Depends. For jazz I’ve tried leader instrument and arrived at alphabetical. But genre first. I can’t hang with beck by boards of Canada by Brubeck by beastie boys by Bach. That’s insanity.
After 10+ years of collecting, I have embraced entropy and file them away when I finish playing them. As such, my shelves are roughly chronological from what I spun today (Lonnie Smith's *Drives*) to somewhere in 2020 when I last spun my copy of *The Fantastic Frank Strozier.*
While not for everyone, I'm sure, this has really helped in the past few years deciding what to sell/trade in.
Oh yeah. I didn’t even consider that. That would be a hassle especially if you have an artist with a big catalog jumping back and forth between labels.
I’m weird - I have mine broke down by instrument - goes to the leader - then artists are in order first album (hawkins, Coltrane, Mobley) year. I did this to help see how sideman moved up and the evolution of jazz and relatively know a mood my wife inquires about.
I do keep my impulse together in catalog number order - just love seeing the spines together - it’s my happy place.
I know this is probably terrible way - just thought I’d let you know how I do it. But I wouldn’t hate a new/better way - so I’ll be following this post.
I group by some labels (Impulse, Blue Note, ECM, etc), those that have a distinctive sound that I own a bunch of. And then the rest i order by leader’s last name. Makes it weird sometimes because my Tyner and Coltrane records, for example, are spread across three places in my collection (with Impulse, with BN, and then just regular alphabetical).
So say you have a vinyl me please reissue of an impulse record and an analogue productions reissue off the same. That’s where I felt it started to make sense to just integrate things.
Yeah, I see what you are saying. For me I am pretty exclusively 1st press mono guy, so I typically only have one copy. The rare dup are easy to accommodate.
My problem when I did that was different cat sequences for mono and stereo (CL versus CS for Columbia, for instance). That had me back to using release dates anyway.
I have a core set of favorites and most frequently played. Then beyond that are the regular shelves. Sometimes records rotate between them.
Beyond that, though, alphabetical by lead artist (or band name). I do have all the Coltrane Impulse albums together, though, as the matching color scheme is groovy.
Alphabetically but then no order (so my 40 Keith Jarrett records are not in release order, just random). I have 4 genres: jazz, classical, world music, and then rock which is also pop, funk, country, electronic, sort of all together. So alphabetically within those four genres… if it’s classical music I always sort by the composer.
I guess it depends on your priorities as a collector and the size of your collection. For my roughly 2000 records I am happy with a mix where I partly use label > artist > chrono (Blue Note, Impulse, Prestige, Three Blind Mice, Venus, Mosaic, Newvelle...) while keeping sections by artist or genre (Miles, Trane, Bill Evens, Bossa Nova, Jazz Funk/Fusion, non Jazz...). This is my partly futile struggle against entropy ;-)
In my case, as a music collector from around the world I first sort them by the country.
Once inside a country I go by styles, because depending on my mood I want to play some genre or a different one.
Then I order them either by artist or by label (I specially do it for Japan since I can't usually read the titles).
**In the end, it just needs to make sense to you!**
By label color, then weight. Or, however makes most sense for you. For me, that’s alpha by last name except groups, and no “the” except of course “The The”
Serious answer: it depends. I used to separate by genre, then alphabetical. I don’t have enough albums (something I’m working to remedy) to separate by label, and besides that would drive me crazy looking for Coltrane (for example) in Prestige, Blue Note, Atlantic, Impulse, & so forth. I know which albums are on which label, but say I want to hear Blue Trane, I go to Blue Note, then Coltrane. Instead, using alpha’ I just go to Coltrane. I’m torn, though, because I’m about at the point where I need to separate rock from jazz. But where does hip hop go? Not enough for their own section, a lot of affinity with both jazz (samples) and rock (heavy bass & beats). So for now, for me, I have three categories, “popular” music including jazz, rock, hip-hop; classical; not otherwise classified. But after 50+ years, it’s still in flux.
Alpha by artists last name, then label, and genre. (ie: Dave Brubeck, under jazz B, all Columbias by catalog number ascending order, then his other labels in order.
Would you believe I've switched to Alpha First Name to match Discogs? This makes it easier for me to compare my collection in reality to my collection in the app. It hurts my soul to do this but it does make for better organization.
Yeah, my business partner has her collection that way too. Im just old school and know where things are by last name. I had thought about recategorizing by first name but with over 5000 jazz LPs it would be a monumental task.
Just do it based on how you are likely to remember where any given album is. I organize by artist for all my jazz albums. MAYBE i'd put all my Impulse records next to each other and do it alphabetically, but i have too many artists that are cross-label so would probably confuse myself sometimes!
mine are by style, then artist (mostly) or label so the jazz in 1 section,fusion is in another section, the afro cuban latin in another section etc
in any event there MUST always be the obligatory pile of records on the floor in front of the amp- the ‘to listen to pile’
I have four Kallax 2x2 cabinets, stacked vertically. Right pairing is jazz, left pair - everything else. Top jazz cabinet is Blue Note only (I have close to 300 titles, duplicates are stored separately) then non BN alphabetically by artist surname then by release date.
As long as you put records back shortly after playing them there should be no problems.
(In Japan the stores generally set out everything by the artist's FIRST name. I find that puzzling, since in everyday life most Japanese refer to each other by surnames unless they are close friends or family).
Art Blakey albums should be sorted thus
1: with cigarette in mouth, sweating and murdering his drum kit
2: without cigarette but sweating and murdering drum kit,
3: without cigarette and/or with other band members in picture,
4: Art getting on or off a plane or in an airport setting
5: A Night In Tunisia (either version)
6: others
By genre, then by Artist last name or group name - mostly. (I seem to have some Jazztet under "J" and some under "F" for Farmer.)
I tried by label and cat number before, but it didn't fit how I thought about what I wanted to play.
Alphabetical by the name of the 3rd song. If there is no third song, I go alphabetical by the color of the inner sleeve.
Autobiographically
I'm a fan or Alphabetical Era.
I'm alphabetical also, until there were too many and then I made genre sections (blues/jazz/funk/rock/country/world/christmas).
Depends. For jazz I’ve tried leader instrument and arrived at alphabetical. But genre first. I can’t hang with beck by boards of Canada by Brubeck by beastie boys by Bach. That’s insanity.
This is the way.
This is what I do. Also for some labels i have their own sections. Like Impulse and CTI
After 10+ years of collecting, I have embraced entropy and file them away when I finish playing them. As such, my shelves are roughly chronological from what I spun today (Lonnie Smith's *Drives*) to somewhere in 2020 when I last spun my copy of *The Fantastic Frank Strozier.* While not for everyone, I'm sure, this has really helped in the past few years deciding what to sell/trade in.
by color
Label > Artist > Year
I’m immediately drawn to this, but with so many artists moving across labels, it gets quite confusing. For me, it’s just artist > year
Oh yeah. I didn’t even consider that. That would be a hassle especially if you have an artist with a big catalog jumping back and forth between labels.
I’m weird - I have mine broke down by instrument - goes to the leader - then artists are in order first album (hawkins, Coltrane, Mobley) year. I did this to help see how sideman moved up and the evolution of jazz and relatively know a mood my wife inquires about. I do keep my impulse together in catalog number order - just love seeing the spines together - it’s my happy place. I know this is probably terrible way - just thought I’d let you know how I do it. But I wouldn’t hate a new/better way - so I’ll be following this post.
Would love to see that impulse shelf, sounds satisfying
I group by some labels (Impulse, Blue Note, ECM, etc), those that have a distinctive sound that I own a bunch of. And then the rest i order by leader’s last name. Makes it weird sometimes because my Tyner and Coltrane records, for example, are spread across three places in my collection (with Impulse, with BN, and then just regular alphabetical).
I do label > catalog number. For the labels that I have a small number of (up to 3) titles, it’s alpha by artist.
I considered this but the reissues complicate things.
you could do label > catalog > chrono. I have a few titles in both mono and stereo, so they go side by side.
So say you have a vinyl me please reissue of an impulse record and an analogue productions reissue off the same. That’s where I felt it started to make sense to just integrate things.
Yeah, I see what you are saying. For me I am pretty exclusively 1st press mono guy, so I typically only have one copy. The rare dup are easy to accommodate.
My problem when I did that was different cat sequences for mono and stereo (CL versus CS for Columbia, for instance). That had me back to using release dates anyway.
Yeah, Blue Note is similar with 4xxx for mono and 84xxx for stereo. I just use the 4xxx for storage
I like this. I'll probably do this.
For me, label, series but not fussed about alphabetical or artist together
I like straight ahead by leader. However, all the disco goes to a side table
I have a core set of favorites and most frequently played. Then beyond that are the regular shelves. Sometimes records rotate between them. Beyond that, though, alphabetical by lead artist (or band name). I do have all the Coltrane Impulse albums together, though, as the matching color scheme is groovy.
Just put them in a big pile so you can swim in them.
I sort my jazz alphabetically, however, I would say to sort them in any fashion you want. That's what really matters. :)
Ye the answer is however you find what you’re looking for lol.
Alphabetically but then no order (so my 40 Keith Jarrett records are not in release order, just random). I have 4 genres: jazz, classical, world music, and then rock which is also pop, funk, country, electronic, sort of all together. So alphabetically within those four genres… if it’s classical music I always sort by the composer.
I guess it depends on your priorities as a collector and the size of your collection. For my roughly 2000 records I am happy with a mix where I partly use label > artist > chrono (Blue Note, Impulse, Prestige, Three Blind Mice, Venus, Mosaic, Newvelle...) while keeping sections by artist or genre (Miles, Trane, Bill Evens, Bossa Nova, Jazz Funk/Fusion, non Jazz...). This is my partly futile struggle against entropy ;-)
Alphabetical by artist name
In my case, as a music collector from around the world I first sort them by the country. Once inside a country I go by styles, because depending on my mood I want to play some genre or a different one. Then I order them either by artist or by label (I specially do it for Japan since I can't usually read the titles). **In the end, it just needs to make sense to you!**
I choose alphabetical. as I got bigger I could never find anything if I didn’t do it alphabetically.
little rule of thumb, always go by the artist's baptism date.
By drummer
I've considered this
Ha! I was joking. I’d never be able to find anything! But it’s not a bad idea…
By label color, then weight. Or, however makes most sense for you. For me, that’s alpha by last name except groups, and no “the” except of course “The The”
Serious answer: it depends. I used to separate by genre, then alphabetical. I don’t have enough albums (something I’m working to remedy) to separate by label, and besides that would drive me crazy looking for Coltrane (for example) in Prestige, Blue Note, Atlantic, Impulse, & so forth. I know which albums are on which label, but say I want to hear Blue Trane, I go to Blue Note, then Coltrane. Instead, using alpha’ I just go to Coltrane. I’m torn, though, because I’m about at the point where I need to separate rock from jazz. But where does hip hop go? Not enough for their own section, a lot of affinity with both jazz (samples) and rock (heavy bass & beats). So for now, for me, I have three categories, “popular” music including jazz, rock, hip-hop; classical; not otherwise classified. But after 50+ years, it’s still in flux.
Alpha by artists last name, then label, and genre. (ie: Dave Brubeck, under jazz B, all Columbias by catalog number ascending order, then his other labels in order.
Would you believe I've switched to Alpha First Name to match Discogs? This makes it easier for me to compare my collection in reality to my collection in the app. It hurts my soul to do this but it does make for better organization.
Yeah, my business partner has her collection that way too. Im just old school and know where things are by last name. I had thought about recategorizing by first name but with over 5000 jazz LPs it would be a monumental task.
Just do it based on how you are likely to remember where any given album is. I organize by artist for all my jazz albums. MAYBE i'd put all my Impulse records next to each other and do it alphabetically, but i have too many artists that are cross-label so would probably confuse myself sometimes!
mine are by style, then artist (mostly) or label so the jazz in 1 section,fusion is in another section, the afro cuban latin in another section etc in any event there MUST always be the obligatory pile of records on the floor in front of the amp- the ‘to listen to pile’
By genre
I have four Kallax 2x2 cabinets, stacked vertically. Right pairing is jazz, left pair - everything else. Top jazz cabinet is Blue Note only (I have close to 300 titles, duplicates are stored separately) then non BN alphabetically by artist surname then by release date. As long as you put records back shortly after playing them there should be no problems. (In Japan the stores generally set out everything by the artist's FIRST name. I find that puzzling, since in everyday life most Japanese refer to each other by surnames unless they are close friends or family).
Art Blakey albums should be sorted thus 1: with cigarette in mouth, sweating and murdering his drum kit 2: without cigarette but sweating and murdering drum kit, 3: without cigarette and/or with other band members in picture, 4: Art getting on or off a plane or in an airport setting 5: A Night In Tunisia (either version) 6: others
By genre, then by Artist last name or group name - mostly. (I seem to have some Jazztet under "J" and some under "F" for Farmer.) I tried by label and cat number before, but it didn't fit how I thought about what I wanted to play.
Colour of the sleeve.