There’s a reason AXPONA is so popular. After all, how often do you have an opportunity to hear, for three days in a row, high-end stereo equipment made by manufacturers from around the world? That’s why over 9,000 people converged to a suburb in Illinois for the 2023 event, and that’s why, for three days, the elevators were packed with audiophiles working their way from room to room. Two hundred rooms can be a bit daunting for one weekend, but attendees did their best to cover as much ground as possible.
While equipment may be the main attraction at AXPONA, it isn’t the only game in town. That would become clear to you if, like me, you were standing around shortly before the Record Fair officially opened on Friday morning. There must have been a hundred people waiting for those doors to open.
And you can’t blame them, as AXPONA offers a splendid opportunity to get your paws on what are quite often extremely limited editions of audiophile LPs, deluxe editions, rare vinyl, and new vinyl, including imports. Some titles were released that same week, and in many cases only the early birds were able to grab those titles before they were gone. Buying records at AXPONA can actually save you some money, as the alternative for most people means purchasing LPs online, which adds shipping costs—and by the time you end up with a tall pile of wax (as many people did) you’ve saved yourself a lot moola. Below you’ll see the multi-tasking Chad Kassem from Acoustic Sounds on the far right, trying to hold court and sell bunches of records shortly after the Record Fair opened its doors. He’s a good multitasker.
I returned to the Record Fair several times during the event, and when things slowed down a bit I had a chance to chat with different vendors. Lisa Rothe from Direct Audio told me that vinyl is becoming increasingly popular with fans of mainstream country, and an early bird purchased all of the current country LPs from her, and presumably for resale. Lisa also informed me that MoFi’s 1-Step of Michael Jackson’s Thriller has been one of her best-selling titles:
Tyson Hall from Music Direct told me that even though they stocked the heck out of the new 2-LP 45rpm vinyl of Warren Zevon’s Excitable Boy, eventually they sold out of all their copies. Also hot off the press was MoFi’s 1-Step of Elvis Presley’s From Elvis In Memphis, a 1969 release that saw Elvis once again in top form.
Kevin Berg from Elusive Disc said a particularly popular title was Saturday Night in San Francisco, which that was recorded the night after 1981’s Friday Night in San Francisco but only released last year on the Impex label. Song-wise there’s no overlap between the two nights, and Saturday features, among other things, a scorching performance of “Meeting of the Spirits,” a John McLaughlin composition that originally appeared on the first Mahavishnu Orchestra LP, The Inner Mounting Flame. Quite simply, Saturday Night in San Francisco is a must have.
It’s always good to see Delmark Records at the event, as they’re a historic label with old and new blues and jazz titles and they hail from Chicago. The CEO of Delmark, Julia Miller is seen here holding a reel-to-reel tape of the Junior Wells classic, Hoodoo Man Blues.
AXPONA also offers a chance to meet musicians and marketing reps. Jazz singer and pianist Anne Bisson wore both of those hats this year, performing a well-attended and well-received live concert on Friday night and signing copies of her audiophile vinyl during the day.
Along with playing harp, Isabeau Corriveau sold copies of her records in the lobby. Singer-songwriter Amber Rubarth performed on Saturday night. Also, Bob James signed copies of his live trio album Feel Like Makin’ Live, on the Hong Kong-based Evosound label.
The founder of Impex Records, Abey Fonn, held some talks where, along with Nick Getz, the son of Stan Getz, she discussed an upcoming 1-Step of Getz/Gilberto. Abey was also part of a panel discussion with Shane Buettner from Intervention Records, Julia Miller from Delmark, Chad Kassem from Acoustic Sounds/Analogue Productions, and Michael Fremer. The group discussed the do’s and don’ts of remastering—and they should know, as they’re all in the trenches.
The kinds of discussions and experiences described here really helped round out AXPONA, as, in the end, it’s our love for music that makes us want to hear recordings on great-sounding stereos.
By Jeff Wilson
This will take some explaining, but I can connect the dots between pawing through LPs at a headshop called Elysian Fields in Des Moines, Iowa, as a seventh grader, and becoming the Music Editor for The Absolute Sound. At that starting point—around 1970/71—Elysian Fields had more LPs than any other store in Des Moines. Staring at all the colorful covers was both tantalizing and frustrating. I had no idea who most of the artists were, because radio played only a fraction of what was current. To figure out what was going on, I realized that I needed to build a record collection—and as anyone who’s visited me since high school can testify, I succeeded. Record collecting was still in my blood when, starting in the late 1980s, the Cincinnati Public Library book sale suddenly had an Elysian Fields quantity of LPs from people who’d switched to CDs. That’s where I met fellow record hawk Mark Lehman, who preceded me as music editor of TAS. Mark introduced me to Jonathan Valin, whose 1993 detective novel The Music Lovers depicts the battles between record hawks at library sales. That the private eye in the book, Harry Stoner, would stumble upon a corpse or two while unraveling the mystery behind the disappearance of some rare Living Stereo platters made perfect sense to me. After all, record collecting is serious business. Mark knew my journalistic experience included concert reviews for The Cincinnati Enquirer and several long, sprawling feature articles in the online version of Crawdaddy. When he became TAS music editor in 2008, he contacted me about writing for the magazine. I came on board shortly after the latest set of obituaries had been written for vinyl—and, as fate had it, right when the LP started to make yet another unexpected comeback. Suddenly, I found myself scrambling to document all the record companies pressing vinyl. Small outfits were popping up world-wide, and many were audiophile-oriented, plus already existing record companies began embracing the format again. Trying to keep track of everything made me feel, again, like that overwhelmed seventh grader in Elysian Fields, and as Music Editor I’ve found that keeping my finger on the pulse of the music world also requires considerable detective work. I’ve never had a favorite genre, but when it comes time to sit down and do some quality listening, for me nothing beats a well-recorded small-group jazz recording on vinyl. If a stereo can give me warmth and intimacy, tonal accuracy, clear imaging, crisp-sounding cymbals, and deep, woody-sounding bass, then I’m a happy camper.
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