Month: March 2011

Updating the Jazz Collector Price Guide

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I’ve been spending time updating the Jazz Collector Price Guide. I hope you guys use it: It does take up a bit of time to keep it going. In any case, as I’ve been going through older watch lists on eBay, here are some of the odds and ends I’ve been seeing.

I would classify this as a bargain: Gene Ammons, The Big Sound, Prestige 7132. This was not an original pressing with the New York address, but it was an early yellow label with the New Jersey address. The record and cover were ion VG+ condition and the price was $32. What makes this record interesting, in my opinion, is the presence of John Coltrane as a sideman. I have to admit I haven’t listened to this record in years so perhaps that will be one of my chores for the day to report back to you on the quality of the music.

There was a seller a few seeks ago with a bunch of autographed records, including: Art Farmer, Modern Art. This was a reissue, worth about $3 without an autograph. With the autograph it sold for $47. There were also a couple of records signed by Dizzy Gillespie, including: Dizzy Gillespie, Perceptions, Verve 8411. This was listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. Without the autograph this would be maybe $10: With the autograph it sold for $60. Did I ever tell you about my copy of AT’s Delight signed by Art Taylor?

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eBaying This Week: JR,Trane and More

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Another week, another 7,000 or so jazz records on eBay. Here are some of the ones we’ll be watching for you at Jazz Collector:

As noted, the lovely bobdjukic is back with a lot of superbly hyped records, including: J.R. Monterose, Blue Note 1536. This looks clearly to be an original pressing and it is listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. It closes at the end of the week and is already at $510. This will certainly be in the $1,000 bin soon. From the same seller, among others, is John Coltrane, Lush Life, Prestige 7188. I mention this because I have a friend looking for a nice original pressing of this record. This one looks to be in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It is now at $100. I’m sure you all know the great story behind this record, about the trio side which was only a trio side because Red Garland forgot to show up for the date.

This is from another seller: Lee Morgan, City Lights, Blue Note 1575. This one looks to be VG++ for the record and perhaps VG+ for the cover, although part of the top right corner is off. The current price is $485 and there are about three days left.

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Updating the $1,000 Bin, Plus a Few More

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Let’s catch up on some of the high-end jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay:

Here are a few from the Jazz Record Center auction: Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny, New Jazz 8225. This one was in beautiful condition, M- all the way around. It sold for $2,380.99. Sonny Clark, Dial S For Sonny, Blue Note 1570. This was another beauty that was M- for the record and probably VG++ for the cover, depending upon how you view things such as small splits and slight wear. It sold for $2,039. Kenny Dorham, Afro-Cuban, Blue Note 1535. This was in M- condition for the record and somewhat less for the cover. The price was $1,613.88. And the big one: Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This was an original pressing in M- condition for the record and between VG++ and M- for the cover, depending upon how you grade such things. The price was $3,618.

Here’s a $1,000 record that was not sold by the Jazz Record Center:

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Some Top Collectibles, Some Top Prices

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We could be looking at some record prices for jazz vinyl this week. The Jazz Record Center has a significant auction of some very high-end collectibles in beautiful condition. With two days to go several of these are more than $1,000 and $2,000 and at least one will certainly surpass $3,000 and perhaps $4,000. Here are a few to watch:

Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This is one of the rarest of the rare, and it already owns the top price in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. This copy is in beautiful condition, M- for the record and the cover. The current price is $2,981.

Curtis Fuller, The Opener, Blue Note 1567. Here’s another one that looks to be in beautiful condition, with a little bit of issues with the cover. This one is priced at $1,575 as of this writing.

Hank Mobley Quintet, Blue Note 1550. This is another original pressing. The condition looks great, perhaps not M-, however. This one is currently at $2,036.

Tales From the Hunt: A Spree Grows in Brooklyn

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Nick From Brooklyn is back with another Tale From the Hunt. I’ll call this one “A Spree Grows in Brooklyn.”

I would like to thank Al for giving me the chance to re live some of my experiences with records. And to all of you collectors for your nice comments. I used to have a loose-leaf book that I used for my notes on tracking records. Everything was in order from A to Z. I was going through one of my music books. I used to have a lot of Billboard International Buyers Guides, which listed record companies, music publishers, arrangers, etc. I also had Local 802 musician books; also I had BMI, ASCAP, SESAC Books, and a lot of other literature on music. I was trying to see if I could get a lead on a particular record label called Celeste Records, which put out some dynamite group records in the mid-1950’s, one in particular The Mellows. From all of the notes I kept on Celeste, I was able to track the owner to an address on Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn’s Bedford/Stuyvesant neighborhood so off I went looking. At this time the records on this label were bringing big bucks. I got to the address. The building was

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eBaying: Phil Woods, Cliff Jordan, Ray Draper

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Here’s some jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay:

Phil Woods, Woodlore, Prestige 7018. This is one of those great early Prestiges that, somehow, I’ve never been able to find an original pressing for my collection, despite 40-plus years of trying. I do have a Japanese pressing, which sounds good, but an original with the kakubushi cover, how can you ever compare? This was an original pressing from Atomic records. The record looked to be n M- condition and the cover was VG+. The price was $493.88, pretty reasonable in today’s market I would say.

Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore, Blowing in From Chicago, Blue Note 1549. This is another in the same category as Woodlore, I’m still searching for an original pressing for my own collection. Gives you a sense how rare these are — in all of my 40 years of exploration to have never come upon a reasonably priced copy of either one of these records. This one was sold by my friend Steve at Roundagain records in Providence and it was in VG++ condition for the record and what looked to be VG- for the cover. It sold for  $632.

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A Trip to a Well-Stocked Record Store

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I’m out in San Francisco for a couple of days and I had a couple of hours to kill so I checked out a record store in Redwood City, The Record Man. It was an interesting experience and probably a shop you want to check out if you’re here, although I wound up not purchasing anything. I’d say the jazz inventory at this store is the largest I’ve seen anywhere, shelves and shelves of records and you get the feeling there’s even more where that came from. You need a ladder, which they provide, and some stamina to go through the records. There’s a lot of stuff, which means a lot of stuff to wade through, but there are also collectibles buried within, although I didn’t unearth any rare Blue Notes or Prestiges. I did find a few nice Verves I was interested in and a couple of vocal records. One of the challenges is that none of the records is priced, so whatever you pick out you don’t know how much it is going to cost you until you go to the counter. There the owner, Gary, who was quite warm and chatty, goes through a process of looking up recent prices from Popsike, supplemented with a Goldmine Price Guide. I suggested he also check out the Jazz Collector Price Guide for pricing information, and perhaps he will.  In any case, I brought a small batch of records

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Jazz Vinyl Update: Some Warhols, Blue Notes & Miles

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Here’s some jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay:

This one was described in “like new” condition and, based on the picture and description, it looked like an original pressing: Sonny Clark, Sonny’s Crib, Blue Note 1576. The seller said he turned down a “buy now” request and let the bidding continue, which it did, topping off at $1,713.

This one wasn’t in nearly the same condition as Sonny’s Crib: Lee Morgan, Candy, Blue Note 1590. This looked to be an original pressing and it was listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG MINUS for the cover. It sold for $1,115.

This is the highest price we’ve ever seen for this record: Miles Davis, Cookin’ Prestige 7094. This was an original pressing that was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $665.

How about a few records with Andy Warhol covers:

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A Potpourri Of Collectible (And Not) Jazz Vinyl

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Here are some odds and ends we’ve been watching:

Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1543. This was an original pressing with the Lexington Avenue address, the last of the Lexington Blue Notes. It also has the cover by Andy Warhol. The seller has his own grading system and he labeled the record and cover in the VG++ range, but based on the description of the record and his system, it sounded to me like the record was more like VG and the cover was somewhere between VG and VG+.  It sold for $510.

I’d have thought this would see more action, but it didn’t: Stan Getz, Interpretations, Norgran 1000. This was an original pressing with the deep grooves and yellow label and it was listed in M- condition for the vinyl. The cover looked to be about VG+. The start price for this was $50 and there was only one bid and it sold for $50. Someone got a great record for a nice price.

Here’s another great record often available at a nice price: Sonny Stitt, 37 Minutes and 48 Seconds, Roost 2219. The early Stitt Roost LPS like this and Sonny Stitt and the New Yorkers feature

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