A Kangaroo-Split Cover?

We were logging records into the Jazz Collector Price Guide the other day and we came across a term that was new to us: A Kangaroo-Split Cover? This was in reference to the LP Johnny Griffin, Argo 624. We don’t have the record, so we are going by the picture. It looks like you turn the record to the side and flip part of the cover to reveal the record, sitting in half of the jacket, as if it were a baby in the pouch of a kangaroo. We have three questions for our readers: (1) Is our description accurate? (2) Is the term “Kangaroo-Split” commonly known? (3) Are there other jazz records that have a similar cover? This record, by the way, was in M- condition and sold for $285.

Today on eBay, January 30, 2009

Here are some of the records we at Jazz Collector are watching today:Lucky Thompson, Lucky Strikes, Transition 21. This is an original pressing, with the booklet. The record is listed as M-, the cover as VG and the booklet as M-. The current price is about $160. Art Blakey, A Night At Birdland Volume 2, Blue Note 5038. This is an original 10-inch LP. The record is M- and the cover is VG. The current price is about $150.

This seller, Sweedeedee, has a bunch of nice items closing in the next 24 hours. Here are a few: Gene Ammons, Jammin’ With Gene, Prestige 7060. This is an original New York pressing. Both the record and cover are listed in M- condition. It is currently priced at a bit over $100. Here’s a black-label copy of John Coltrane, Giant Steps, Atlantic 1311. The record is listed as VG++ and the cover as M-. The current price is about $210. And here’s one, frankly, we’ve never seen before: Eric Dolphy in Europe,  Debut 136. This is the original Danish pressing. The record and cover look to be in M- condition. The current price is $360, but we’d expect this to go for quite a bit more. 

We posted a little late today, so we missed a few items, which we’ll be plugging into the Jazz Collector Price Guide later this weekend. Among them are: 

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A Quickie Quiz

We’re going through this process of sorting through our records and deciding what to keep and what to sell. The main reason, honestly, is just that we have too many records. It’s hard to decide what to listen to, and hard to manage with records and record players spilling over into every room in the house. Anyway, in this process we’re looking at and listening to records in our collection that have been on the shelf for years and never received a listen or a look. As we do this, we are finding some interesting things. For instance, here’s a question we’ll pose based on an album we reviewed yesterday. The album is Mundell Lowe and His Orchestra, New Music of Alec Wilder, Riverside 219. It may not be at the top of everyone’s want list, but it’s a decent record and our copy — which we’ve decided to sell — is an original white label pressing. Anyway, here’s the interesting tidbit, hence the quiz. The liner notes to this LP were written by an individual who was much better known as a singer than as a writer. Who was this individual? Ten points to the first person who gets the right answer.

Today on eBay, January 29, 2009

Some nice items today on eBay. We’re selling a few that are closing today. The ones that have received the most attention (bids) are:  Wynton Kelly, VeeJay 3011. This is an original pressing in pretty nice shape. It has seven bids and is at $54; and Yusef Lateef, Prayer to the East, Savoy 12117. This is in near mint condition, but it is the maroon label. The current price is $87.  If you missed it yesterday, we’ll also selling our first record right off the Jazz Collector site, The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon, Jazzland 929. For details you can look at the post below. Other items we’re watching today:

Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland Volume 3, Blue Note 5039. This is an original 10-inch LP in M- condition. The current price is $235.50. Another Blue Note is Horace Parlan, Up and Down, Blue Note 4082. This is a New York USA pressing

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Item For Sale: The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon

Okay, we’re trying something new: Selling a record right off of the Jazz Collector site rather than through eBay. Here’s the idea: We’d like to offer some records at fair prices to our readers in hopes of building some traffic and building some reader loyalty. The problem is, most of these will be one-of-a-kind items. Our plan, unless someone has a better idea, is to offer each item on a first come, first served basis: That is, whoever wants it and pays for it first, gets it. The first record for sale on the Web site is this one: The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon, Jazzland 929S. This is an original stereo pressing with the black label and deep groove. The record is in VG++ condition and sounds great. The cover is also VG++, with a very small tear on the back. The price for this record is $25. Our standard shipping rates apply: $4 for the U.S., $8 for Canada; $15 for Europe, and $17 for Asia. We’ve added an e-commerce plug-in to the site, so we hope this will work, assuming somebody wants to buy this nice LP for this very fair price. If you want to buy it, just click the article and follow the shopping cart instructions.

Today on Ebay, January 28, 2009

Quite a lot to view today on a snowy day in New York. Here are some of the nicer and more interesting items we are watching at Jazz Collector: This is one of our favorite records from one of our favorite sellers: Art Taylor, AT’s Delight, Blue Note 4047. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing being offered by Euclid Records. The vinyl is in M- condition and the cover is VG++. The current price is about $230. Also from Euclid Records is a beautiful copy of John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1577. This one is currently priced at $365. 

This is one of interest to us: Johnny Glasel, Jazz Session, ABC Paramount 165. This is also from one of our favorite sellers, Analogman on Long Island, aka Infinity Records. About 25 years ago we purchased a collection and this record was in there primarily, we think, because of the presence of Dick Garcia on guitar. So it’s one of these records that’s been sitting on the shelf for 25 years and we’ve never played it. We’ve also rarely seen it on eBay, so we’re interested to see what it will sell for. We’ll try to listen to it later today and give you a report.

Today on eBay, January 27, 2009

Here are some interesting items coming up on eBay today. Also, make sure you see the post we did at Jazz Collector earlier on The Blue Note Story and please post a comment on the site so you’re eligible to win the free copy of Hank Mobley, Workout, Blue Note 84080. Now, without further ado, today’s records:

This seller, recordgraveyard1, has a bunch of records up today, most with pretty high start prices. This is one of the ones that started high but has already received several bids: Duke Pearson, Hush, Jazz Line 3302. The record is in VG++ condition, and the cover is VG+. The current price is $339.  Also from this seller, with no bids yet, is Donald Byrd, Byrd’s Eye View, Transition 4. This is an original pressing that looks to be in VG condition, perhaps a little better. There is no booklet. The starting asking from is $349. We’ll see if it sells. 

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The Blue Note Story

So the other day I was reorganizing my records, which I do every couple of months, and I took out an old Sidney Bechet record on Blue Note and inside the sleeve found this great little pamphlet, called The Blue Note Story. It’s a four-pager on a coated paper and it clearly dates from 1955 — it talks about Blue Note starting in 1939 — 16 years ago. It is written by Leonard Feather and measures 8-1/2 inches high by 5-1/2 inches wide, which is basically a standard 8-1/2-by-11 sheet folded in half. I will post the entire contents of this pamphlet momentarily. How this rates as I collectible, I have no idea. I do know that, in my view, it’s a helluva a lot more interesting than the Bechet record. I must have three or four dozen Lexington Avenue Blue Notes in my collection — including 10-inch and 12-inch LPs — and I’ve never found this pamphlet in any of the others.

So here’s what it says:

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Sonny, Jackie, Miles & Bird for the Price Guide

Here are some items we’ll be adding to the Jazz Collector Price Guide today: 

Sonny Rollins With the Modern Jazz Quartet, Prestige 7029. This is an original New York pressing with the original Orange cover and the wrong catalogue number. It’s a very rare piece and this one was in M- condition, both record and cover. Price: $760

Johnny Griffin Sextet, Riverside 264. This was an original blue label pressing. The record was M- and the cover was VG++. Price: $294

Thelonious Monk, The Unique, Riverside 209. This was an original white label pressing. The record was VG+ and the cover was VG. The price was $161.50. Also from Monk: Thelonious Monk With Sonny Rollins, Prestige 7075. This was an original New York pressing. The record was VG++ and the cover was VG++. The price was $180.49.

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Today on Ebay, January 26, 2009

Quite a fair number of nice items on eBay today. At Jazz Collector, we have a few items up there this week, and we’re hoping to post several more. To view our items, you can just click Items For Sale above. We’ve got a couple of decent pieces up there, including Wynton Kelly, Kelly at Midnite, VeeJay 3011. This one is in nice condition and is only priced at about $20 at this point. In the Jazz Collector Price Guide, we’ve seen a promo copy of this record sell for $148. We’re also working on adding an e-commerce module to the Web site, so we can sell collectibles right from here. Stay tuned for an update on that — we should be rolling with it this week.  

Here are a few interesting items for sale today:

Kenny Burrell and Art Blakey, On View at the Five Spot Cafe, Blue Note 4021. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing that looks to be in M- condition, both record and cover. The current price is $280.

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Today on Ebay, January 25, 2009

It’s like a smorgasbord of nice collectible jazz vinyl on eBay today. We’ll try to point to a few of the more interesting items. Here’s one that really caught our eye: Charlie Parker, Bird on 52rd Street, Jazz Workshop 501. This is an original pressing in what the seller describes as M- condition, both vinyl and cover. It’s really rare to see a copy of this record in this condition. The current price is about $160. We’ll see what it goes for. Here’s one going for a high price even though the record is listed in VG condition and the cover is VG-: Helen Merrill, Emarcy 36006. This is the LP with Clifford Brown. The current price is $231.  This seller, Eclecticpicks, has a bunch of nice items, closing pretty soon, including: Miles Davis Volume 2, Blue Note 1502. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing. Both the record and cover are listed in VG+ condition. The current price is $170.

New Items For the Price Guide, January 25, 2009

Catching up on a Sunday morning with some of the items we’ve been watching on eBay. Here’s one that did not sell, as we expected: Jazz At Massey Hall Volume 3, Debut 2. This was an original 10-inch pressing. The record and cover were VG+. The seller put a base price of $200 on it and did not get any bids.  Here’s another that did not sell because it didn’t meet the seller’s reserve price: Lou Donaldson, Quartet, Quintet, Sextet, Blue Note 1537. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record was listed in VG+ condition and the cover was VG. The top bid was $235.49. In the Jazz Collector Price Guide, we’ve seen this record go from around $240 to as much as $650.  This record is a particular favorite of ours — love how he does If I Love Again — and the copy in our collection is a Japanese pressing, and we would love an original pressing, someday, when the price is right. 

One of the ones on which we did bid was this: Jackie McLean, Alto Madness, Prestige 7114. Again, we have this in our personal collection, but our copy is the New Jazz reissue (actually, it’s worse than that — it’s really a Status reissue). The vinyl was in VG condition

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Today on EBay, January 24, 2009

Pretty light day on eBay today, but here are a few items to perk up your Saturday:

There are two copies of Jackie McLean, Alto Madness, Prestige 7114. They are from different sellers and close at different times. This one is listed as VG for the record and VG+ for the cover. The current price is $42 with four bidders. The next one actually closes tomorrow. It is currently at about $100 and is listed in VG condition by the seller. 

Here’s a nice original mono pressing of Donald Byrd, Live at the Half Note Volume One, Blue Note 4060. This has the West 63rd street address. The vinyl looks to be VG++ and the cover VG++ as well. The current price is just $51. 

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How About Another Free Record?

OK, now that we’re back posting regularly again, it’s time to give away another free record. So far we’ve done two giveaways: An OJC copy of The Dual Role of Bob Brookmeyer, Prestige 7066 and a copy of Wayne Shorter, Adam’s Apple, Blue Note 84232. For the next giveaway we have another Blue Note: Hank Mobley, Workout, Blue Note 84080. This is not an original pressing — we’re generous, but not THAT generous — but, instead, is a 1988 reissue from EMI-Manhattan records. The record and cover include the original packaging, including the liner notes from Leonard Feather. Both the record and cover are in M- condition, very nice. Personnel on this LP includes Mobley, Grant Green on guitar, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. It was originally recorded on March 26, 1961. 

We have one copy of this to give away, so we will conduct a drawing. In order to participate in the drawing all you have to do is comment on the site — you can comment on this post or ANY post — between now and the end of the day on Feb. 4. This gives you more than two weeks to comment anywhere on the site. At the end of the day on Feb. 4 — which happens to be my birthday — we will put all of the names of the participants into a hat and ask our lovely bride, Mrs. Jazz Collector, to pull out one lucky winner. Then we will send the record to that person for no charge at all — we will even pay for the shipping. So good luck to all, and we hope to see some of your comments on the Jazz Collector site.

Upgrading the Jazz Collector Price Guide

We’ve just added a new feature to the Jazz Collector Price Guide that should make it simpler — and more fun — to browse through all of the records. On the main page of the Price Guide, the listings appear as they always have, 50 on a page, more than 75 pages and all of the items searchable. This is fine for what it is, but it makes it very difficult to browse and compare, say, an Eric Dolphy record against a Freddie Hubbard record. What we’ve done now, is created pages where ALL of the records are listed on each page, so you can just go up and down, comparing and contrasting. We’ve also made these pages sortable by Artist, by Label (want to contrast all the Blue Notes?), by Price (so you can look at the highest-priced records all at once) and by Time Entered (so you can browse the most recent additions to the Price Guide).  In order to view the records all at once, just go to the Price Guide page and click on the link: View The Complete List Price Guide. We’re also trying to clean up some other aspects of the Price Guide, so that the listings are less random, but we think this change will add a lot of value and interest to the Price Guide. If you have a moment, please let us know what you think. Thanks.

Today on eBay, January 20, 2009

We can’t spend too much time on eBay this morning because we have to watch the historic inauguration of Barack Obama, which is very exciting. But we’ve be able to cull through the next 24 hours worth of jazz collectibles, to bring you a few gems that are being offered today by various sellers. Foremost among these sellers is Euclid Records, which always seems to come up with some goodies. Here are a couple: Serge Chaloff, Blue Serge, Capital 742. This is an original pressing. The record is M- and the cover is VG++. The current price is $294. Also from Euclid is Serge Chaloff, Boston Blow-Up!, Capital 6510. This also seems to be an original pressing. The record is M- and the cover is VG++. The current price is $33. Goes the presence of Sonny Clark on Blue Serge make that much of a difference in the value between these two records? 

Also coming up today on eBay are:

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Another $1,000 Record, and A Few More

Here’s another record that recently broke the $1,000 price barrier: Lee Morgan, Indeed, Blue Note 1538. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The vinyl was in VG++ condition and the cover was listed as VG+. The final price was $1,114. In the Jazz Collector Price Guide, we’ve previously seen this one sell for as high as $895. We’ll be adding this copy to the Price Guide later today. Also breaking the $1,000 barrier was that test pressing of the Jackie McLean Quintet, Blue Note 84116. This was a very rare pressing in M- condition and sold for $1,220. The other two test pressings that were available yesterday, also sold for fairly high prices: The Leo Parker, Rolling With Leo, Blue Note 84095 test pressing, sold for $631; the one from Sam Rivers, Dimensions and Extensions, Blue Note 84261, sold for $480.55.

Today on Ebay, January 19, 2009

Things are kind of slow on eBay today, but there are definitely a few items of interest for those of us in the Jazz Collector world. Of particular note are several Blue Note test pressings from the seller Bluenotesound, which, we believe, is affiliated with Mosaic Records. This one is of the Jackie Mclean Quintet, listed as Blue Note BST 84116. It was recorded in 1962 — the record has the date 9-2-62 — but wasn’t released until the 1970s. It features Kenny Dorham and Sonny Clark and, according to the seller, Blue Note only issued 25 test pressings of each LP, so it would be extremely rare. In addition to this Jackie test pressing, there are two other test pressings available: Leo Parker, Rolling With Leo,  and a copy of the Sam Rivers LP Dimensions and Extensions. All of these are in near mint condition. It’ll be very interesting to see the final prices. 

Among the more conventional jazz collectibles are:

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Updating The Price Guide, Part 2

Here are some more items we’ll be loading into the Jazz Collector Price Guide today:

Jackie McLean and Company, Prestige 7087. This was an autographed original New York pressing. The record was M- and the cover was VG++. Price: 418

Horace  Parlan, Headin’ South, Blue Note 4062. This was a New York USA pressing — not original — and was in M- condition. Price $371

Zoot Sims and the Modern Art of Jazz, Dawn 1102. This was an original mono pressing. The record and cover were in M- condition. Price: $105.01

We were watching this one to see if it had much value as a collectible. Apparently not: Dexter Gordon, Live at the Amsterdam Paradiso, Catfish 336-337. This was a double LP with the records VG++ and the cover VG+. Price: $30.53

Johnny Griffin, The Congregation, Blue Note 1580. This was an original West 63rd

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Updating the Price Guide, January 18, 2009 (Part 1)

We have a bunch of records we’ve been watching that we’ll be adding today to the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Here are some of them, without links, since many of these have appeared with links in previous posts:

Thad Jones, Detroit-New York Junction, Blue Note 1513. Two copies of this sold recently. One was a Lexington Avenue pressing that was in M- condition, both record and cover. It sold for $776. The other copy was also a Lexington Avenue pressing, but it looked to be in VG+ condition. It sold for $423.

The Magnificent Thad Jones Volume 3, Blue Note 1546. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing. The record was VG++ and the cover was VG. Price: $338

Bennie Green, Walking Down, Prestige 7049. This was a yellow label, New York address copy. The record was M- and the cover was VG++. Price: $225.50

Jon Eardley Seven with Zoot Sims, Prestige 7033. This was an original New York pressing. The record and cover were both in VG++ condition. Price: $515

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Today on Ebay, January 16, 2009

Huge, huge day for jazz collectibles on eBay today. Let’s start with some of the prime choices:

Jackie McLean, Alto Madness, Prestige 7114. This is an original yellow label New York pressing. The record is listed in M- condition and the cover is VG+. The current price is a bit more than $500. This seller, Sweedeedee has a large number of nice items for sale today. Take a look at his other items as well. 

How about this beauty from Euclid Records: Thad Jones, Detroit-New York Junction, Blue Note 1513. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing. Both the vinyl and cover are in M- condition, and the vinyl is listed as hardly played. The current price on this one is about $650. 

Also from Euclid Records: Sonny Rollins, The Sound of Sonny, Riverside 241. This is an original white label pressing. The record is M- and the cover is VG++. The current price is $135, but we expect this to sell for quite a bit more. In the Jazz Collector Price Guide, we’ve seen this sell for as much as $408. 

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Today on Ebay, January 15, 2009

After a week of slow days, it was quite a pleasant surprise to log on today and find a large number of nice collectibles to watch, and perhaps even a couple on which to place a bid or two. So, without further ado, here are some items for the Jazz Collector files, and, eventually, for the Jazz Collector Price Guide:

Thelonious Monk, Monk, Prestige  7053. This is an original pressing with the cover art designed by Andy Warhol. The seller provides some interesting background on the cover. For instance, it notes that the cover was hand-written by Warhol’s mother, which we never knew. For the seller, it always pays to have nice detailed information like this. This record, which looks to be in M- condition, is currently priced at $540. 

Miles Davis, Bags’ Groove, Prestige 7109. This is listed as a yellow label. We asked the seller which address and it is a New Jersey address, so be aware. The record and cover both seem to be in VG+ condition. The current price is about $50. 

Dave Bailey Quintet, Reaching Out, Jazztime 003. This is an original pressing. The record seems to be in M- condition and the cover looks about VG. The current price is $305. 

Here’s one that wouldn’t normally hit our radar screen, but we’re sure some of you Jazz Collector readers out there will be interested: Albert Ayler, New York Eye and Ear Control, ESP 1016. This looks to be in M-/VG++ condition. The current price is $91. 

Here are a bunch more from today:

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Today on eBay, January 14, 2009

Yet another slow day on eBay today. It’s interesting because prices remain high, but the number of listings for high-end collectibles has been slow for at least a week now. Perhaps it’s just an aberration. We’ll keep watching at Jazz Collector to see how long it lasts and see if there’s anything more than coincidence to it. Perhaps it’s a rare chance to pick up a bargain or two, based on a few of the items we’re watching, such as:

Donald Byrd, Off To The Races, Blue Note 4007. This looks to be an original pressing. The picture shows a West 63rd Street address on the label, but it shows only one side. Also, the seller doesn’t actually grade the condition of the record, but, based on his description, it looks to be at least VG+, perhaps better. So maybe this will be a bargain for someone. It is now priced at $33.76.  In the Jazz Collector Price Guide, we’ve monitored this record at around $125 in this condition and as high as $344 in M- condition. 

We’ve always like the cover of this next one, with a caveat:

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Today on Ebay, January 13, 2009

Here, quickly, are some of the hot records on eBay today. When you look at each of these, make sure to check out each seller’s other items for some more rare jazz collectibles. Each of these is from one of the top eBay sellers in the Jazz Collector community. From Euclid records is this: Horace Parlan, Headin’ South, Blue Note 4062. This is an original pressing. The record and cover are M-. Current price is $363, with a couple of hours to go. From Jazz Record Center is: Freddie Hubbard, Goin’ Up, Up, Up, Blue Note 4056. This is an original pressing. The current price is $317. Finally, from Atomic Records: Hank Mobley, Workout, Blue Note 84080. This is an original STEREO pressing. The record looks to be M- and the cover VG+. Current price is about $150. Don’t forget to check out the Jazz Collector Price Guide to see how these records end up.

Another $1,000 Record, Another Blue Note

A few weeks ago we were keeping a running tab of records that sold for more than $1,000. Here’s another one to add to the list, from a couple of days ago: JR Monterose, Blue Note 1536. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+. It was a very reputable dealer and the price was $1,225. We looked in the Jazz Collector Price Guide and, surprisingly, we hadn’t tracked this record in the past, so now it will go into the guide by the end of the week. You can go into the Price Guide and sort by highest prices first to get a sense of which records consistently go for the top prices. No surprise that Blue Note is the label that appears most often, but there are also several records from the British Tempo label that have cracked the $1,000 barrier.