About LJC

Last Refreshed: May 11, 2024

Personal communications to:  londonjazzcollector (at) outlook (dot) com

WELCOME TO LONDONJAZZCOLLECTOR, NOT LIKE MOST OTHER SITES

This is a vinyl jazz-lover’s education and opinion sharing site, which I started back in 2011. The emphasis is on the music and musicians rather than auction prices, though that is sometimes relevant. Once a week (Fridays) a new post features a vintage modern jazz record from the Fifties and Sixties, occasionally Seventies, including one or two tracks from the original vinyl ripped to MP3 at 320 kbps to illustrate the music written about. Headphones recommended. Most record photos enlarge to full screen up to 1920 x 1280 pixel including vinyl etchings. The liner notes can be read full screen in crisp sharp text.  It’s all high resolution, not very phone-friendly.

If you love modern jazz on vinyl, grab some floor space and make yourself at home, you are in good company. Over six million page views worldwide to date, 2,000 page views a day, and interesting comment discussions, often from people who know more than me. If you can add anything, weigh in, current and past posts are always open.

Everything here is based on my experience; your experience may vary. “Good judgment comes from experience and experience is often the result of bad judgment.” – citation needed, but it’s true, whoever said it first

What LJC is not – 

–  a record trading site. If you have records you want to sell,  that is what Ebay and Discogs is for, I am not a buyer/seller introduction site. I do not buy records from unsolicited offers. I delete posts from people looking to sell records to my readers, looking to avoid Ebay or Discogs commission.

–  a revenue-generating site I do not earn any revenue from LondonJazzCollector, it’s a loss-maker. It costs me time, and money. It is a vanity project, or labor of love, I do it because I enjoy doing it.

The ads are annoying but it’s expensive to operate without them. The ads are chosen and placed by WordPress,  based on each viewer’s cookie-profile. I am a WordPress-hosted site – Londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com – they take care of all the web-mechanics in return for the ad-revenue. I am not permitted to place adverts.

If you enjoy a post or learn something useful, you can just click the like button. It costs you nothing, gives me a little encouragement, and there is no identity exposure that I am aware of. 

LJC is not

-a promotional site. I do not promote up and coming artists or events, however worthy. But every now and then, something comes up that I feel will be of interest to all my readers, you can always email me your pitch.

-a filesharing site. I do not offer downloads or support music piracy. If you want to hear more, Youtube usually has a selection of related uploads 

-a political site. I do not give platform to any political viewpoint: there are plenty of other sites where people can sound off. I do believe passionately, that Black Vinyl Matters – a little joke from someone who has spent the last ten years writing about mostly Afro-American music. I am against colored vinyl because it is sonically inferior. I favor selection based on competence, it makes for better music, and rewards those who worked hardest to improve their performance.

LJC blog, website, and forum*

In addition to regular blog posts, you will find permanent pages of information about modern jazz, vintage vinyl, the evolution of record labels, hi fi improvement, eBay bidding tips, and plain whimsy – click on the headings under the top banner picture. It’s not just a blog, it’s a website.

If you prefer a more informal exchange of views with other readers, I started a free *forum (hosted by ProBoards), popular topics like Saturday Night Spin, What’s on your turntable. I merely moderate rather than contribute, it’s your space, for you to use as you wish. If you want to address something to me personally, or share something, just email me at address under banner topic “CONTACT LJC”.

All previous posts for a particular artist or record label are found by clicking on the topic list in the sidebar (over 1,000 posts to date), There is a complete list of artists with a post right hand sidebar, alphabetical order, in brackets after the name is the number of records posted for that artist. Click on the name to retrieve all their posts or enter their name or record title in the search box top right of the banner.

You get mostly original writing here, quotation from other sources attributed not plagiarised, and mostly intelligent comments. Please see Comments Policy before posting. Personally, I find comments here a useful return on my effort. I already know what I think, so other people’s comments expand my knowledge and viewpoint. Have your say, all comments welcome, but keep it civil.

Who is LJC? 

My identity is a private matter, and I like to keep it that way. I don’t give out my name, address or phone number, I don’t accept invitations to meet up. I have no social media accounts, aside from a recent Instagram account I rarely use.

I am always happy to engage in personal correspondence off-blog, email address top of page, special interest in clearing up vinyl mysteries, helping people out. Media-invitations or publishing, if you have something you want to propose, put it in writing first, I’ll decide.

Back to the avatar LJC: here are some of the hipster “alter-egos” who appear occasionally in my blog, with a little help from Photoshop, borrowing the face of comedy actor John Thompson (BBC Jazz Club spoof) . None of them are me. 

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I appreciate LJC is not for everyone, interests change, sorry to see you go but good luck on your journey, thank you for stopping by in the first place.

ABOUT LONDONJAZZCOLLECTOR

My name is Andrew, LJC for short. Pictured right, my avatar, Professor Jazz, the character  “Louis Balfour“, host of TV spoof “Jazz Cub” running-sketch played by comic actor John Thompson.  Great!”. It’s not me.

Some guys like to stick themselves in front of a camera and talk to it for ten minutes, posing with their opinions on YouTube. I’m a writer. I like to explore my own ideas and thinking as I write, move words around on a page until I’m happy with them, insert artwork, diagrams, pictures, create a post over many hours, and days. Works for me.

I have no social media presence: no Facebook page, no Twitter/X account, no Linked-In profile, no YouTube Channel, no Tik-Tok, Snapchat or Telegram account, a minimal Instagram account I don’t update, and this WordPress blog.  Nothing here is monetized, not even a tip-jar. No fashion tips, no skincare advice, no travel-hacks, it’s not all about me.  It is entirely possible that I am a figment of my own imagination.

How did it all happen?

After decades of wearing a suit and tie, I found myself retired, with time on my hands and no interest in the usual retirement “time-wasters”: golf, cruises, or a second career in consultancy. I am simply a lifelong music lover and amateur writer, with no connection to my former work-life, which was interesting, but on reflection, an even greater waste of time.

Possessed by a  life-long passion for music and good hi-fi, a love of photography and computer technology; Photoshop-junkie,  part-time philosopher (no previous convictions), writer, humorist and observer of the human condition: blogging seems a natural next step. You get all that in just one blog: LondonJazzCollector. It wasn’t the best choice of name, I chose it a long time ago, I live with it, LJC.

Briefly in 2016 I started another WordPress blog following my interest in wine, Age Improves With Wine, especially  French white wine, and rosé. Unfortunately this proved exhausting, many other people write about wine, some for a living.  Recently I have revived it with some new content, but I think it won’t last.

Asked occasionally “What do you do?” I describe myself as full-time self-unemployed, which allows me freedom to do as I wish. My interest in jazz and vinyl has been in the last decade, unlike some whose knowledge has been built up over a lifetime. Making up for lost time, this blog features the fruits of  “panning for gold” in London’s few remaining record stores, shopping on-line, and inspiration from other jazz collectors. Very little is now bought from auction sellers overseas due to grading issues, customs, insurance, excessive tax and postal cost, and uncertainty over arrival.

Starting with an interest mainly in original Blue Note, the holy grail in audiophile and musical performance, you will also find here original Prestige, Impulse!, Contemporary, Riverside and other labels, some West Coast jazz, a bit of Free, and European and British Jazz, and UK release of US recordings. A few Japanese pressings are including, and being in the UK, inevitably some UK releases of US recordings.

In the last couple of years, the quality of reissues remastered from original tapes – all analogue process {AAA) has transformed the reissue scene, expect some modern audiophile reissues among the posts. Be warned, there are countless modern reissues sourced from intermediate digital copies that claim to be “audiophile” merely because they are pressed on 180gm vinyl. Analogue sampled to Digital, then remastered back to Analogue, is not “audiophile” whatever the vinyl weight. 

All records here are from my personal vinyl collection. When not much is coming in, I look on my shelves for something of interest to write about. Failing that, I make something up. I welcome guest posts, if you have an artist or topic you would like to write about, 1,000-2,000 words, email me your idea.

You can expect the big musicians of Modern Jazz but also some lesser players you may not be au fait with. Many other bloggers cover funk, soul, dance, psych, so you will not find much of that here. You won’t find the attribute “new” has much traction here either. Of all the music produced in the last fifty years, how likely is it that something is worthy of attention just because it is “new” ? Everything was new once.

A little more on what this blog is about…

Why “Modern Jazz”?  The Fifties and Sixties were an intensely creative period in all the arts, no less in Jazz, with the period 1956-66 the golden era.  After the mid- Sixties, Modern Jazz fragmented, and many of its finest exponents became what the medical profession refers to as “dead” , moved to Europe, or worse still, Hollywood, invested in a new wardrobe, or just followed the money, and who can blame them.

Why vinyl?  A (vintage) vinyl record stores analogue-recorded music in an analogue medium.  Good modern vinyl equipment, including power conditioning and quality of interconnects, can retrieve that analogue information and reproduce it much as it would have sounded when performed. At its best, the resulting sound offers a fresh, immersive and exciting musician-in-the-room experience superior to any digital source at any price, however modern.

Why vintage vinyl? The mid-50’s to the mid 70’s was the golden age of vinyl. Every process from recording through to manufacturing was analogue, in the hands of master engineers. Not everything produced was outstanding, but with the right engineers and quality pressing, the best sounding records ever were produced. From the mid ’80’s attention became focused on the Compact Disc format, solid state engineering and digital processes.   Many jazz reissues produced in the Eighties onwards became progressively worse. The cheapness of the CD made it difficult to manufacture quality vinyl at a competitive price.

Modern budget-level vinyl reissues (under £20)  are mostly digital copies transferred to vinyl, pressed in Czech Republic or Germany, hyped as “audiophile” because it is on 180gm vinyl. 

Even in the audiophile domain, some engineers (like Hoffman) believed they could “improve” vintage recordings with modern studio equipment. Most recently, since 2020, truly audiophile mastering and manufacturing at an affordable price has come of age. With original tape sources, all analogue processes, and quality pressing, some Vinyl LPs can deliver remarkable sonic performance, however mostly only in stereo format, even from two-track tapes never intended for stereo. Mono remains largely the domain of vintage vinyl. Despite many improvements, I remain convinced the originals sound the best.

Any special kind of Hi Fi required?  Yes, I am afraid so.  Unlike “old vinyl”, unfortunately, with rare exceptions,  “classic old hi-fi” does not cut it. If it’s of any interest my set up is here, (last updated April 2024) or see the “For Audiophiles” page in the blog header.

Hey LJC, I don’t have “golden ears”.  Any point in this hi-fi stuff? It’s expensive!

No-one has golden ears; everyone can detect quality audio if they ever get the opportunity to hear it.  But beware, Hi Fi is a world of strong and differing opinions. Some of it from “experts” (journalists) , some is salesmanship, some is guesswork, some of it wrong, and too little of it forged from personal comparative listening, which is the only source of opinion that matters. You are on your own, chum.

Beware of “intelligence”, which can improve your skill at deception, protect cherished but ill-founded beliefs, and pursue status and approval, not truth. 

The brain’s main purpose is helping you survive, so it will give lots of well-intentioned advice: expectation bias, confirmation bias, expert opinion, all that group-think stuff. Attend instead to your feelings and your emotional reaction to the music. Does it engage you, draw you in? Or does it leave you uninvolved, wondering what to play next?

In no time at all really, you will be able to say with confidence “I prefer this, it sounds better to me than that”, or no it doesn’t, or I can’t hear any difference. You will arrive at your own judgement, and not hang on to other people’s opinions, certainly not mine.

When you reach this point, you are in charge, and it gets a little easier.  To pick up on this theme, graduate to the Zen and the Art of Active Listening page.

My takeaway from a decade of upgrading hi-fi is that the main components are the least important part of your system, provided you chose reasonably good ones in the first place. Beware of equipment snobs that hang out in hifi forums where they list their equipment. Your equipment is almost certainly capable of sounding better than it does now. To hear how good requires improvement in the purity of power supply, earthing, quality interconnects much too expensive to supply with the original component. Add support infrastructure racking, and ultrasonic cleaning of vinyl.

Equipment snobs have never actually tested these accessories, because they know they make no difference. Arrogance and Ignorance (Dunning Kruger Effect) are a match made in heaven; they depend on each other for survival. There is only one authority, and I’m afraid it’s you. Bummer.

A few last questions…

Are you now or have you ever been a DJ?  Nope. 

Do you like to go clubbing or hanging out at gigs, looking cool?  Nope

So would you describe yourself as a “square” then?  Not square, more sort of round. Well, oval, really…

That’s it. Feel free to make comments (see comments policy), offer corrections,  give advice, and make other recommendations from your own experience. It’s all good.

Note regarding Intellectual property and copyright.

”Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal”

Owners of intellectual property are quite rightly closing down piracy and theft of their work: Madonna needs still more money, she’s a Material Girl, high maintenance, and at 60+, she needs a pension.

Music and pictures posted here are for personal education and research, not for commercial gain, nor for the gratitude of file-sharers.  There are no whole albums here, the vinyl is long since out of print and accessible only through online auctions and second hand stores. The “track selection”  is one or at most two tracks at 160 or 320 kbps MP3 files ripped from original vinyl and streamed through the embedded WordPress player. Not hi fi quality, no downloads. No-one loses revenue from anything posted here, and I make no revenue from it, to the contrary, I pay WordPress for file storage. I notice when I post about a record, the available copies on Discogs sell out very quickly, perhaps record sellers’ benefit.

The adverts on this blog are placed by WordPress to help keep blogging a free service (free to both of us). Files are not hosted on third party file sharing sites. You can be confident everything you click on here is spam and virus free, will still be here tomorrow, requires no toolbar add-in, and sorry lads, no teen dating introductions in your area.

I do not endorse copyright theft, though almost all of the recordings here are over 50 years old the musicians are long dead, or soon will be (1963 is the technical legal watershed) . If you are copyright holder of any sounds or images here, please contact me directly at the email address below. If you think you may be one of the long dead musicians, get professional help, or leave a sign: a medium will get back to you soon as possible.

The content of this web-blog is for personal, non-commercial use only. In the event that there is a problem with copyrighted material, copyright infringement is unintentional and non-commercial. Material will be removed upon request by the copyright owner.

All original writing and pictures on this blog are my copyright. You are free to use them in any educational or personal context, without alteration, though not in any commercial activity without my express prior permission. Original material uploaded to other sites should be credited to this source. I take pride in my work, I don’t like finding it online under other people’s names, which does occasionally happen, or repurposed with the WWW.LONDONJAZZCOLLECTOR.WORDPRESS.COM  “watermark”  trimmed off. I put it outside the image not to spoil it, not to enable you to steal it.

Note to buyers and sellers of vinyl

I often get requests to identify if a relative’s collection is valuable or suggest what can best be done with them. I try to answer emails promptly and honestly. If you are looking to dispose of a collection of jazz records, I am not a dealer or buyer, but I am able to give advice, put you in touch with people (UK based) who can help.

Readers ask me where to find vintage vinyl jazz treasures in London. You might as well ask me at which second-hand stall you can find a Van Gogh, which is the riverbed where you can find gold nuggets, or where exactly do I dig for diamonds? Good stuff is rare. You trawl, like whales sifting plankton. Every now and then, you get lucky. More often than not, you make do with something interesting, or maybe nothing at all.

Note to fellow record collectors

I am always happy to take questions, help identify provenance, make good a gap in my subject coverage, any missed point of detail, and for you to share any anomalies or interesting finds. It’s what collectors do.

Personal communications to:

LondonJazzCollector ( at ) outlook (dot) com

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