Walt Dickerson

I went only a few times when I lived there, pre-Internet. Bought quite a bit online over the years and I do agree, excellent shop. Vinyl Fever in University City (where Washington University is located) was my go-to when I lived in St Louis.  Or was that Vintage Vinyl? I always get the one located in Tallahassee mistaken with the one located in St Louis.

Isn’t Euclid in St. Louis? Great record store.

“Miles in France – Miles Davis Quintet 1963/64: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8” disc 1  

Quite true, but there is another aspect to it. Regardless of how "great" a given jazz performance or recording is - not many are likely to jump head-on into areas (or "styles") that are FAR removed from one's own home ground of preferences. So if it is not anywhere near the style(s) of jazz that someone prefers, then he is not likely to all of a sudden be enamored of it just because "general wisdom" has pinned down this or that record as a "great" performance. The point here is that anyone who just happens not to like that particular "style" or category of jazz (not even by a long shot!) is perfectly entitled to state that he simply does not like it and that it doesn't do much for him. However, this does not detract from the qualities of that performance. The point is - don't call it a "bad" performance just because you don't like it. Not liking is does not say anything about the "objective" quality of the music. But liking in almost any case is not about objectivity at all.  Besides - how else but by "styles" (or categories or subcategories) of jazz (or in fact any style of music that DOES have subcategories, for that matter) would you be able to describe what you like in jazz to OTHERS? To give at least some kind of orientation of what you are talking about?  Particularly since jazz IS such a wide field and includes so many subcategories.  One example: I have about all of the pre-Columbia Miles Davis studio recordings (bar half of one LP for the time being) plus a solid sampling of live recordings and like them a lot, but overall the most "recent" or "modern" Miles Davis recording I have is "Seven Steps to Heaven". And from all I've heard elsewhere I have no urge to expand this into later periods. So what would be the point of telling someone else (whose preferences I don't know) that I am "into Miles Davis", only to find out he is all into "Electric Miles" or "Jazz Rock Miles"? Not much common ground that you COULD force onto people for them to like - one way or the other ...  So I've found that going at least by broad categories or styles is about the only way to tell people what we're talking about. I've two Eurocrates full of jazz records that I take along when I set up a fleamarket stall. They are marked by a panel that says "Jazz: Swing - Bop - Cool". You'd assume those who browse the jazz bins are interested enough in jazz to know what this means. Yet I've found some ask about stuff that is way, way outside anything that ever is likely to end up in these bins as duplicates or surplus items from my own jazz collection at all. So some time ago I added a second line that says "No Free, no Jazz Rock, no Fusion!". And this DOES bring a smile to the faces of some. Mission accomplished ...