Specific Collecting Habits

[Rabshakeh]

I know that most of us here might be said to be collectors and I am sure friends and family might regard us as going a little beyond that description. 

But I would be interested to know whether you regard yourself as collecting anything specific. 

For me, I prefer to limit multiple records by artists in that I own (I don't like to own records that I don't listen to regularly) but I do collect albums specifically by Roscoe Mitchell and Lee Konitz. I also like to focus on the Black Saint label, not least because I love those rainbow spines. 

[Dan Gould]

My collecting bug has subsided drastically.  I haven't bought a single thing in 2026.

Previously my wants were specific to labels (Argo/Cadet in particular and Blue Note up to a point).

I have consistently moved my listening focus back toward the swing/bop era and focus an awful lot on the Phil Schaap recordings held by Vanderbilt.  That is new music for me and so much of it (but there is only one more tranche of recordings to be digitized with no timeframe established yet).

[HutchFan]

3 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

But I would be interested to know whether you regard yourself as collecting anything specific. 

 

Not really.  The other day, my wife and I were walking to a record store, and she asked me, "What are you looking for?"  My reply was that there wasn't anything in particular, but I'd know when I saw it. 

I keep a running list of "Interesting Music," recordings that I might want to purchase.  But the list is very random, and I don't limit purchases to items on the list.

In the past, when I was working on my 70s and 80s blogs, I was heavily focused on those decades. Now, I don't really focus on any one timeframe.  It could be old stuff or new stuff or in-between stuff.  All eras of jazz are interesting to me.

I'll often focus on a particular artist for a while and dig into his/her discography for a period of time.  Lately, I've been digging into guitarist Attila Zoller's music.  That led to more explorations of Don Friedman's music, since they often recorded together.  So goes the leapfrogging from one artist to another.

Last year, Charles Lloyd was a big focus, after hearing him in concert & being blown away by the experience.

I have most (but not all) of Bobby Hutcherson's recordings (both as a leader and sideman), so I guess I collect his music.  Same could be said for Richie Beirach.  But I wouldn't call myself a completist -- even for them.

I have more Ellington recordings in my collection than any other artist.  Well over a hundred LPs and CDs.  But that's nowhere near complete because EKE's discography is so massive.  New stuff is still being released regularly.  I haven't kept up.

 

 

[Niko]

I have a pretty long mental list of artists I am collecting, more or less seriously, Earl Hines (even though that one is hold due to lack of space), Art Hodes, Pee Wee Russell, Ruby Braff, Bud Freeman, Jack Teagarden, Mary Lou Williams, Frank Strazzeri, Mike Wofford, Lou Levy, Jimmy Rowles, Shelly Manne, Bill Perkins, Don Byas, Lester Young, Tommy Jones, Don Patterson, Neal Creque, Wim Overgaauw, Herbert Noord, Gijs Hendriks... you get the idea... at least for most of these artists and some others I've accumulated quite a bit, they're also easy to collect overhere, my tastes are usually cheap... In terms of labels, I am very fond of Contemporary, Revelation... the Living Legends series on Riverside... Halcyon .... generally, I like nice 1950s and 1960s originals where they're affordable... 

Edited July 17 by Niko

[Pim]

I’ve got a few probably. I don’t have multiple copies of the same record on the same format. I’ve got some stuff on both cd and on vinyl as I was collecting cds first and I wanted some of those on vinyl as well. In buying I have become much more strict for myself. I try to stick to my wantlist in Discogs and seldomly buy something outside of it. This is necessary for both budget and shelf space. I sold a lot of records I bought impulsively. 
 

I like older issues best but buy recent reissues also for budget reasons. I’ve collected all of Mal Waldron or course. I think I own most Coltrane output both as leader as sideman. Also very focused on records by Steve Lacy, Horace Tapscott, Joe Henderson. Very much into more rare 60’s 70’s free stuff as well. Maybe I am not having very specific collecting habits as I am reading this. My goal is to collect all the records I really enjoy very very best. 

[mikeweil]

I have an almost complete Cal Tjader collection - only one LP missing which I probably will get later this year. Not every issue, but every recording, and I would buy anything previously unearthed that is released. 

I have all of Melvin Rhyne and Don Patterson, but I'm through with a completist attitude - I probably won't have the time to listen to everything once again that I already have, and listen more to classical stuff as I am researching for a publication on Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and his contemporaries. I will buy an new recording of his works and others, like Schaffrath, Nichelmann .... my classical listening posts reflect this. 

Besides that my budget is limited.

[felser]

Labels for me - late 40's - early 70's Blue Note.  Strata-East, Nimbus West, Black Jazz.  Also certain artists like McCoy Tyner, Billy Harper, Lloyd McNeill, Chick Corea (except for the Elektric Band stuff).  Beyond that, just a lot of 50's- early 70's jazz, 60's rock/pop/soul.

[Chuck Nessa]

As a resident geezer, I limit my purchases to new issues by favorite artists and historical issues that I hope are "cleaner" than stuff I have.

[BFrank]

1 hour ago, Chuck Nessa said:

As a resident geezer, I limit my purchases to new issues by favorite artists and historical issues that I hope are "cleaner" than stuff I have.

Kind of the same here. I don't really collect anything in particular. I tried the "completist" thing with a few artists back in the 70s - Jimi in particular - but realized I would never have enough room to keep it going.

Chuck's plan works for me these days.

[Dan Gould]

6 hours ago, Chuck Nessa said:

As a resident geezer, I limit my purchases to new issues by favorite artists and historical issues that I hope are "cleaner" than stuff I have.

Are you saying that you always had, say, the Left Bank recordings but bought the recent official releases in hopes of improved sound?

[rostasi]

Every hobby starts with curiosity and ends with storage problems.

[Big Beat Steve]

16 minutes ago, rostasi said:

Every hobby starts with curiosity and ends with storage problems.

How true ...

We have similar saying here: "Any collecting hobby evolves like the ideal gas: Every bit of available space will be filled out completely. " 

[mikeweil]

24 minutes ago, rostasi said:

Every hobby starts with curiosity and ends with storage problems.

So true ....

[mikeweil]

I should add, after labels were mentioned, that I bought every release of a small French label with focus on baroque music, L'Encelade their work is highly interesting.

[felser]

5 hours ago, rostasi said:

Every hobby starts with curiosity and ends with storage problems.

LOL!

[Pim]

22 hours ago, mikeweil said:

I have an almost complete Cal Tjader collection - only one LP missing which I probably will get later this year. 

This makes me wonder Mike: which one is that?

[mikeweil]

1 hour ago, Pim said:

This makes me wonder Mike: which one is that?

The Eiji Kitamura LP on Concord from 1983. Not rare, Tjader plays on three tracks.

https://www.discogs.com/release/1439228-Eiji-Kitamura-Teddy-Wilson-Cal-Tjader-Ernestine-Anderson-Eddie-Duran-Bob-Maize-Jake-Hanna-Seven-Star