After years of collecting all types of music except jazz and big band I'm now playing catchup. Looking at the recordings of Ruby Braff (trumpet), Dick Hyman (piano) Roland Hanna (piano). Art Tatum (piano), Claude Bolling even the great vocalist Sarah Vaughan I find the majority of their catalog is only available used on vinyl. There are many other names I could have included in this list - I'm gradually getting to them (Thelonious Sphere Monk, etc ).
Beyond the lack of availability what alarms me as a new collector of this genre is that there doesn't appear to be musicians to take the place of these giants. Not to say there are no more Big Bands or jazz pianists BUT how many new artists have the hundreds of recordings these musicians created?
Is jazz disappearing? Will streaming services eventually include recordings only available on LP?
Feel free to offer any suggestions for other artists to collect in the traditional jazz / big band category. I also have collected Miles, Coltrane and Bill Evans though just starting to dive into Ellington.
Hoping to find this music soon.
Thanks for your thoughts.
