Stamps Collection

An obsessively readable memoir about the passions—and perils—of collecting, from the New York Times–bestselling author of Just My Type.

Originally designed as a receipt for a service, postage stamp collecting quickly vaulted into a cultural phenomenon, becoming the world's most popular hobby. A box of stamps could ignite one's imagination with images of exotic cultures, native people, art, geography, history, music and literature, as well as a nation's political climate. In contemporary society, stamp collectors, or "philatelists" (as they're commonly known), though dwindling in numbers, continue to be curators of these mini time-capsules.

Swedish pianist Mattias Risberg demonstrates the passion he dedicates to vintage instruments like mellotron, Hammond organ, analog synthesizers, clavichord and pipe organs, here in a solo album of piano, with some light preparations, and the pedals of a Moog Taurus, in an inventive album of improvisations inspired by the vivid images of postage stamps.

If you’re a fan of Carla Bley you already know Mattias Risberg: together with saxophonist Fredrik Ljungkvist he released the album “And Now the Queen – A Tribute to Carla Bley” (2016). Something you could expect from the keyboardist Risberg whose musical interests are deeply rooted in several music idioms, going from John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Bill Evans, Jan Johansson and Paul Bley to J.S. Bach, Carlo Gesualdo, Igor Stravinskij and Olivier Messiaen, through the likes of John Lennon, Frank Zappa, early Genesis and Yes.

This four CD set comprises eight original, re-mastered Bob Brookmeyer albums originally released between 1958 and 1964, this pivotal jazz-man's glory years as an esteemed musician. Featuring too a virtual who's who of Brookmeyer's contemporaries from the era, this collection serves ideally well as the perfect starting place for those new to the great man's music, and as the ultimate go-to set for those already familiar.