February, 2011 | jazzcollector.com

More Tales Of The Hunt: Beware A Woman Scorned

February 28, 2011 Al 3 comments

I get the feeling Nick from Brooklyn is becoming an irresistible force. Here he is, back again with a new Tales of the Hunt guest column. I’m calling this one “Beware a Woman Scored.”

Still More Tales of The Hunt by Nick From Brooklyn

This is going to be a quick story. I wanted to get it to Al before I forgot it. I used to advertise all over New York City, I had cards made up, I used to stick flyers all over, did a lot of newspaper ads, etc. Because you never know who is going to call you and with what. One day, I think it is around 1995 or so, I am in my house doing some research. The phone rings. I answer it. On the other end is a woman and she is screaming YOU WANT JAZZ RECORDS WELL COME AND GET THEM and hangs up. I laugh to myself because over the years not every call or deal is a winner and a lot of people like to play games and in reality many people really do not know what jazz is. Around an hour later the phone rings again, it’s the same woman and she is still screaming and yelling (some voice) WELL WHERE ARE YOU. I try to talk to her, but she hangs up again. I go out for around two hours, when I get home my wife tells me a woman called and she gave me the number. I ask her was she screaming and yelling, she says no, she was pretty nice. I call the woman, she answers and she is very calm, and tells me she was sorry about the last two calls. I tell her don’t worry about it. And then I ask her what do you have?

Guest Columns

eBaying With Horace, Lou, Newk & Leo Parker

February 25, 2011 Al 14 comments

Some interesting items on eBay now. Shall we see?

Horace Silver, The Cape Verdean Blues, Blue Note 4220. This looks to be an original mono pressing with the ear and the Van Gelder in the deadwax, although there is no close-up picture of the label to tell. This one is closing soon and is at more than $150 in VG+ or VG++ condition. Anyone out there have an explanation? Not that it’s not an excellent record, but it’s never been one of those that has garnered high prices. Perhaps because it’s a mono pressing?

We’d mentioned this one a couple of weeks ago when it sold for $81 in VG condition: Leo Parker and Bill Jennings, Billy in the Lion’s Den, King 395-527. The record here is VG+ and the cover is VG, but the pictures with the listing are very nice. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and, in this case, they seem to be worth several hundred at least: This one is already more than $325.

Random Notes: Mobley, Byrd, Warhol

February 24, 2011 Al 10 comments

This one was in VG- or VG condition for the vinyl with surface noise in the ballads: Hank Mobley Quartet, Blue Note 5066. The cover was listed in VG condition and it had clear marks on the back. It sold for $710. Indeed, this is a hot record these days. Based on the sale of a similar record last week, I thought this one would fetch more: Donald Byrd, Parisian Thoroughfare, Brunswick 87904. This was an original French pressing. The record and the cover were both in VG+ condition. There was just one bidder and the price was $299. As I type this I am listening to my original pressing of George Wallington, Jazz For the Carriage Trade, Prestige 7032. I tend to agree with Rudolf, Donald Byrd is not a favorite player, but Phil Woods just wails on this LP. Here’s another Andy Warhol cover available for those watching such items: Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1543. This has a Lexington Avenue address but it’s not clear whether it’s a deep groove, flat edge original. It probably is, but I’d ask if I were to bid. The seller clearly does not have experience selling jazz records because it’s really tough to gauge the condition and vintage. He does know enough to have a start price of 4500. No bidders so far.

Guest Column: More Tales of The Hunt

February 24, 2011 Al 10 comments

Nick has been posting a bunch of long anecdotes on various comments under the moniker “Tales of the Hunt” so I suggested he send them to me first and I would post them as guest columns. I’ll see about pulling them together in one spot for those interested. In the meantime here’s this one, which I think of as “Guys and Dolls and Records.”

More Tales of The Hunt, by Nick from Brooklyn

One thing good about trading records with another collector who does not collect the same music as you do, both of you should feel like winners in the end. I spoke about Joe Rocco before who was a big Doo Wop collector and was part owner of Strider Records in Greenwich Village. Before he opened Strider Records, Joe worked for The House of Oldies also in the Village. And I did a lot of trading when I found Doo Wops with him there and in his home. One day Joe calls me – I think it was in the early 1980s – and asks, do I want to look at a collection with him in Queens. We drive out to Atlantic Avenue and I believe around Sutphin Boulevard very early in the morning. We meet this guy who has just purchased a building off of HUD for $5,000. As we approach the building it is a two-story building and it looks as if it was there for over 100 years, and this guy is talking a mile a minute and I’m trying to keep up with him. As he starts rolling up the gate my eyes start to blink. Here is this storefront with a huge neon sign in green – RECORDS – to the right of the door. Above that is another sign with an arrow pointing up that says “Dolls Repaired.” In the left side window is another smaller neon side that says Records.

Guest Columns

More Jazz Vinyl Updates and A Couple of Surprises

February 22, 2011 Al 36 comments

Here’s an update on some of the jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay:

Let’s start with the $1,000 bin, this one from last week: Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588. This was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $1,675. Hmm, in the Jazz Collector Price Guide we’ve had four or five of these sell for more than $3,000. What’s going on? Is there something in the listing that would indicate this is not an original pressing? Looks good to me. I know the listing would have been enhanced by more and better pictures, but still. . .

As we saw last week, prices for certain records with Andy Warhol covers seem to be rising. Here’s an example: Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1543. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing — the last original Lexington Avenue, right? — and the record was VG but the cover was VG+. It sold for $833. That’s the highest we’ve seen in the Jazz Collector Price Guide for any Burrell record.

Here’s one that provides an answer to a question we posed the other day:

An Opportune Time For eBay Bargains?

February 21, 2011 Al 5 comments

Today may be a time to find bargains on eBay. When I bid on records, which is not too often these days, I use a sniping software called BidNip. Earlier today I tried to snipe two records, but the software wouldn’t allow it. These were records closing within a few hours, yet the BidNip software showed them both closing sometime in 1999. Indeed. Anyway, I’ll share my secrets: One of the records was this: Randy Weston, Trio and Solo, Riverside 227. This was an original pressing with the white label. I love those white label Riversides and I don’t own an original copy of this. It was listed in M- condition for the record and the cover. I was going to put a snipe bid of about $71, since it was only at $30 with about an hour to go. I would have lost: The record sold for $83.20. The other record is still coming up, but I’ll have no chance to win it, snipe or not: Stanley Turrentine, Look Out, Blue Note 4039. In the Jazz Collector Price Guide our top price for this is nearly $400 and this one is sitting at about $125 in VG+ condition. I might have gone close to $200 for it, but not with confidence and not expecting to win it. The point of all this is that

e-Bay Watch: Getz, JR, Byrd, Mobley, et al

February 21, 2011 Al 4 comments

Here’s some jazz vinyl we’re watching now on eBay. Some of these are closing soon, so by the time many of you read these they will be sold.

Stan Getz In Stockholm, Verve 8213. This is an original pressing with the trumpeter label. Excellent LP with Getz in fine form. This one is listed in M- condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It is currently at $100.

Euclid Records has some nice records today, including these: J. R. Monterose, The Message, Jaro 5004. The record is in M- condition and the cover is just VG. It is already priced at more than $650. Jackie McLean, The New Tradition, Ad Lib 6601. How much do you want to own a copy? Would you accept one in G condition for the record, with noise, and VG for the cover? Someone will. This one is about $125 and I expect it will sell for a bit more than that. Bud Powell, Time Waits, Blue Note 1598. This looks to be an original pressing. The record is in VG++ condition and the cover is VG+. The current price is $175.

Haven’t seen this one in awhile, but now it’s up for the second time in a week:

Moody’s Mood For A Jazz Collector

February 20, 2011 Al 8 comments

One of the advantages of having a large and diverse collection, as I have, is sometimes finding hidden gems buried somewhere in the collection. Of course, the disadvantage is sometimes not knowing what you have at all and buying things in duplicate, triplicate or worse. In any case, I had a pleasant discovery the other day. I was chatting with my sister and she had her iPod on the background. The song that came up was “Moody’s Mood for Love.” I didn’t care for the version – George Benson – but I told her about the history of the song, the James Moody recording of “I’m In the Mood For Love,” the Eddie Jefferson lyrics, the King Pleasure recording, etc. Anyway, when I got home I happened to be looking through some of my 78s. Hmm, I thought, do I have the original King Pleasure 78? Indeed, I did and I put it on and it sounded great. Hmm, I thought again, what about the original James Moody “I’m in the Mood for Love?” And that’s when I was pleasantly surprised . . .

Andy Warhol Covers For the $2,000 Bin

February 17, 2011 Al 18 comments

Someone mentioned this one in the comments: Jay Jay Johnson, Kai Winding, Bennie Green, Trombone by Three, Prestige 16-4. This is a rare item, a 16-RPM record with a cover design by Andy Warhol. We’ve seen it sell for nearly $300 in VG++ condition in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Which did not prepare us for this one, which was in mere G condition for the record and just VG for the cover. It sold for $2,000.

Here’s another jazz record with a cover by Andy Warhol: Conte Candoli, Cool Gabriels, Groove 1003. I have to admit, this is one I’ve never seen before. The record was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG++ as well. The price for this one was also $2,000.

Since we’re already in the $2,000 bin, here’s one more:

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