Editor’s Note | April 2023

Over the last few weeks Eilon, Dust & Grooves’ commander-in-chief, has found himself in the fifth largest nation of the world; Brazil! 

Olá e bom dia!

The Federative Republic of Brazil is one of the countries on this crooked sphere that has always been a place I’ve wanted to experience…maybe one day. In the meantime, we can all participate in Eilon’s trip with a few pages from his journal and a glimpse through his lens.

Additionally to the photographs, Eilon has been perfecting a new short format for our Instagram reels, please click on over there when you get a moment between the furious flipping of record bins!

I hope he got to try some real Brazilian pastels as well? 

As previously reported, some words are being penned out for Volume 2 of Dust & Grooves. Be on the lookout for Jessica Lipsky’s round table discussion focusing on the art and business of the reissue.  

Mr. OK Jazz aka James Catchpole is carefully putting together his piece on the fascinating world of Kissas in Japan. Can’t we all live inside these spaces where life seems timeless?

Another goodie that’s being prepped on the cutting board is the sshhhhhhh about tax scam records! Do you know a collector or know someone that might “know a guy”? Slide us an anonymous note under the door, or maybe a clear smoke signal that no one else can see.

Lastly, our West Coast trip is being patched together. We’re hoping to see some old faces, meeting new ones, and gettin’ dusty with it .. sorry I had to, yeah yeah I know. 

DJ, hoarder of cool stuff, and fixer of record players, radios & clocks Paola Puente aka Double Peas will be giving us a tour within her time machine! A visit with the empowered self-identifying Chulita Vinyl Club! They’re already 7 chapters deep across the country! Melissa Dueñas aka Sonrisita, founder of Lowrider Sundays will be sharing her collection of disco and soul, and her love for the preservation of music history. Also on our list is DJ Platurn, Thes One of People Under the Stairs and many others. We’ll keep it vague for now 😉 

There’s more on the list but we’ll just share one more… legendary Danny Holloway is a name we’ve wanted to cover for quite some time, and now that time is here! Record producer, musicologist, songwriter, soundtrack executive, member of Dublab and of course, lover of vinyl!

We would love to drop in on J-Rocc, Adrian Younge, DJ Harvey, DJ Lovefingers and Heidi…anyone else have some suggestions? Send in your tip sheets on any suggestions! (Use our new submission form here.)

 

We say our goodbyes to fellow music friends;  Ramani Ammal, Rena Koumioti, Seymour Stein, DJ Red Robinson, Ray Shulman, Sweet Charles Sherrell, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Peggy Scott-Adams, Ray Pillow, Oleksandr Kozarenko, Fuzzy Haskins, Fito Olivares, Robin Lumley, Mighty Ha, Sharifa Fadel, Spot, and Wayne Shorter. 

See you all round n round next time, now I pass the pen to Eilon – the floor is yours sir!

 -Noah Zark 

 

Hello everyone, 

Glad to be back in New York but my heart and mind are full from this trip. March was all about Brazil. The music, the people, road trips, records, dust, grooves, breaking my teeth with Portuguese (and managing some of it as well), meeting old friends and making new ones. 

Brazil has been on my list long before I published Volume 1, for dozens of reasons, I never made it there. Finally making up for it with this month-long trip. An intense visit to this beautiful country unfolded right before my camera. Back to back photo shoots, interviews, road trips, digging hard for records with two amazing friends, exploring Rio and its old school Black Rio DJ crews, and somehow I was also able to maintain my running schedule while expanding my own record collection. 

 

São Paulo. Chapter 1

I landed in São Paulo on March 3rd, wearing a short sleeve t-shirt as a personal statement that winter is over, or maybe just left behind in Brooklyn.

Moments after arriving I jumped into two photo shoots, first with recording artist Eduardo Brechó, who is also about to open his own record shop which I can only imagine will be another destination for music fiends. Shortly afterwards, a visit to DJ Nyack was in order, who shared his fondness and mastery of playing records at the wrong speed.

Over 12 years ago I first connected with Rodrigo da Silva, known to the heavy vinyl world as DJ Nuts, and it’s taken until this trip for us to link together for a proper shoot. Several intense hours later, and knowing that no matter how much time I stay, I’ll only scratch the surface of his crazy collection. 

After this nuttery I headed out of the city to meet Grazi Flores, a young DJ, humble collector, Dublab affiliate and great soul overall.

By evening, it was cold drinks and heated appetizing empanadas that had been anticipated all day. Joining me in the delights was Edu and Victor. I first met Edu a year ago when he was working at Human Head Records in Brooklyn. We would speak about Brazil and the possibilities of a digging road trip from São Paulo to Rio. 

That night we were actually finalizing the trip’s itinerary, which would start the next morning.

 

Sāo Paulo to Rio Road Trip! 

Describing the feeling I got from embarking on an unknown adventure is not easy for me, but the best word to illustrate might be… youth. I haven’t felt the freedom and this unfamiliarity since my for quite a while, and I was there once again. Sharing this adventure with Edu and Victor, who were the perfect travel companions filling the trip with food, drinks, laughter and plenty of music made it absolutely memorable. Thank you guys!

We visited 7 different towns, bustling between Sebos (local old book and music stores), record shops and private record dealers. Some of these were planned, and others spontaneous interactions. I made sure to document the entire trip both for our book and our social accounts. Get a preview of it on our IG Stories Highlights

Rio.

Once in Rio, I took the opportunity to wind down a bit, relax and enjoy what this monumental city has to offer, 3 days later, back to work. Another meet up with Eduardo Brechó, for one of the book’s extensive features; a focus on the Black Rio movement and old school DJ crews (Equipes). This story is spearheaded by music journalist and historian Allen Thayer. We were able to visit some of the original DJs who introduced American funk & soul music to artists like Tim Maia and Jorge Ben, who in turn changed the course of the Brazilian sound in the 1970’s.

I also had the great pleasure of stopping over with Gustavo Aquino, a collector and historian who specializes in Afro-Brazilian roots and rhythms, digging all over Bahia and northern Brazil. 

Winding this portion down, I joined Palo Santo Discos and Coco Maria on their quest for Brazilian beats, visiting some private collections and stumbling upon street vendors in downtown Rio.

One of the tourist attractions I did spend some time at was Ipanema Beach. I have to say that the amount of merchants that will sell you almost anything you can think of is extraordinarily concentrated.

I finished this chapter of travels with Kassin Kamal, song-writer, multi-instrumentalist and one of the main producers in contemporary Brazilian music and a great collector. 

 

Back in Sāo Paulo. 

Took the night bus straight in to photograph what is most likely the largest record collection on this planet. Mr. Zero Freitas, who was made famous several years ago due to his feature in The New York Times for buying whole collections via adverts in Billboard. 7 million and counting is not too bad!

Finally catching up with Fred Thiphagne, founder and owner of the great label Goma Gringa. We’ve known each other since the early days of Dust & Grooves, however this was the first time we actually met in person. 

I kept going full throttle ahead with back to back shoots. DJ Paulão, Mary G, Julia Weck, Rafa Jazz, and Edson Carvalho all shared their favorite Brazilian records and knowledge with me. Soon, we’ll be sharing this wealth of knowledge with all of you.

My remaining days were dedicated to catching up with Edu and Victor, a filmed DJ set of our records from the road trip, digging at Toninho (Thank you Julia for the hookup), and maybe a few more empanadas and cold beers.

Brazil brought Dust & Grooves a lot of book worthy material, and most importantly it created new strong friendships and gave me a boost in confidence and motivation. On we go! 

 

-Eilon