Kobey's Audiophile Has a Thing for Vinyl

by Elizabeth Anderson 

MMSince he began collecting them over seventeen years ago, Kobey's shopper Ash Odedra has compiled almost 11,000 vinyl LP albums and 45's. He doesn't collect records for their monetary value as much as to acquire the music he loves, primarily Soul, R & B and Jazz from the 60's onward. According to Ash, much of Soul, R & B and Jazz music over the years has experienced limited production and so isn't well known, making it rare and a challenge to find. Between career and family life Ash rushes out to Kobey's about twice a month hoping to uncover yet another elusive auditory sensation hidden among someone's box of discarded, dusty albums.

MM Besides being a full-time hi-fi buff, Ash is an engineer for a San Diego company. Born in Kenya in East Africa to parents who had emigrated there from India, he moved to England when he was 13. He explains it was there he first developed his love for R & B and Jazz music even though it was obscure at the time, mostly because it was happening in the U.S. Later during his career as an engineer, he received a chance to work in America and moved to San Diego in 1988. The move was even better because the music he loves is more available in the U.S.

MM But why do music fans like Ash Odedra search for vinyl record albums when CD's are supposed to have a cleaner, superior sound? He says vinyl is one of the best kept secrets among audiophiles like himself.

MM "Vinyl records sound better than CD's," Ash states matter-of-factly. "It has nothing to do with the style of the music. It's the way a CD is recorded. I have albums from the 50's and 60's which used very basic recording techniques but sound hauntingly realistic. Some of my recordings sound so magical, it's almost like the musical concert is in my room. It's very hard to get that from the modern recording techniques used to make a CD. The people who know this are hunting like crazy for vinyl recordings."

MM Ash says CD's are restricted in another way as well. He explains many original recordings released on small labels with limited production or those lacking popularity at the time may never make it into a compact disc at all. The only way these "blasts from the past" are accessible today is through the original vinyl. These albums are especially sought after by collectors today.

MM Ash says he's found many of the crown jewels of his collection at Kobey's Swap Meet. "At Kobey's I've successfully found music from Blue Note, a Jazz label, and a lot from the Prestige label. Artists like Hank Mobley, Jack McDuff, Miles Davis, Melvin Sparks and the jazz funk artists, including rare stuff from James Brown. The last time I went to Kobey's I picked up some Blues records from the 60's. They were just $2 a piece and I bought ten."

MM Recently, Ash found an album featuring Anita Baker when she was just starting her career with a band called Chapter 8. The album was relatively obscure, but since she has become widely recognized as an artist, her fans have rediscovered it. Ash paid just 25¢ for the album he found at a Kobey's garage sale, but it's worth at least $100 to collectors now. He says musically the album is very good.

MM "If it looks interesting to me, I'll buy it," he explains. "Lucky for me my taste is obscure. For every person who's interested in R & B and Soul there's probably ten people who collect Rock and Roll and twenty who collect classical. Even the collectors have a hard time getting what's collectible."

MM He goes on to say rare vinyl is getting more difficult to find compared to 10 years ago. "Vinyl is leaving the country very fast and going to collectors from all over the world," he says. "Specialist dealers usually end up selling the music abroad to countries like Japan or to Europe where R & B and Soul are very big. There are a lot of people doing what I do. You have to get there early in the morning."

MM To stay ahead Ash tries to keep tabs on the consistent Kobey's vendors who bring fresh boxes of used records almost every weekend. Just because someone is selling something, they may not know its value. Ash is known to help vendors by advising them when they have something collectible and what it's worth.

MM Overall the best part of Kobey's for Ash is the bargain factor. "In terms of money, the typical CD costs between $11 and $17. You can find records at Kobey's for 50¢ to $2. I can pick up five to fifteen albums for the price of one CD. You can't do that at Tower records. Buying used records is a double bonus because you can sample music cheaply and expand your knowledge. You can buy it to try it."

MM With over 11,000 albums under his roof, it seems Ash has been able to get the most out of both his money and his turntable, something he continually modifies and experiments with in his listening room.

MM "I spend a lot of nights listening to music," he admits. "I listen to music at least two or three nights a week for four hours a night. I usually listen when time allows me. I have two little kids, so I have to be quiet at bedtime. But I'd rather listen to two or three sides of music than sit in front of the TV and watch commercials.