A Musical Tour of the Planet in Stanfordville

You can go around the world searching for an ultra-rare Japanese pressing of an early Beatles record (vintage LPs from Japan are prized for having the best and quietest vinyl). Or, you can walk down the alley between the liquor store and the post office in Stanfordville and find Not Donuts. 

That’s the name of an eclectic emporium and project space dedicated to music and musical ephemera of every type. Here, proprietor Jared Rosenberg lives out his dream of creating a community of music lovers. 

Rosenberg buys, sells and trades LPs. He admits to owning 3,500 records “though it’s getting a bit hard to track exactly how many.”

He spent 20 years working for a nonprofit before moving to Stanfordville seven years ago with his wife Kelly. “When we moved here, we knew nobody,” he said. “The people of Stanfordville reached out to us. Big Tim Beam and Big Little Tim Beam at Bulls Head Treasures were so welcoming.” 

Rosenberg had always wanted to own a record store, and when an opportunity came up to rent space behind Coyote Flaco three years ago, he jumped on it. “I never ran a business before, let alone in a small town. It’s really inspiring to me what a business can become in a small town. It’s much more than a place to buy and sell things.” 

Enter the space and you will take a tour of world culture in 900 square feet. “A very diverse group of people live in the Stanfordville area,” Rosenberg said. “We have musicians, producers and engineers around here, and they come in to share their music.” 

“One of the most rewarding things about this business is you never know what people are going to bring in. We get punk rock, classical Indian music from the 1950s, vintage Brazilian LPs, you name it. We have a resident from Japan whose friend worked for a record company and bought us these rare Japanese records,” he said gesturing at a stack of records in clear vinyl. 

Asked where he finds his treasures, Rosenberg said, “You can find rare records in so many places — on the streets of Brooklyn, at the Elephant’s Trunk flea market in New Milford, Conn. People often don’t know what they have.”

One record, an early Pharoah Sanders spiritual jazz LP, recently sold for $600, but most LPs sell for far cheaper, and Rosenberg stressed he doesn’t care if you don’t buy anything and just come in and chat about your favorite music and musicians. 

Not Donuts also holds regular mixtape parties arranged around a theme where people come in and share their favorite records. “People arrive with a piece of music related to the theme,” Rosenberg said, who co-creates the mixtape parties with Taraka Larson. “But other than that it’s improvisational. Visitors meet other music lovers, we share the music and talk about what we love about it.” It’s the only such event in the region, he added. “People come from as far as Beacon and Great Barrington, Mass.”

The next Mixtape party is this Saturday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. http://notdonutsrecords.com/about.html. The theme? “Love and Anti-Love.”

“Owning a vintage music store has been a learning experience,” he said. “Take what young people are listening to. They have access to so much entertainment these days. Of course, some come in and ask for Taylor Swift and that’s great, but other young people go against the flow and ask for really obscure artists. One example is Alice Coltrane, the piano and harp player who was married to (and overshadowed by) John Coltrane. Her music has been rediscovered by young people today.” 

Vinyl took off in popularity during the pandemic, he says. Manufacturers failed to keep up with demand. Today, many classic records are being re-pressed. “Generally the new ones sound better than the old because of improved technology,” Rosenberg said.

Not Donuts also sells mid-century ceramics, artwork, tapes, CDs, vintage rock T-shirts and classic stereo equipment. “I want this place to look like you’re coming into a living room,” said Rosenberg. 

A customer walked in with his daughter, who honed in on the vintage rock t-shirts. “Well,” said her father, “I finally got that equalizer working on my receiver. It’s got this great wave pattern on the dial to show the frequency modulation.” 

“Now that is very cool,” said Rosenberg with a big smile, and within minutes, the two were happily geeking out on vintage high end stereo equipment.  

“This store, and the community around it are beyond all that I hoped for,” said Stanfordville’s own global music guru.

Not Donuts is open on weekends and by appointment. http://notdonutsrecords.com/index.html/