sidewinder

Mr Tolliver is definitely in a roll and getting a higher profile which is very good to see. First time I saw him was with Louis Hayes’ Quintet back in 1990 - a very low key, in the shadows but fine performance which, knowing his back history, I thought was a shame at the time. He must have just been on the return into live gigging from the academic stuff, I guess. Bruce Edwards - now there’s a blast from the past and I think I might have seen him with the Arkestra around that time.

Big box edition - sounding very good.

Based on all this mail order faff - an in person visit to HJ is probably in order. Coronavirus permitting..

Thanks for that ! Shame these aren’t on CD - would prefer that if the audio quality is compromised.

I notice HJ’s have got it in stock, along with the ‘Duo Exchange’. Do you recommend them?

CD8 - ‘Thinking of Home’

Excellent news - rest easy.

Wishing her well from here too.

That monster Shibuya store was the one I visited - thanks to Kinuta. At the time this store had the full range of SHM Blue Notes on display but didn’t capitulate.

My sympathies.

I’m a fount of useless remembered facts. Maybe Carlo Krahmer did a deal with Ross Russell for the Dial metal parts, the same way he did with Prestige later on?

Bill - the same afternoon guys with the briefcases at Tower were also inmates at Mole I think. You still see them in Ray’s. Only caught the tail end of the 90s Tower Piccadilly, although I did make the odd visit from overseas earlier on. Quite often it was during late night transits through the West End after attending a gig or having a beer or three !

I think I saw Ahmad Jamal scanning the racks at one of the LA stores (not sure if it was Tower - it was on Sunset I think). He was in town playing a gig that weekend. Either that or it was his double.

‘Whirlwind Records @ 10’ sampler CD. Good stuff.

Did Tower take over the old Sam’s location in Toronto on Yonge Street?

The vertigo floor was one level up and unfortunately you had to traverse it to get to the jazz. Irrational I know but I never liked it ! I checked out the Tower in Tokyo on my visit there - not up to Disk Union standard but not bad. It occupies several floors in a prominent high rise, I recall.

Alas, the big HMV closed around 2012. Made myriad visits and purchases there. The last few things I bought there were a couple of the Mosaic Selects that had been ‘purged’ due to the Friday Night SNAFU.

I also bought a couple of Japanese Blue Notes from the Tower Store in Tel Aviv. that store was, I believe, subsequently bombed.

I used to regularly shop at the Tower in Piccadilly Circus, London, the one with the elevator up from the Underground. Best place for Japanese imports in the UK from 1990s onwards. In the US I also visited the Tower on Sunset Strip, LA and used to like the way that you could easily park there and at its peak, the jazz selection was colossal. Also used the Santa Monica, La Jolla and San Diego stores. In NYC visited the Tower on Broadway up around 77th St I think, used to shop there every time on NYC visits. I think that store was previously Sam Goody. J&R at the bottom end of town was also a regular port of call. The Santa Monica branch was good. Remember visiting once when Tom Scott and his band were playing there and signing CDs. Good times.

German ECM. Good one to crank up !

French CBS 3LP production by Henri Renaud

It did indeed ! And then you had to walk across those transparent floor tiles and get vertigo to get to the jazz..

80th Anniversary 2LP set. Verdict