Birdland

As my collection of Bossa Nova grows, it becomes harder to find the CD's I want in Adelaide.  I start to visit record shops in other cities.

In Melbourne I discover Thomas Music, Polyester Records and Discurio.

I'm more often in Sydney, and one day I find a shop called Birdland Records, in Pitt Street near the Monorail station.  Over the years Birdland feels the pinch from Sydney rents, and it migrates around the city - to the Gowings Building in Market Street and then to the fourth floor of the Dymocks Building in George Street.  It now opens only four days per week.

Birdland is a mysterious place.  There is no signage at street level.  Even when you get out of the lift at the fourth floor, there is no clue that a specialist jazz music store can be found here.  It is only when you go around the corner and down the corridor that the shop reveals itself through an unsigned door.

You just have to know it's there.

Birdland has Brasil 66, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Astrid Gilberto, Stan Getz and more.  The staff do not seem to think that collecting these is a strange hobby.

The lobby has lovely, old fashioned lifts and a clock with an inscription above it: "Time Conquers All"

This place provides inspiration for my show, "Adventures with a Brazilian".

Check out Birdland Records here