable collection of locally produced jazz at that time apparently weren't of the kind whose belongings end up on fleamarkets or garage sales.

[Teasing the Korean]

I'm donating my collection to Jazz at Lincoln Center and letting Wynton decide which titles are worth keeping.

[michel1969]

This is an interesting subject in and of itself. Dick Wright died less than ten years ago. He had been a major force in the jazz scenes in Kansas City and Lawrence, Kansas, for decades, teaching jazz history, hosting radio shows, announcing concerts, leading groups of jazz lovers. His 30,000+ LP collection was donated to the University of Kansas when he died. There was a long feature story in the Lawrence newspaper a few years later. The collection had arrived in poor order, with records in crates and paper bags, not organized. The University sorted out all of the records, alphabetized them, placed the vinyl in protective sleeves, and stored the collection in a humidity controlled room on sets of shelves. A library staff member was put in charge of administering the collection. Years after it was available to the public, not a single person had asked to borrow a record from it. The budget ran out for the administrator/watchdog for the collection. The University planned to store it in the room, unavailable to anyone, indefinitely--at least at the time of the article.

That really opened my eyes about the futility of the fantasy I had of being old and near death, donating my collection to a library, and being feted by the library as a great benefactor to all humanity because of my donation. It is far more likely that no one will want it, and my heirs will either set it on the curb for the garbage truck or they will pay someone to sell it on ebay for them.

The former University of Kansas staff member who administered the Wright collection is a member here, and of the Blue Note board before that, iirc. Brandon Burke. He used to post occasionally about his experience at K.U., but has of course moved on to other things, and hasn't posted as often lately. At any rate, that's interesting... my memory is foggy regarding the developments that occured there. I'm not sure I ever got the full story.

I remember when Brandon worked there. I thought they had another person manning the ship, and if that isn't the case and it's in limbo, I am sorry to hear that.

I had willed my collection to that archive, but may need to change that...

And this is no surprise. University music libraries have nothing to do with collectible records on a collector's point of view. They are focused on music, first, and how to keep it for researches. That's why library records have often # stickers, timings, writings etc. Same as book libraries. The main purpose of a library is not to give you the "original" or "rare" edition. Just to allow public and/or specialist to use it. Even if you can find very rare books or documents on libraries, these are not collectors showrooms : if the document is rare, or fragile, you may get a fac simile (whetever kind of). We could make the same comparison with archeologs or historians versus collectors. Those two worlds are connected, but haven't the same purpose.

[jbs-tom]

who cares what's rare ? - what is good is the thing.

i don't think everything what is rare must be good.

rare = always collectable = nonsense !

Edited February 27, 2007 by jbs-tom

[clifford_thornton]

I think both factors are interesting on their own.

Combined, look out!

[michel1969]

All that i want, as a collector, is records i like, in original pressings. I don't care about the rarity in itself. if its rare and in demand, i pay $$$$ if i really want it and when my pockets allow me to do so... If i can find it anywhere at 9.99 $, i'm even happier ! If its rare and completely ignored, as many jazz records and artists are, its even better, because the challenge is to find it, to hear what music it is, not to pay the big money : it is probably worth almost nothing.