Exiting Grooves
It’s been an interesting couple of months. For that matter, the entire year has been unusual. I cut my vinyl budget way back, given the economy, and have honed in on trying to buy only titles that I really want to have as players in my collection. (Unlike some who purchase vinyl, I buy my records to be played first and foremost.)
But I have also reached a frustration point, where I’m seeing titles on my shelf that I would rather not keep anymore.
Part of this came about due to taking a break from my main audio system for a couple of months. I unplugged it prior to a road trip two months ago (due to potential summer storms), and only just plugged it in last week. It’s not that I shut music out completely – I listen elsewhere in the house, usually as background music during other activities. But having that temptation to play music gave me time to think about what it is I really want from the records I own.
Trying to choose which titles to get rid of requires a few criteria on my part, and some potentially tough decisions. How to get rid of them is another issue entirely. For used records, if they are too worn or noisy, they go on the reject pile to be given away. For newer records, or records with some value to them, I want to try to sell them. Trading them in at a used record store does me no good, as the objective here is to downsize. So I need more records to go “out through the in door” than vice versa.
And it’s not just the vinyl. I have boxes of worthless CDs, most of which would be impossible or impractical to sell since they’d have to sell so cheaply. Used record stores around me don’t even want them. They are all ripped to my music server. Legally, I should keep them (“fair use,” and all that). Practically, though? I’ll probably never look at most of them again.
I also have stacks of old audio equipment from systems I will no longer set up, and other gear that rotated out of my main system permanently. I’ll always keep spares in case one of my main components goes down. And in addition to setting aside a few things for one of my adult kids, I will keep something for an eventual second system. Everything else needs to leave, though.
Selling is a pain point. So many entitled buyers today will make false claims about an item’s imperfection just due to having buyer’s remorse. Others are extraordinarily fussy and will try to return something with an issue that is minor or even unnoticeable. Selling locally is a major hassle due to so many abusive flippers out there in the wild.
So, where do I sell? I do have some local friends on a small regional forum who might like first crack at any of this stuff I’ll be purging. I may also rent a table at a local audio/radio swap meet, put fire sale prices on most of the items, and hope most of it sells. Friends have sold audio gear and boxes of records at these swap meets.
Otherwise, what do I do with the audio equipment? Some of it is mid-fi gear, so US Audio Mart isn’t a good option. But for records, I will defer to Discogs. eBay isn’t an option I would consider, given their heavy bias towards buyers. I’ll report back here in a few months with my experiences, and post any updates on my overall downsizing.
I’m sure we’ve all been here, though. We get to a point in our lives where we need to downsize, and want to declutter our lives. I am at that point now.
New Grooves
Despite my cutting back, I’d been saving up items I’ve been interested in using a want list, and finally cut an order a few weeks ago for the top items on the list. I’d found an online seller with discounted prices (which seem to be their norm), and which had an additional 10% off coupon. Ordering enough for free shipping was not an issue.
Here are some of the recent arrivals.
Cal Tjader: Amazonas (Fantasy/Craft Recordings, 2025)
This was a surprise release – Kevin Gray remastered this for Craft Recordings from the original Fantasy tapes, which clears up a little of the muddiness from the original release. Tjader is paired with Airto Moreira and makes an album here that is more in line with Airto’s style than Tjader’s. “Xibaba” is a song I recognize from Donald Byrd’s Electric Byrd album, as Airto appeared on that record. The title track is a João Donato gem. “Tamanco no Samba” I recognize as the song “Samba Blim,” the title track of a Tamba 4 record. “Corinne” features George Duke as composer, who is also a keyboardist throughout the record. Even Sergio Mendes has a spot on this record – Tjader covers his early song “Noa Noa.” This is one of those Cal Tjader records that many hold in high regard, and its Brazilian flavor gives it enough of a contrast to his other typical Latin jazz albums. This one is a keeper. And hopefully, a spark of hope that they reissue a lot more of Tjader’s neglected back catalog in the coming years.
The Horace Silver Quintet: The Tokyo Blues (Blue Note Tone Poet series, 2025)
Hot off the presses, this record is a favorite Horace Silver title of mine. It was previously issued in the Music Matters series, at 45 RPM, but prices for that set are off the rails. Thankfully Blue Note decided to give it a proper reissue, with Kevin Gray mastering the title (as he does with all Tone Poet and Classic Vinyl series reissues). I have the SACD of the previous version and this vinyl version is right up there in terms of detail. Very nicely balanced throughout. Silver’s album doesn’t come across as “Japan meets jazz,” but does infuse some of the exotic flavors of the “far East” in his hard bop stylings. The title track of course has been covered by others, but the rest of the record with his “classic” quintet (Junior Cook, Blue Mitchell, Gene Taylor, and Joe Harris sitting in for Roy Brooks) are of the typical high standard we’ve come to expect from Silver’s recordings. The only cover song is “Cherry Blossom” (Ronnell Bright), but the rest are very typical Silver compositions, in a good way. This one will get many plays.
Donald Byrd: Stepping Into Tomorrow (Blue Note Classic Vinyl series, 2025)
This record is perhaps not my favorite of Byrd’s five albums featuring Larry and Fonce Mizell as part the production/performing team, but it still has enough pleasant moments that I like to play this one when giving one of the other Mizell albums a spin. A few of the tracks have vocals, as we’ve come to expect from this era. Standouts for me are “Design a Nation” and “You Are the World,” with “Think Twice” being the standout vocal track featuring Byrd and Kay Haith singing lead vocals. Definitely non-essential, but completists of Byrd’s mid-’70s era recordings, and the Mizell brothers’ output during this time, will enjoy this. This Classic Vinyl version (with Kevin Gray’s mastering) was a recent release as well.
Quincy Jones: You’ve Got It Bad Girl (A&M/UMG, 2025)
Musically, I grew fond of this record about a decade ago, especially the first side, which is an ultimate chill-out side featuring low-key performances by Quincy Jones and his collaborators. It starts out with a dark, slippery recasting of the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer in the City,” this with sparse organ and Rhodes accompaniment to Valerie Simpson’s vocals. Simpson also anchors “Tribute to A.F. – RO” (a tribute to Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack), a medley consisting of “Daydreaming” and “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” Along with two slow instrumentals featuring Toots Thielemans’ harmonica, the side closes out with a faithful rendition of the Stevie Wonder-penned title track, featuring horns and strings, and Quincy himself on lead vocals.
Side two picks up with a somewhat acidic version of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” (featuring cameos by Wonder, Billy Preston, and Bill Withers) that I don’t really care for, followed by a modern big band interpretation of the Gillespie/Pozo classic “Manteca.” But the real highlight of this album has to be “The Streetbeater,” otherwise known as the theme for the popular television series Sanford and Son. This is obviously the recording used for the television theme song, featuring Ernie Watts on an electrified saxophone playing the melody, a hot solo by Phil Woods in the final minute, and that greasy bass harmonica played by Tom Morgan.
Sound quality? Well…it’s good, I guess. But it seems to be a run of the mill UMG product, most likely digitally sourced, with good but not great sound, and not the quietest surfaces in town. (A Verve CD from years earlier sounds better to my ears.) Still, finding any earlier pressing of this record in good condition is going to cost a lot more these days, especially the old Mobile Fidelity pressing. This was reissued in the wake of Quincy Jones’ recent passing, along with a few other A&M catalog releases. I promise I won’t say anything about this being a typical UMG cash grab…
Near-Future Grooves
I’ll end this article with one last news item which, by now, is certainly not a well-kept secret. Warner/Rhino is finally reissuing the long-overlooked Buckingham Nicks album. For the two or three music lovers on this planet who are not aware, this was the record released on Polydor by Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham prior to joining a much better-known band. When Mick Fleetwood heard “Frozen Love” from this recording, he reached out and extended an offer for the duo to join Fleetwood Mac.
Rhino is issuing this album on September 19 as a CD and digital download in high-res. There are multiple vinyl versions, two of which were sold out during the preorder. The mass market vinyl editions are mastered by Chris Bellman (from Grundman Mastering), and are available in at least three colors (baby blue, baby pink, and an Amazon-exclusive yellow). Rhino High Fidelity’s vinyl versions are mastered by Kevin Gray. The unnumbered version is still available, and likely will be for a while. The numbered version, however, is sold out, as is a deluxe version with two 7-inch 45 RPM singles featuring single mixes of songs from the album.
That wraps up The Vinyl Beat for this month. In the next month or two, depending on the outcome, I should be able to report on a solution to my long search for a replacement of a favorite cartridge. I’ve been looking for over a dozen years. Will this finally solve things? Check back to find out!
