Wednesday, February 25, 2009

An honorary degree

The LondonJazz blog draws attention to the fact that I am going to get an honorary degree from the Royal Academy of Music. I shall sheepishly accept the Hon A-RAM. When I initially heard about it, I had hoped that it was for the Vortex itself. I find it a cool concept to make an inanimate club seem animate.
Meanwhile. I discover that there are only 300 independent record shops left in the UK. Add to that HMV etc. that probably means not more than 500 in a country of 60 million! That's why digital becomes so important. Meanwhile, when I put CDs on the counter at the Vortex, everyone goes in to have a look. Force of habit? Frustration that there is nowhere else to look nowadays? Who knows? But the breadth of interest is shown by a person who buys Lenny White and Ellery Eskelin CDs at the same time.

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