Where a good place to buy gypsy jazz albums in NYC?

October 27, 2005 2:06 PM

Where can Adrian buy contemporary gypsy Jazz CDs in New York City? He's looking for CDs by Biréli Lagrène, Angelo Debarre and other modern guitar players who play in the style of Django Reinhardt.

(Adrian signed up for a MeFi specifically to ask this question, but will have already left NYC by the time his non-posting first week expires, which is why I'm asking on his behalf).

posted by jacobian to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

But you've been a member for barely a month, and this is the first time you've posted. I dislike treating newcomers with suspicion, and I apologize if you're on the level -- but I hope you can understand, this post sure looks like a thinly-veiled self-link.

You could have avoided this impression by simply posting the question without explaining whether it was for you or on behalf of someone else. What difference does it make, really? Why mention it, unless to shill the link?

Anyway. The best spots for jazz in Manhattan are the Virgin MegaStore in Times Square, the Tower Records in the Village, and the Downtown Music Gallery.
posted by cribcage at 3:09 PM on October 27, 2005

I haven't gotten around to DR yet, but today I've been listening to a Seattle band called "Hot Club Sandwich". I saw them play last weekend. They have released a couple of CDs of "gypsy swing" and have a website which you can find as easily as I could.
posted by neuron at 7:30 PM on October 27, 2005

Mod note: removed the link in question, carry on
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:39 PM on October 27, 2005

For this type of music a lot of the best artists are based in France, and a lot of their best CD releases never get distributed in the US. The reason for that is that European, and especially French CDs are about $2.00 more expensive wholesale, and the big CD outlets and on-line ordering services in the US want to keep domestic prices low, so they simply never get around to releasing in the US.

Check out the site of the French music monster FNAC, and order from there. The site is militantly in French, but you can get what you want. The journal Etudes Tsiganes maintains good reviews of Manouche jazz, as well as daily updates of who is playing where (in France, of course) which can give you an idea of who is doing what. (In French, bien sur...)
posted by zaelic at 3:13 AM on October 28, 2005

Response by poster: I apologize if the link was out of line; I can assure you the question is honest. jessamyn: thanks for etiquette-izing my question, and thanks to others for the answers.
posted by jacobian at 6:29 AM on October 28, 2005