Best Record/CD Store

Much like the fabled jazz label from which it takes its name, Blue Note Records remains an easy reference point when seeking quality sound. Sure, other shops around town may dig a tad deeper into their chosen niches, but as a one-stop destination for all the music that truly matters, Blue Note reigns supreme. Indeed it's a testament to owner Bob Perry and his quest for inventorial breadth that Blue Note is three separate stores. The front room is devoted largely to R&B in all its historical permutations, from mint vinyl copies of Funkadelic's 1970 tweaked-out masterpiece Maggot Brain to the latest bass-flavor hip-hop CD from Juvenile. Mosey past a respectable blues section through a doorway into a second room, and you're in a guitar freak's paradise. Even better is the attendant staff, equally versed in the fine points of Eric Clapton-ology and Sonic Youth's postpunk squall. Finally there's the backroom, devoted to jazz in all its myriad forms, from Forties bebop to Sixties free jazz to contemporary honkers and blowers. True, you could probably hit the Internet and order many of these releases online, but what music fan would pass on the sheer joy of losing oneself amid all these great records?