Mole Jazz on BBC Radio 3

[Big Beat Steve]

Oh yes I remember James Asman's shop. He was very much a specialist in New Orleans and nothing much beyond the 30s. He did carry some modern jazz however, although he gave the impression that this was with some reluctance! I remember buying 'Miles In The Sky' in there for some reason and I still remember the rather pitying look he gave me when he passed it over.

Same here ... On one occasion I had picked up Vols. 2 and 3 of Hamp Hawes' "All Night Session" LPs (British Contemporary/Vogue originals) at Mole's (where I habitually started my day-long record buying sprees) and within hours at Asman's (which was my next stop) a copy of Vol. 1 (with a slightly more worn cover but still NM vinyl) came my way at ONE quid (which was only a small fraction of the still decent price I paid at Mole's for the other 2 vols.).

Needless to say I took the cashier's pitiful look in stride!

Edited December 11, 2008 by Big Beat Steve

[BillF]

Will check later on in my collection so see if i can substantiate this.

BTW, how does fit JAMES ASMAN into alll this?

For some time (at least in the 90s when I stopped by there) he seemed to have been a sort of oldtime jazz outlet of Mole (and the Mole Jazz carrying bags had Asman's address and logo on one side) and though the sales blurb about the selection of ALL jazz supposed to be available there was widely exagerated IMHO I did manage to pick up a few nice ones there because whatever secondhand jazz LPs they had in stock that were stylistically well past the old-time barrier (read. "too modern") would not be too expensive as they apparently fell out of Asman's habitual trading focus.

At any rate, I guess the shop was past its best days when I stopped by there every now and then during my stays in London in the 90s.

Oh yes I remember James Asman's shop. He was very much a specialist in New Orleans and nothing much beyond the 30s. He did carry some modern jazz however, although he gave the impression that this was with some reluctance! I remember buying 'Miles In The Sky' in there for some reason and I still remember the rather pitying look he gave me when he passed it over. He also had another branch in the City somewhere and I remember there being some good second hand stuff in yet another damp basement.

Some of these record shop proprieters make the Jack Black character in High Fidelity look like a pussycat.

Ah, yes! That takes me back to another war: the trad v. modern war! How crazy we were in those days!

[JohnS]

When Collets moved to Shaftesbury Ave the folk section was at the back with an entrance in St Martins Lane. Interestingly Honest Jon (some nice stuff there too) had a shop immediately opposite. When Ray took over some some time later he took over the whole shop. Incidentally Collets bookshop was the subject of a sensational expose in one of the Sunday newspapers - because of its left wing and eastern european stock along the lines of 'would you let your child shope here'!!

Anyone old enough to recall Dave Carey's shop in Streatham. Good stock, not just trad, but so small that there was no browsing and two customers was a crush.

[BillF]

When Collets moved to Shaftesbury Ave the folk section was at the back with an entrance in St Martins Lane. Interestingly Honest Jon (some nice stuff there too) had a shop immediately opposite. When Ray took over some some time later he took over the whole shop. Incidentally Collets bookshop was the subject of a sensational expose in one of the Sunday newspapers - because of its left wing and eastern european stock along the lines of 'would you let your child shope here'!!

Anyone old enough to recall Dave Carey's shop in Streatham. Good stock, not just trad, but so small that there was no browsing and two customers was a crush.

I remember going to a jazz record shop in south-east London (New Cross, I think) in about 1970, but don't remember the name. The copy of Quincy Jones's This Is What I Think About Jazz I bought was in such bad condition that the guy said, "Just put a shilling in the blind box"! And it did quite nicely till I replaced it with the CD in the nineties!

Edited December 11, 2008 by BillF

[Jazzjet]

When Collets moved to Shaftesbury Ave the folk section was at the back with an entrance in St Martins Lane. Interestingly Honest Jon (some nice stuff there too) had a shop immediately opposite. When Ray took over some some time later he took over the whole shop. Incidentally Collets bookshop was the subject of a sensational expose in one of the Sunday newspapers - because of its left wing and eastern european stock along the lines of 'would you let your child shope here'!!

Anyone old enough to recall Dave Carey's shop in Streatham. Good stock, not just trad, but so small that there was no browsing and two customers was a crush.

Coincidentally, Jazzwise magazine this month has a spread about Kind of Blue and various jazzers reminiscences of it. Charlie Watts's goes as follows : ' I bought it in the jazz department of Collet's in New Oxford Street when it came out in 1960. It was on the Fontana label and I've still got the copy. I first heard it at Collet's. In thise days I was a designer at Hobson's advertising agency in Conduit Street and I used to go there a lot.There was a folk department upstairs and a jazz department in the basement and Ray Smith ( later of Ray's Jazz Shop ) was playing it. He used to play the latest jazz records, beat out the drum parts on the counter then take your money.'

Does anyone know the song 'Vinyl' by Georgie Fame ( its on Three Line Whip and Birthday Big Band ). There's a pretty good namecheck for Ray's in the lyrics.

Never got to Dave Carey's but I do remember a jazz shop called Peter something's in New Cross Gate. I used to drop in there as a lad when I travelled from school to see my football team, Millwall ( I know, I know ).

[JohnS]

The shop in New Cross was Cris Wellard's. Chris was nice guy and great fun, monthly record recitals at the pub across the road. I used to live fairly close by and was a regular visitor there. Eventually the shop closed but Chris carried on distributing a small number of specialist labels. I can remember a notable party one Christmas that featured half a dozen or more south London players, it's bit hazy now but the pianist was Manfred Mann (good free jazz piano) and Malcolm Griffiths on trombone.

Thinking about Dobell's, I walked in one morning to find Roland Kirk leaning on the counter listening to an Omer Simeon record.

A wonderful time, an age of discovery, now just a memory.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Thinking about Dobell's, I walked in one morning to find Roland Kirk leaning on the counter listening to an Omer Simeon record.

I met Ben Webster in there. My friend was astonished when I went up to him and talked to him. And even more thast Ben responded in a gentlemanly way.

MG

[sidewinder]

For some time (at least in the 90s when I stopped by there) he seemed to have been a sort of oldtime jazz outlet of Mole (and the Mole Jazz carrying bags had Asman's address and logo on one side) and though the sales blurb about the selection of ALL jazz supposed to be available there was widely exagerated IMHO

That's correct. Upstairs at Mole was the Asman's store for a while in the late 1990s. I think the deck/amp/speakers were part of all that as most of the music I heard through that system was pre-1940 !

[sidewinder]

The shop in New Cross was Cris Wellard's. Chris was nice guy and great fun, monthly record recitals at the pub across the road.

I remember the Chris Wellard store closing - they had a big sale I seem to recall (1980-ish). Never went into the store though.

[sidewinder]

Some of these record shop proprieters make the Jack Black character in High Fidelity look like a pussycat.

[Big Beat Steve]

For some time (at least in the 90s when I stopped by there) he seemed to have been a sort of oldtime jazz outlet of Mole (and the Mole Jazz carrying bags had Asman's address and logo on one side) and though the sales blurb about the selection of ALL jazz supposed to be available there was widely exagerated IMHO

That's correct. Upstairs at Mole was the Asman's store for a while in the late 1990s. I think the deck/amp/speakers were part of all that as most of the music I heard through that system was pre-1940 !

Actually I was referring to the Asman shop in that small side street off Charing Cross Road (don't remeber its name - Gt. something Street - always a good stopover not only for that shop but also for the Motorbooks book store not far away). It was at that time that they used the bags that had the Mole publicity on one side and the Asman one on the other. Can't remember having seen any separate Asman section at Mole. I stopped by there at least one or twice a year until late 2000 and "upstairs vinyl at Mole's" always was as it had been since the shop moved there.

[sidewinder]

Actually I was referring to the Asman shop in that small side street off Charing Cross Road (don't remeber its name - Gt. something Street - always a good stopover not only for that shop but also for the Motorbooks book store not far away). It was at that time that they used the bags that had the Mole publicity on one side and the Asman one on the other. Can't remember having seen any separate Asman section at Mole. I stopped by there at least one or twice a year until late 2000 and "upstairs vinyl at Mole's" always was as it had been since the shop moved there.

Can't remember exactly when it was but what was left of Asmans did 'decamp' to Mole when the main store closed down. Don't think it lasted too long though.

[JohnS]

Jim Asman's shop was usually worth a visit. In my early days of record buying you could be pretty sure of finding almost all the Esquire (ex Prestige issues) at a bargain price.

I also found the Blue Note Sonny Clark Trio there for a small sum - I was looking through the 'modern' rack keeping an eye on the chap next to me when I spotted it and remember hoping he wasn't going to pick it up. I also found my Smokestack test pressing there again at a remarkably low cost.

Another early memory concerns Mrs Asman, she lost her balance and stumbled against the record deck knocking the pick up completely across the Charlie Parker US Verve album she was playing for me.

[sidewinder]

I also found the Blue Note Sonny Clark Trio there for a small sum

Original deep groove, John?

Damn - sounds like I hit these stores 10-15 years too late :rsmile:

[JohnS]

I also found the Blue Note Sonny Clark Trio there for a small sum

Original deep groove, John?

Damn - sounds like I hit these stores 10-15 years too late :rsmile:

'Fraid not. It was a late pressing but still very hard to come by.