When ever I enter a record shop the first thing I do, is to look if they might have any 10 inch LPs on the french labels Vogue and Swing. I simply love their charming design, especially if the covers were drawn by french artist Pierre Merlin. As a rule, the more “traditional” the music is on a given Vogue or Swing 10 inch LP (i.e. Sidney Bechet – obviously a good seller – or Willie “The Lion” Smith), the cheaper it will be. The more “modern”, the more you have to pay (like for Clifford Brown or James Moody). A good overlook of Vogue record’s repertoire can be found here: http://jazzcollector.com/jazz-vinyl/a-comprehensive-guide-to-french-vogue/. And a nice collection of Pierre Merlin covers can be found here: https://picasaweb.google.com/pmeziatster/PochettesPierreMerlin.
Now two weeks ago on my monthly trip to the local record stores I happened to find this beauty – which was really just a little too expensive for my budget.
Nonetheless I decided to pull the record from it’s sleeve to check its condition when I saw this seal on the label of Side 1 – my decision was made:
