In one scene from the 2019 documentary Dusty Groove: The Sound of Transition, Rick Wojcik sifts through a record collection in the Pill Hill basement of Grady Johnson, a jazz saxophonist and one of Chicago’s first Black pharmacists. Wojcik owns the record store after which the film is named, and he frequents such spaces in the course of his job—much of his inventory consists of the jazz, R&B, and hip-hop albums he finds there.
Dusty Groove: The Sound of Transition Director Danielle Beverly, Dusty Groove owner Rick Wojcik, and others will participate in a Q&A at the documentary’s Chicago premiere. Fri 2/28, 7 PM, Chicago Cultural Center, Claudia Cassidy Theater, 78 E. Washington, free, all ages
“This goes back to me being 18 at WHPK,” Wojcik says. “Being a kid who mostly knew rock music but cared about jazz, soul a little bit, and suddenly having all these 50-, 60-year-old DJs on the radio station was fantastic. I couldn’t be a punk-rock asshole—I had to mind my Ps and Qs. Their relation to records, vinyl culture was so amazing. Having a more professional relationship to that world continues to teach me so much more.”
“Everybody is so incredibly complicated, you just can’t ever figure somebody out,” he says. “I’m always learning and always fascinated by the complexity that makes this job a delight.” v
