Detroit collector Brian Knowles wants to start jazz museum

[Kalo]

This guy should be posting on this board. Take a gander at his collection here.

[JSngry]

God, if him & Bill Fenohr were neighbors...

[Ken Dryden]

I am pretty sure that I ran into Brian while shopping at Euclid Records in St. Louis around 2004. He spent more than I did (and I spent hundreds of dollars, as I drove all the way from Chattanooga to attend the Record Collector's convention). His wife was looking pretty bored so I suggested that she head back to the conference motel and I offered to give him a ride back. I wasn't prepared for what happened: I shipped my purchases back home to save the sales tax, yet Brian didn't go that route. Because my Miata convertible had a tiny trunk, he had to hold this huge box of LPs in his lap, not an easy trick as he was around my height (6' 3") or perhaps a bit taller, I think we had to take down the top.

I hope that I have the right guy, as I remember the man I encountered also worked for the post office and lived up north somewhere around Michigan...

Edited July 10, 2007 by Ken Dryden

[John Tapscott]

Wow! Full props to Brian. He sounds like our kinda guy. But I'll bet we have several members here with even larger collections (of course they probably have a few years on Brian). I read somewhere that drummer Kenny Washington has a similar sized or even larger collection.

[sidewinder]

His wife was looking pretty bored

[Ken Dryden]

Yeah, most of us who have to shop with their wives on occasion spend far too much time in stores with nothing of interest to us, but stop for 10 minutes in a record store with a great jazz section and the ladies get impatient!

[AllenLowe]

I hope he can find someone to take the collection and take proper care of it - I've been looking around myself to possibly donate (though I don't have nearly that much stuff) - and I am finding that institutions don't like LPs anymore, as the pesky things take up too much space -

[Stefan Wood]

I don't know if donating is the way to go. I still think about Felix Grant's huge jazz collection that is rotting away in the basement of the Martin Luther King Jr library here in DC. I bet most of it is stolen.

[andybleaden]

Aye it sounds like a shame. Always think if anything happens to me that the collection I have can either be sold ...to help the family and if not saleable- given away to others who like the same stuff

[AllenLowe]

that's what I'm thinking - access is important -

[Noj]

Someone digitize the whole shebang and make it a continuous internet radio show. Who's got some free time?

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Wow! Full props to Brian. He sounds like our kinda guy. But I'll bet we have several members here with even larger collections (of course they probably have a few years on Brian). I read somewhere that drummer Kenny Washington has a similar sized or even larger collection.

I believe Houston Person has a very big collection, too.

I couldn't get the link about this guy's collection, even after going down to make a cup of tea - is it duff or does it take a week to download?

MG

[paul secor]

If it were 25-30 years ago, he could take his collection to Japan and open up a jazz coffee shop/bar.

[bertrand]

Just to clarify:

Most of Felix Grant's collection (donated by Felix himself) was used to start the Felix Grant Jazz Archives at UDC, which are housed in a beautiful new temperature-controlled facility.

http://www.lrdudc.wrlc.org/index.html

A few years ago, some items that were clearly pilfered from the Martin Luther King Library showed up at a used bookstore in the DC area. A considerable effort was made to return these items to the MLK Library. They showed no appreciation for the effort made by the bookstore's employees. Most of these LPs were added to the backlog of uncatalogued material that is stored in the basement (possibly rotting away).

Some of these LPs has Felix's name written on them. IIRC, we ascertained at the time that these were duplicates that Felix donated to MLK, or maybe some titles that he donated to MLK before he decided to donate the bulk of his collection to UDC.

So, to reiterate: although some titles from the Felix Grant collection were donated to MLK and are being shamefully ignored by this Library (some were even stolen, and not all of them returned) most of them are safely stored in the Archives at UDC. I have nothing but the highest praise for the Archives Curator Judith Korey and archivist Rachel Elwell. It is a beautiful facility maintained with great care and respect.

Bertrand.

[Jim Alfredson]

Somebody should email him (via the link in that article) and invite him to the Big O!

[Rooster_Ties]

Somebody should email him (via the link in that article) and invite him to the Big O!

Word!

[porcy62]

I have a collection, not as big and exaustive like the guy, but I still do care of it. Abour leaving at some institution the probability that all will finished rotten in some obscure basement is really high. Watching at tv a documentary about old Egypt, I decided I will do like a Pharoah, I'll be buried with my stereo, my records, my motorbike, some bottles of good wine and one habana cigars box. One never knows what you'll need in the other life.