There's this little place, iris records, not ten minutes walk from our apartment, that deals in used vinyl. I knew of its existence a while ago, strolled by a couple of times, but it's the sort of joint that keeps irregular hours. Like not opening for a few months in a row, that sort of thing. So I'd never been in.

This week, the owner posted on a neighborhood list that there would be a sale this weekend, so I figured it worth the amble over. Not surprisingly, the overwhelming bulk of merchandise is rock and disco, the latter probably being the prime source of what income they make. Boxes of stuff all over, categorized in the general sort of way that allows the World Saxophone Quartet's "Zürich Concert" to nestle in a box labeled "Soul". I was hoping to find a forlorn crate with a tag that indicated something along the line of contemporary classical, electronic, "weird" or anything other term that might lead me toward possible goodies. No such luck, though the proprietor acknowledged that he should have such and promised he would for the next sale. A paltry "world" selection as well.

But I did manage to rescue a few odds and ends:

Charles Tolliver - The Ringer (1969), released by Arista/Freedom in 1975. The early incarnation of Music Inc., I think, with Cowell, Steve Novosel and Jimmy Hopps. I used to have the Strata East releases from the early 70s, stupidly traded them in (too mainstream, I imagine I thought at the time). This one's on now and sounds real nice. Good to hear Tolliver's "On the Nile" again, a lovely theme.

Betty Carter - Social Call, the Columbia reissue of the 1955 and '56 dates.

Paul Bley - Copenhagen and Haarlem, 1975 Arista/Freedom reiussue of the 1965-66 Freedom dates, with Kent Carter, Mark Levenson and Barry Altschul.

Ravi Shankar/Ali Akbar Khan - The Exotic Sitar and Sarod, Capitol. Not sure of the date, but looks like the late 60s.

Lui Tsun-Yuen - Chinese Classical Masterpieces for the Pipa and Chin, Lyrichord. Looks to be late 50s, early 60s (pre-Zip Code--I love seeing addresses at the bottom of the back of the sleeve like, "141 Perry Street, New York 14, N.Y."!)