Bit of a splurge!

I've heard lots of jazz fans of a certain age (i.e. older than me) talk about the heady days of Ray's Jazz Shop, when Ray still owned it. I only found out about and visited the old Ray's, in its Shaftesbury Avenue location, a couple of times before it was bought out by Foyles bookshop. I vaguely remember punters hunched over racks packed with vinyl, but it doesn't hold a nostalgic place in my heart, because I never really spent much time there.

Since its relocation to Charing Cross Road, new Rays  does seem to have been relocated, remodeled and reduced - in fact it seems to get a little smaller each time I go there - and now primarily stocks CDs. Not being a vinyl devotee like Jazzy G (I don't have the space or spousal agreement to store it) that last bit doesn't stress me too much, and the shop's still worth a browse. There's a wide selection of new releases and older stuff, plus a fair-sized chunk of second hand CDs, many of which seem to be very recent promo copies. 

Whenever I'm 'up west' with a bit of time on my hands I head in there and have a rummage in the second-hand section. Sometimes it doesn't turn up much, but yesterday's trawl uncovered some rich pickings:







Some recent and recent-ish releases here, plus some older stuff - just things that caught my fancy. 


I can't believe I hadn't already got the Alice Coltrane or EST in my collection! 


I got a bit carried away and splashed out on the new Sons of Kemet release while I was there.