Winston Morais, aka Quillo, with two of the many albums from his collection. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

When Winston 'Quillo' Morais bought his first vinyl records from Horace Pink on Orange Street in about 1963, he would have seen the flow of life through downtown Kingston in all its brilliant colours and varied hues.

By the 1990s, when he was doing stints on the Metromedia, Afrique Happening and Ovation sound systems, Quillo's sight was fading owing to glaucoma and he had to write the names of records on their respective jackets in large print so he could identify them. When he played at the Collectors' Spin, Selectors' Swing last Tuesday night, Quillo handed over the records he had chosen for his one-hour stint at Curphey Place, Swallowfield, to an assistant who handled the mechanics of getting the needle into the groove.

passion for music

Quillo has been completely blind for the last five or six years, but his passion for collecting music - all on vinyl - is undiminished. Actually, now that he cannot see, his appreciation for music is even more acute.

"I get deeper listening too. I take in more of the music. It's like you observe more. Like Johnny Nash said, 'I can see clearly now'," Quillo told The Sunday Gleaner.

And the camaraderie with fellow collectors has helped to ensure that he is not left all alone in the dark. "That is one of the main things to keep you alive, the music and the whole associating with good people, the vibes are there," Quillo said.

"The music is a very wonderful thing. It is great not only for the blind, but what is happening around in the society. I don't know how we would cope," he said. He was careful to qualify, though, that he does not mean deejay music, some of which he considers a large factor in the society's chaos.

After buying Wilfred Edwards' (Tell Me Why) and Owen Gray's records on that first trip to Orange Street, Quillo kept on purchasing records, "then Winston Blake and them guys came to Kingston and I decided to collect more". In 1968/69, he started playing the records publicly, along with a man named Larry. Eventually, Quillo put together the Village Disco, the first to play Sunday night oldies in Rae Town, up to 1979. Thirty years later he's still collecting records.

"The music thing, that's inside of me. I used to follow Carlos Malcolm, Kes Chin, when Byron Lee and the Dragonnaires just started. I was a lover of music very much when I was a boy," he remembered.

In addition to the bands, there were the dances at places like Jubilee Tile Gardens and sound systems such as Prince Buster's Voice of the People, El Toro, El Suzie, Coxsone's Downbeat and Tom The Great Sebastian.

Now, Quillo goes to vinyl record collectors' gatherings at East Road (where the Woolery Inn is like a music university), Lanzo's Place on Burlingston Avenue and Wickie Wackie, among other gathering spots of those who love the black discs and the music embedded in their grooves.

With two awards for his music collection, Quillo sources his records from New York, Miami and Canada, as well as Dexter and Rockers International in Jamaica. Most are new, with a few used ones in the mix, and Quillo laughs as he describes re-issues as "old-new" music.

When he is preparing to present his music publicly, Quillo puts on records at his Franklyn Town home and organises the set.

"When I get the segment I want I elastic them up," he told The Sunday Gleaner. A one-hour set like he played at Curphey Place last night would be approximately six ballads, four to five R and B songs, five ska, five to six rocksteady, six funk and then back to soul, to close.

turntable style

So the elastic bands are placed around the individual genres and Quillo simply takes records off the top and hands to the assistant who puts them on the turntable.

"It's simple, easy, experience, you know it from day one," Quillo said.

Finding the records at home, though, may not be that simple as currently they are not as organised as they should be. He is currently organising a dedicated space, complete with shelving, to house his vinyl collection. So, Quillo relies on his memory. "Sometimes I know where a particular record is, but sometimes I don't remember," he said. Naturally, it takes extra time for him to try various records until he finds the right one. It is not as tedious as it may sound, though, as there is still some level of organisation. Quillo says that he may have a box and he puts ska to one side and blues to the other, which he remembers. Having narrowed down the possibilities, the 'testing' is easier.

Choosing a favourite music genre is "very hard", but Quillo narrows it down to R and B, as "is that I grow up on". His favourite jazz performer is Sonny Rollins; Don Drummond rules his ska world; Alton Ellis is the king of rocksteady. The Tramps are the funkiest and among those who really touch his soul are Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, LTD and Nancy Wilson.

Generally, music has soothed Quillo's soul since he went totally blind.

"I don't roll over and play dead. The music keeps me."