Rabshakeh

I am primarily thinking of used record shops. I am also not suggesting an actual "booth" (which may be what is being referred to above), so much as an area for customers to listen to the vinyl. But most ones to which I go have a turntable set up with headphones for you to listen. As someone mentioned above, it is inevitably a Technics deck, and battered. I would go so far as to say that I consider the idea of having a record player set up for customers to be absolutely unremarkable in 2024. Hence my surprise at the reminiscing above. My parents were shopkeepers who sold womenswear. They always jokily remarked on how important it was to have "good mirrors", by which they meant that the lighting and angling of the mirrors in the changing room was key to whether you actually made the sale, almost more important than the shop decor, staff attentiveness and the clothes themselves. I always saw the record shop turntable in the same light. Shabby as they are, you bet that those headphones and that old Technics turntable are going to make the record you're sizing up sound incredible. They never sound that good on my home system. My kids recently bought me a record for my birthday (a Howling Wolf record that my 6 year old son had seen and liked the look of). My wife not-so-subtly let me know and I directed her to a shop which I knew had it in stock. I said to make sure that the kids listened to it beforehand to make sure that it was good - to add to the pomp and ceremony of them buying their first record in a shop.

Did he play these a lot when you grew up? As in, were you already familiar with this great music as a kid?

Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Blacknuss Spinning this given the recent mention of Black Root Strata.

Isn't this also used for a Joe Henderson record? An early appearance by Sonelius Smith, who was on all those Strata-East records.

Interesting reading, this thread. Are listening booths really rare over in the States? I love a bricks and mortar record shop. Grazing is probably one of my top three or four things to do. Sadly, space and money issues mean that I am not really a "serious buyer" from these people's perspectives.

I was re-visiting electric blues classics a few months ago, and the Beano record really stood out as an inflexion point in the music.

Roscoe Mitchell And The Note Factory – This Dance Is For Steve McCall I haven't listened to this in too long. It really is one of the greatest. I wonder why it has never been issued on vinyl. It is the right length. Like Lee Konitz, there are always Eero K records you haven't heard of.

K Curtis Lyle - The Collected Poem / For Blind Lemon Jefferson Part two of the "When The Cat's Away" series.

Certainly does. Not sure whether the Barbara Windsor ones are true.

Don Rendell – Don Rendell Presents The Jazz Six

The adjoining neighbour was actually a bouncer in Soho in the early modernist jazz era. I am not sure what he would make of Babi, so I am playing it nice and quietly. He is 83 and very nice but could still make mincemeat of me.

Milford Graves - Babi

The wife and kids are away, and that can only mean one thing: Time for Jeanne Lee's Conspiracy

More Hut over here. Joe McPhee – Graphics What an enjoyable record this is. Rare to have a solo horn record that has this sort of gutsy idiomatic feel.

Very sad news. That ESP record was a big one for me.

I find that I tend to react to it based on my mood (last night I was definitely in the mood for it), but I do think it is very strong. It is one of the few places in which I react well to Mehldau, who is otherwise one of my least favourite jazz musicians.

Lee Konitz - Alone Together

Masahiko Satoh - Yun

Blue Freedom's New Art Transformation

MEV – United Patchwork

Winard Harper – Be Yourself

Oh no! A real favourite of mine. Especially those Intakt duos. RIP

Armonicord - Esprit de Sel Turns out my turntable was okay after all. I am the greatest of the technoidiots.

I'm always interested in the question of what musicians listen to. We all know about Charlie Parker's alleged listening tastes. Caruso and all kinds of distinctly non-bebop music. Genesis P Orridge would supposedly only listen to 60s folk music.

Henry Cow and Slapp Happy – In Praise Of Learning