Recent Entries
Sep 1, 2010 Blue Note, Riverside
Here are some jazz vinyl odds and ends we’ve been watching for various reasons. We’re not expecting that all of these will end up in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, but they all have something of interest.
We were watching this one because it was listed as an original pressing even though it wasn’t: Kenny Drew Trio, Riverside 224. This was a blue-label pressing when the original was really a white label. The seller was very clear in stating that this was a “first mono pressing.” Ah well. The record was only in VG- condition and the cover was VG. Not an original and not in great condition and it sold for $87. That seems to be the going rate these days perhaps and, perhaps, maybe someone needed a new cover. Not for me in that condition at that price.
We were watching this to get a sense of what the solid blue label Blue Notes are selling for these days: Dexter Gordon, Dexter Calling, Blue Note 84083. This in M- condition for both the record and the cover and it sold for $29. This probably means that a Liberty pressing of this record would be in the $50 or $60 range, don’t you think?
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Aug 31, 2010 Features, Jazz Memoirs
I play a little bit of jazz guitar — very little bit — but I am fortunate to have grown up with a fantastic, world-class jazz guitarist and we have remained great friends and this weekend we are doing a gig here in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts. There are many stories I can tell about the circumstances that have led to this gig, 30-plus years in the making, but I will be brief. My friend, Dan Axelrod, was a musical prodigy from early childhood and he lived down the street from me and somehow we both fell in love with jazz as teenagers – Dan because he could play it as well as anyone and I because it was music that was always around, in my pores, courtesy of my dad. Dan and I used to hang around a lot and at various points he would teach me chords and how to strum and eventually I was proficient enough to accompany him as a rhythm guitarist, as long as we kept the changes relatively simple and dispatched with the suspended flatted fifths, ninths and thirteenths. What I lacked in ability I made up for in chutzpah and eventually I found us a gig at a local place called the Rainy Nighthouse and I somehow convinced Dan that this would be a fun thing to do, two nights a week. We were still in our late teens. Dan, if I recall properly, was studying with Billy Bauer and perhaps a little with Jim Hall and had not yet met his guitar hero, Tal Farlow, who would eventually become his great friend and mentor. Read More..
Aug 30, 2010 Prestige
As we were catching up on items from last week, we noticed some interesting Jackie McLean records we were watching, so here comes some Jackie-ing on a lovely Monday morning in The Berkshires.
This seller had a bunch of nice records, but they were not in near-mint condition, so the prices seemed pretty reasonable, if you were willing to gamble. Here’s an example: Jackie McLean, Jackie’s Pal, Prestige 7068. This looked like an original New York pressing with the deep grooves and the flat edge and it was listed in VG++ condition for the cover and VG+ for the record. I could see where bidders, such as myself, might be a bit wary. The description of the cover sounded a lot more like VG+ than VG++ and the description of the vinyl used this language: “Scratches can be seen.” The record sold for $260.15. Somebody took a risk. This one came from the same seller: Jackie McLean, Alto Madness, Prestige 7114. This was also an original New York pressing and this one was listed in
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Aug 26, 2010 Blue Note
Having done Jazz Collector for seven years and having seen all kinds of price fluctuations, I should be beyond surprise, right? But I do admit I haven’t expected the price jump in collectible jazz, and particularly Blue Note, that seems to have taken place in just the past few months. I guess it’s a bit like the stock market, up and down, and there is the temptation to jump in and sell when prices are high. Here’s a record I have at home in beautiful condition and I bought it for ten dollars and I could make quite an obscene profit, based on this sale price: The Jazz Messengers at the Cafe Bohemia Volume 2, Blue Note 1508. This one had the beautiful Lexington Avenue label but was
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Aug 26, 2010 Features, Guest Columns, Uncategorized
A couple of weeks ago friend of Jazz Collector Erich Schultz asked why we never wrote about collecting jazz 45s here at Jazz Collector. We said that we didn’t collect them ourselves, we didn’t know of any collectors and no one had ever even asked. We also invited him to write a post on the joys of collecting jazz 45s and, voila, here it is. Erich, it’s all yours:
Collecting Jazz 45 RPM Records, by Erich Schultz
Although I have a large library of jazz 10” and 12” 33 RPM records, I also have over 1,000 jazz 45 RPM records as well. I starting collecting these 45’s about five years ago, and I have picked up most of them in the Los Angeles area when I visit my two children (I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.) I also get them sometimes through bulk sales on ebay. My reasons for collecting them include: Read More..
Aug 25, 2010 $1000 Records, Blue Note
Here’s some jazz vinyl for the $2,000 bin:
Hank Mobley Quintet, Blue Note 1550. This was an original pressing and it was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The price was $2,142. A few months ago, I catalogued all of my Blue Notes for insurance purposes. For each record, I put down the condition and assigned a value to it, based on current market conditions and historical trends from the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Well, based on price trends, I’m going to have to go back and reassess the values and make them higher in most cases. For example, I don’t have an original pressing of this record, but I have an original of Hank, Blue Note 1560. My copy is M- for the record and VG++ for the cover. When I did the spreadsheet earlier this year, the value I assigned to this record was just
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Aug 24, 2010 Questions
I was sitting on the porch at my lakehouse with the lovely Mrs. JC yesterday afternoon and we were listing to a playlist I had made for my iPod of various ballad performances. Yes, I do have an iPod and other various digital devices and I do not only listen to music playing on a turntable, although that is always the preferred method when available. Anyway, as we were listening, one of the tracks was “Jim” from the Sarah Vaughan album with Clifford Brown, Emarcy 36004. I mentioned quite randomly that many jazz fans and jazz collectors consider this track to be one of the greatest jazz vocal ballad performances of all time. I’m not sure where I came up with that information, but it was definitely lodged in my brain somewhere: Perhaps there was a vote somewhere, or perhaps it had just come up in late night discussion over a few beverages. Anyway, I thought it might be an interesting topic for a lazy weekday afternoon in August, so I’m throwing it out there for the Jazz Collector community. Favorite jazz ballad vocal performances. Okay, go!
Aug 22, 2010 10-Inch LPs, Blue Note, Jazz Vinyl, Jazz Vinyl on eBay
There seems to be a corresponding hike in prices for 10-inch Blue Notes as well as 12-inch Blue Notes. Here are a few we were watching this week, several from the same seller, including: Lou Donaldson, New Faces, New Sounds, Blue Note 5021. This was an original pressing with the vinyl in M- condition and the cover VG+. It sold for $577. One thing about the 10-inchers: Unless they are a Japanese or United Artists press, you know they are originals.
Lou Donaldson Sextet Volume 2, Blue Note 5055. This one looked to be in VG++ condition for the vinyl and M- for the cover. The price was $667. Another one from the same seller:
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Aug 19, 2010 $1000 Records, Blue Note, Collecting Tips
I went back to look at some of those listings from Paperstax that have generated all of this discussion and controversy. I started with Jackie McLean, Swing, Swang, Swingin’, Blue Note 4024. When you look at the listing, it seems to have it all: West 63rd Street address, deep groove, but . . . when you look closely, Van Gelder in the dead wax as opposed to RVG, no mention of the ear. In bidding, I would assume — and did — that this was an original and that the seller inadvertently did not mention the ear and used Van Gelder descriptively as opposed to using the RVG. The reason is because I don’t quite understand how this can be a Liberty pressing and still have the deep grooves. The same thing with:
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Aug 17, 2010 News
CeeDee beat me to it, but there’s an interesting article in today’s New York Times: Great Jazz, Long Unheard, Is Rediscovered. It is the story of an audio engineer named William Savory, who recorded live radio broadcasts in the late 1930s. What is particularly compelling is that he used 12-inch and 16-inch disks and even used the 33-1/3 RPM format so he could record extended performances and solos that were much longer than the standard three minutes or so that were captured at the time on a 78. The music has been donated to the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and presumably will make its way to the public, although there are questions raised in the article about copyright and ownership. Among some of the performances mentioned are a live version of Billie Holiday singing “Strange Fruit” and a six-minute Coleman Hawkins solo on “Body and Soul” It’s worth a read. The article includes audio clips.
Aug 16, 2010 Blue Note, Riverside
I’ve actually bid on a few records recently, but these days I don’t even get close, unless I want to really gamble on condition, which I don’t. Anyway, I was watching this record on eBay: Walter Davis Jr., Davis Cup, Blue Note 4018. This was an original pressing and it was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. A few hours before the bidding closed it wasn’t getting much action. My theory: Even though the listing described the cover as M-, it didn’t look that good in the photo. I know, however, that when you are taking pictures of black covers you often get a glare that distorts the image and makes it look worse than it actually is. I took a shot and set up my Bid Nip to put in a bid of about $350 with five seconds to go. Hah!. The record
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Aug 14, 2010 Blue Note, Prestige
I must say, I got some pleasure out of reading this listing:
The Magnificent Thad Jones, Blue Note 1527. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing and the seller was not an expert and he took it to a professional cleaner to have cleaned. Even better, when he posted the listing he provided a link and referenced Jazz Collector to help people learn more about the record. Nice touch, if I do say so myself. Anyway, the record looked to be in M- or VG++ condition, and the cover was probably around VG. The price was $385.
Here are a few more going into the Jazz Collector Price Guide this morning:
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Aug 13, 2010 $1000 Records, Blue Note, Prestige, Price Guide
I have a couple of hundred items to enter into the Jazz Collector Price Guide and I’m hoping to find some time this weekend. As I’ve been perusing through the entries this morning, I found a few that I never updated on the site, so here they are. No links on these, by the way.
Jackie McLean, Alto Madness, Prestige 7114. This was from about a month ago. It was an original pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The price was $932. A copy of Jackie’s Pal sold for more than $1,500 last week. There’s definitely been something that has stirred some higher prices in the past couple of weeks.
Sonny Clark, Sonny’s Crib, Blue Note 1576. This was an original pressing that was in VG+ condition for the vinyl and VG for the cover. The price was $610.. This was an original pressing that was
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Aug 12, 2010 78-RPM Records, Prestige
Here’s an interesting question from on of our readers, based on the accompanying pictures. We all know about the addresses on the Prestige LPs: West 50th Street in New York for the 10-inch LPs and 12-inch LPS up to around 7141, then Bergenfield, N.J. But that about this address, 754 10th Avenue, as seen below? Anyone know how many Prestige 78s were put out with this address on the label, or anything else about it.
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Aug 11, 2010 Jazz Vinyl, Jazz Vinyl on eBay, Prestige
We promised some Prestige stuff today. We’ll start with a couple of recent eBay sales and then later we’ll be posting an interesting question. First, to eBay:
Ken McIntyre, Looking Ahead, New Jazz 8247. This was an original pressing with the purple label and the deep grooves. It was in beautiful M- condition. The record features Eric Dolphy as well and the seller listed Dolphy first. That was probably a wise decision. This one sold for $260.
This one was from the same era, with a very similar framed cover: Benny Golson, Gone With Golson, New Jazz 8235. This was
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Aug 10, 2010 $1000 Records, Blue Note
Let’s catch up from the weekend.
The Blue Notes seem to be in a new stratosphere. We’d never seen any Curtis Fuller record sell for more than $1,000 in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Until now, that is: Curtis Fuller Volume 3, Blue Note 1583. This was an original pressing, featuring Sonny Clark on piano, and it was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The price was $1,467.43. Then there was this one, from a different seller: Curtis Fuller, The Opener, Blue Note 1567. This was also an original pressing, not with Sonny Clark but with Hank Mobley on tenor. The vinyl was M- and the cover was VG++. The price was $1,180. Honestly, watching these prices, I’m getting quite tempted to dig into the collection. I have both of these records in nice condition.
There there was this, which wasn’t even an original pressing:
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Aug 7, 2010 $1000 Records, Prestige
Here are a few more jazz vinyl odds and ends we’ve been watching on eBay:
Let’s start with a couple more Prestiges. Frank Foster, Hope Meets Foster, Prestige 7021. This looks to be an original pressing with the New York address and the deep groove. It was listed in M- condition for the record and the cover looked to be VG+ or VG++. The price was $548.78, which is a nice price but in this market I would have thought it might have sold for even more. If that Prestige sold for less than expected, this one got top dollar, based on what we’ve previously seen for this record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide:
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Aug 6, 2010 Blue Note, Jazz Vinyl, Jazz Vinyl on eBay, Prestige
We see that some of the big sellers are back on eBay this weekend. Here is some of the jazz vinyl we are watching here at Jazz Collector:
Booker Ervin, The Song Book, Prestige 7318. Booker was one of the unheralded greats on tenor sax and, to me, this is his best record as a leader. He wails on All The Things You Are and Just Friends and shows off his power and warmth on the ballads as well. With an all-star rhythm section featuring Tommy Flanagan, Richard Davis and Alan Dawson. If I ever get back to doing my Jazz Vinyl Countdown, this stays in the collection no matter what. Anyway, the copy on sale on eBay is an
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Aug 5, 2010 $1000 Records, Blue Note
There were some comments on the earlier posts about Prestige prices being high. Here are some Blue Notes from the same time period and some of the same sellers:
Sonny Clark, Sonny’s Crib, Blue Note 1576. The record was mis-labeled as Dial S for Sonny in the listing, but I don’t think that impacted the price. The vinyl was listed in M- condition and the cover was M- and it was a nice clear picture in the listing, as you can see here. The record sold for $3,050.
Cliff Jordan, Blue Note 1565. This too was an original pressing from the same seller, also with a nice picture, also in M- condition for both the vinyl and the cover. It sold for $2,444, which was the highest price we’ve ever recorded for
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Aug 4, 2010 Jazz Vinyl, Jazz Vinyl on eBay, Prestige
Let’s catch up on some of the jazz vinyl we’ve been watching at Jazz Collector. We’ll start with the Prestiges and move on to the Blue Notes later.
John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio, Prestige 7123. This was an original pressing with the original cover (the second pressing on this is Traneing In). The record was M- and the cover was VG+ and the price was $660. We’ve watched this one many times in the Jazz Collector Price Guide and it never surpassed $400. Quite a change. I’ve been cataloguing my records for insurance purposes and I had this one at $300. Guess I’ll have to change that.
This one also seemed to hit a new high: Olio, Prestige 7084, with Thad Jones, Frank Wess, Teddy Charles, Elvin Jones, Mal Waldron and Doug Watkins. This one was in M- condition all the way around and sold for $504.
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Jul 31, 2010 Blue Note, Collecting Tips
Here’s a great one from our friend Don-Lucky on Blue Train:
Good afternoon Al,
I am not sure if your were watching this one already or not, but it sold quite for a record high today…
John Coltrane BLUE Train Blue Note 1577 w.63rd 23 NM!
Item Number: 400138742036
Selling Price: $1838.04
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400138742036&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBUAA:CA:1123
I was also chatting with Larry Cohn about this one earlier in the week and here is what he had to say on this auction:
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Jul 29, 2010 Prestige
While we’re on the subject, sort of, here are a couple more nice Prestiges, both from the same seller.
Hank Mobley, Mobley’s Message, Prestige 7061. This looks like a nice one, with the vinyl in M- condition and the cover looking like a VG++. This is closing tomorrow and is now in the $260 price range, although it will sell for much more than that, right? Elmo Hope, Informal Jazz, Prestige 7043. This looks to be the second cover, but it is a beauty nonetheless. This one looks to be VG++ or so for the vinyl and probably about the same as the cover. The current price is in the $250 range. When you look at these also click the seller’s other items: He’s got a huge batch of collectibles on eBay this week, including some very nice Blue Notes that will make handsome additions to the $1,000 bin.
Jul 29, 2010 $1000 Records, Blue Note
Here are a couple for the $1,000 bin in the Jazz Collector Price Guide:
Lee Morgan, City Lights, Blue Note 1575. This was an interesting one. The seller had it on last week with a reserve and didn’t sell it despite a bid of more than $400. He put it back this week, the bidding accelerated way past the $400 mark and the record wound up selling for a buy-it-now price of $1,200 before the auction closed. The seller must be pretty happy he put a reserve price on this record the first time around. The vinyl was listed as M- and the cover seemed to be VG+.
Bent Axen-Bent Jaedig, Let’s Keep the Message, Debut 133. This was the original Danish
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Jul 27, 2010 Jazz Vinyl, Jazz Vinyl on eBay, Prestige
We have an eye on some Prestige jazz vinyl on eBay. Despite the high price of the Jackie’s Pal we noted yesterday, it seems the disparity between prices on original Blue Notes versus original Prestiges seems to be getting wider. Here are some of the ones we’re watching:
Donald Byrd, Art Farmer, Idrees Sulieman, Three Trumpets, Prestige 7092. This is an original New York pressing. The record is in M- condition and the cover sounds to be VG++ as we would rate it. The starting price is around $170 and there are no bids.
This one is of a similar vintage but from a different seller: Art Farmer and Donald Byrd, Two Trumpets, Prestige 7062. This is also an original yellow-label New York pressing. The record is M- and the cover is VG+. The start price is $150 and, again, there are no bidders. There’s a $200 buy-it-now price on this, which would seem pretty reasonable to me.
Olio, Prestige 7084. This is an album featuring
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Latest Entry
We’ve written off and on here at Jazz Collector about autographs. Our favorite was the letter from Bill Evans to John Coltrane that was auctioned for $38,000 five years ago. If you want to check that out, click here. We were reminded of this when we received an email announcing the latest auction from the Jazz Record Center and we saw that they are selling a John Coltrane autograph. This one is not so enticing as the Evans letter, but it is a Coltrane autograph and there can’t be too many of those, can there? Anyway, it has a start price of $100 and there is already one bidder. This is one that I think will entice jazz collectors everywhere: A nice, small Coltrane autograph, easy to frame, easy to hang up on a wall, a very nice item to show your friends and family. Hmmmm, perhaps I’m talking myself into something here.
