High-Fidelity Records is nestled next to shops and business in a changing area of West Adams, an unexpected sight as you walk or drive by.
But when you step in, take in the music in the record shop and meet the owners, you understand why it belongs in this neighborhood.
“A lot of the artists and musicians found homes in these areas, West Adams, a little further south, Baldwin Hills. And they've become historic neighborhoods for music and musicians,” Ray Limon, co-owner of High-Fidelity, says.
Just down the street there’s the headquarters of indie label Delicious Vinyl (and Delicious Pizza) that’s been around for over three decades.
West Adams had a popping club scene, attracting musicians from all over the country as the jazz movement swelled from 1920s to the 1950s. Hollywood stars like Hattie McDaniel lived in this area, as racist housing covenants denied people of color from buying and renting in certain neighborhoods.
It makes the area the perfect environment for High-Fidelity, from its L.A. history to the current community residents.
“This is a historic jazz neighborhood, so people come in and sell old records. That's kind of what comes in. I think jazz is kind of like that — not the hot genre, but the genre that people are really searching out right now,” Limon says.
And since this is L.A., Limon says hip-hop is also the other popular genre that’s sold here. They also have contemporary records from artists like Frank Ocean and Solange.
It’s a small, cool space, with rows of records in the middle and wall shelves displaying even more music. They also sell CDs and memorabilia for the old-school vibes.
It hosted events for established artists like producer J.Rocc, and emerging ones like rapper Huey Briss.
Co-owners Limon and Stanley Swinger first met 20 years ago working together at Aron’s Records — a record store that played a role in cultivating L.A.’s beat scene. Before the duo took over ownership of High-Fidelity in 2019, they worked for the shop’s previous owner in the Los Feliz location.
“Each week, we work to put out fresh records and throughout the week we gather those records and they come from the people that bring them to trade and sell them,” Swinger says. “We develop a community of people that have a certain musical personality and then that helps to populate the shop with the records that we get."
Both Limon and Swinger light up when they talk about their recurring and favorite customers.
There’s a man who comes in the store who sells his jazz records from the '50s and '60s. Limon says he lived in West Adams for a long time and he shares stories of the scene from back in the day; like how he would see Miles Davis hanging out at the clubs.
Another customer, who had a connection to the Black Panthers, would tell them stories about the jazz records from the '70s that were the soundtrack to the movement “as they tried to change the political landscape, these records fueled their efforts,” Swinger says.
As people clear their garages and other belongings, they come here to sell and share stories of their records, and, really, the soundtrack of their neighborhood.
“The more we're here, the more we learn about how instrumental this community was to the arts and music,” Swinger says.
Being in this industry for over two decades, the pair has acquired its musical connoisseur ranking.
We asked them to share some artists they’re enjoying at the moment:
Vel Nine
Huey Briss
Brain Story
Jameal Dean
Armand Hammer
High-Fidelity is open from 11 a.m. - 6 p.m at 4765 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90016
For our How to LA episode, we also visited The World Stage in Leimert Park and spoke to executive director Dwight Trible.
"Right now, the music scene is probably more vibrant than ever, and people are certainly crossing boundaries a lot more than what they used to be... and I think that's the beautiful thing about music," Trible says.
Learn more about the historic Leimert Park music scene and its contribution to the Southern California sound. Listen here.
