Portrait of Jimmy taken at The Diskery, Bromsgrove Street, Birmingham, March 2015.
I’ve known Jimmy for over 40 years, first as a punter buying records from the Diskery, then as a sales representative and later regional manager for various record companies from the late ’70s until 2000. I’ve always seen him in the context of the shop. This seemed the natural environment for his portrait.
The Diskery is a genuine institution in the musical life of Birmingham. Its founder, Morris Hunting, opened his first shop in Moor Street in 1952. Morris’s love of jazz drove him to open the shop initially for two days a week. Demand turned the venture into a full time job. The shop has moved premises three times since opening. From Moor Street to Hurst Street opposite the Hippodrome and finally in 1972 to its current location in Bromsgrove Street. Over the years it has seen trends come and go and in recent times the resurgence in interest in vinyl among a younger audience has provided a boost.
The Diskery is located at 99/102 Bromsgrove Street Birmingham B5 6QB (Tel: 0121 622 2219).
Take Five
Jimmy recommends the following 5-a-day:
The Ellingtonians (Mercury Label)
John Coltrane Coltrane Plays the Blues (Atlantic)
Gary McFarland Profiles (Impulse!)
Chico Hamilton The Dealer (Impulse!)
Maxine Sullivan The Queen (Kenneth)
All on vinyl.
thejazzbreakfast 
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