I just had an amazing night of vinyl shopping. It was actually a surprising roll of the dice, since my last few visits to that particular Salvation Army store were rather blah. What made this visit such an event was that it was quite apparent that someone had dumped their entire Jazz/Funk/Soul LP collection, AND it was rather unusual/obscure stuff at the same time. As I’ve said before in this blog, these are rare experiences in this area; a huge lot of truly remarkable titles hits the thrift racks (in my experience) only two or three times a year.

There were a number of titles I decided to leave behind, since I already owned them at one time or another. I also briefly considered re-buying a Freddie Hubbard ‘Sky Dive’ LP which had some moisture-damage/welting to the cover, and then when I opened the gatefold, I was surprised to find there were some marijuana seeds and leaf still trapped in the fold of the jacket!The stack of records grew, so I considered my finances, and decided to pass on a few titles that weren’t terribly vital…and then took pics of a few remaining titles (to google for other bloggers who’ve already ripped them for download).

So, here’s what I ended up buying:

• John Coltrane ‘Ascension’ How often do you find an original Impulse! LP press? Reminds me of the old days; when CTI, Impulse, & Blue Note stuff filled the thrift bins. And, Coltrane is beyond compare on this one…
• ‘The Electrifying Eddie Harris’ Horn-blower Harris puts his electrified sax to the test: That thing is screamin’!
• Donald Byrd ‘Stepping Into Tomorrow’ A challenging and visionary work. The guy is a’70s legend. And a nice Blue Note find!
• The Clarke/Duke Project Stan and George cook up a funky mix on this 1981 release, nice to find it still in shrink wrap.
• Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson ‘Bridges’ The kind of record that makes you think you were buds with Tribe Called Quest; pricetag on the shrinkwrap?: $4.81 4/12/78
• Thelonious Monk ‘Misterioso’ I almost did a backflip when I saw this disc: wax is a *little* rough, but TOTALLY worth the dollar to have an LP copy of this one.

• Bobbi Humphrey ‘Blacks and Blues’ Another nice ’74 Blue Note cop, this stuff appeals to my nostalgic side: an era when message was equally exciting as the music.
• The Radiators ‘Zig Zaggin’ Through Ghostland’ CBS/Epic label, 1989: I swear I once heard some badass discordant jams on late nite radio from this band; now I’m not so sure: mostly skronky blues/rock here; but I like it enough.
• Rockwell ‘Somebody’s Watching Me’ This was pretty cool to find: we all know the hit single, but what’s the rest of this guy’s ouevre sound like? Now I’ll find out. Great condition, still in shrink wrap.

• Hubert Laws ‘The Chicago Theme’ Another delicious CTI label gem; the gloss finish on these gatefold jackets tends to age roughly: this one is OK. Hubert kills on that flute, by the way.
• Slow Children ‘Mad About Town’ This 1982 LP had all the clues: unusual song titles, very new-wave style, very little handling/wear: googled to find great insight on this one.
• Gene Harris ‘Tone Tantrum’ Another Blue Note title, this one from 1977 – yeah, I suspect disco elements: but, heck…might just be outstanding.
• Lee Morgan ‘Sonic Boom’ Still more Blue Note stuff, this one from 1979. Certainly worth the dollar.
• Herbie Hancock ‘Monster’ Hancock’s been through many phases, we’ll see about this one.
• Donald Byrd ‘I’m Trying’ to Get Home’ Jubilant, energetic affair with choral singing and swining arrangements. Old school Blue Note label.
• Richard Pryor ‘That Nigger’s Crazy’ Everbody knows that my favourite comic voices are W.C. Fields and Richard Pryor. Laughed out loud multiple times when playing this one.
• Herbie Mann ‘Waterbed’ This one’s about as disco as you can get. But, strangely, he transcends the genre on “Paradise Music”.
• Stanley Turrentine ‘The Man With the Sad Face’ Great players on this one: Eric Gale, Ron Carter…on the Fantasy label circa 1976.