Grooving To Jazz Rhythms With @dadsdiscdelights

Grooving to Jazz Rhythms with @dadsdiscdelights

To view more photos and videos of Zoë and her dad’s favourite vinyls, browse the #dadsdiscdelights hashtag follow @dadsdiscdelights on Instagram.

When London Instagrammer Zoë Timmers (@zobolondon) saw the comments on her contribution to a Weekend Hashtag Project for Father’s Day (#WHPthanksdad), she knew she’d stumbled upon something special.

Her submission was a portrait of her dad holding one of his beloved Miles Davis vinyl jazz records, Tutu. Seated in his custom-built music room in their Buckinghamshire cottage, now housing a 70-year-old collection of 10,000 records (he bought his first record in 1942), the photo drew comments from a number of enthusiasts asking questions about the album, history of jazz and the genre’s musicians.

Zoë decided to start a dedicated feed—@dadsdiscdelights—to further share his lifetime passion and knowledge of jazz with Instagram.

"Around my early teen years I discovered that the common thread in most of the music I had been hearing and had liked since a small boy, on radio and on record, was jazz," says Zoë’s dad, who has worked in the music industry most of his life. "I started reading about jazz as much as I could, listening to radio jazz programs and pestering record shops for information. I hope to put before Instagrammers a lifetime jazz lover’s view and opinion, as opposed to some dry, learned observation."

"He was surprised people were engaging in the comments," says Zoë. "Being quite specific and asking questions. It became a forum for hardcore ‘musos’ but also those finding jazz for the first time, as well as people who just like the way we shoot it."

Zoë takes all the photos, and her dad writes the captions after their conversations about which records to feature in what order. Zoë publishes to Instagram, and her dad responds in comments.

"The challenge is to get the essence of a piece of music across in 15 seconds," he says. "Visually of course it’s about attracting the viewer’s attention in the first place, and hopefully they’re drawn in and want to know more."

"For me it’s a way to spend more time with my dad," says Zoë. "I have been trying to find a way to share the huge knowledge in his head. I wanted him to be able to share his love of music."