Album Covers | jazzcollector.com

Blue Note Album Cover Art: The Winner Is . . . .

July 6, 2009 Al Leave a comment

Okay, it’s finally time to announce the winner of our most recent giveaway contest for the book: Blue Note The Album Cover Art. As previously mentioned, this is a 128-book of album cover art from the Blue Note catalogue, first published in 1991 by Chronicle Books. It features page after page of classic Blue Note covers from the 1950s and 1960s, featuring many of the great designs by Reid Miles and photos by Francis Wolff. The book also includes a foreward by Horace Silver. We announced a couple of weeks ago we would be giving away a free copy of this book to one lucky reader of Jazz Collector. The criteria for being eligible to win the book were simple: All you had to do was comment on a post on the site, any post. Since we announced the contest, there have been 12 different individuals who have commented on the site and are thus eligible to win the book. They are:

Who Are Those Verve Cover Models?

June 24, 2009 Al 2 comments

Here’s an oddball question from my good friend dan Axelrod. Dan was perusing some Verve covers and was curious about some of them that used female models. Here are a couple of examples:

Question: Does anyone, anywhere, have any clue who these models were and how they may have been chosen?

Win A Free Collectible: Blue Note Cover Art

June 17, 2009 Al 8 comments

OK, we’ve been putting up some interesting posts, but we’re not getting all that many comments these days, aside from Michel and Rudolf and a few of our other consistent (and always compelling) contributors. That means it must be time to give away another free collectible.

So, here it is, a new free giveaway contest from Jazz Collector, and it’s a Blue Note (no not an original copy of Candy by Lee Morgan, or even a second pressing of Newk’s Time by Sonny Rollins). It is (drum roll, please):

BLUE NOTE: THE ALBUM COVER ART

This is a 128-book of album cover art from the Blue Note catalogue, first published in 1991 by Chronicle Books. It features page after page of classic Blue Note covers from the 1950s and 1960s, featuring so many of the great designs by Reid Miles and photos by Francis Wolff. The book also includes a foreward by Horace Silver, which I will present in a separate post later in the week.

Best of all, the book will be given away FREE to one lucky reader of Jazz Collector. To be eligible to win all you have to do is

Nice Norgrans at High (But Not Blue Note) Prices

June 2, 2009 Al 2 comments

We’ve been watching a few records on the Norgran label on eBay and we’ve been pleasantly surprised by the continued strong market. Here are a couple of the records we’ve been watching:

Johnny Hodges, Dance Bash, Norgran 1024. This was an original pressing in M- condition, both record and cover. It has a beautiful cover illustration by David Stone Martin. The price was $274. This is one of those Norgrans that, instead of the trumpeter logo, has the logo of the couple dancing, also designed by David Stone Martin. I’ll post a copy in a later posting. I still owe Rudolf a post on the David Stone Martin book, which I will also get to later.

Stan Getz, Interpretations Volume 3, Norgran 1029. This was also an original pressing (with the trumpeter logo) and also has a cover designed by David Stone Martin. This copy was in M- condition, both record and cover, and sold for $274.

Then there was this item from Ben Webster:

Watching the Warhol Covers

April 21, 2009 Al Leave a comment

I’m in the midst of an interesting experiment. Last week I put three records on eBay with a common property: Each features a cover design or cover artwork by Andy Warhol. The three records are The Story Of Moondog, Prestige 7099; Artie Shaw, Any Old Time, RCA 1570; and Artie Shaw, Both Feet in the Groove, RCA Victor 1201. Clearly, the Moondog on Prestige is the big prize of the bunch. In posting the three together, it is clear to see how much the Moondog is the prize of the bunch. I started each item with the same exact price: $49.99. They all close today, and they are all in relatively comparable condition. The Moondog LP currently has a top price of $255. It also has received a total of

Catching up With a Few More Warhol Covers

March 19, 2009 Al 3 comments

We’ve been watching prices for albums with covers by Andy Warhol. Here are a few more that sold recently on eBay:

Johnny Griffin, The Congregation, Blue Note 1580. This was an interesting one in that the record was listed as in only G+ or VG- condition, which means it is probably something most of us wouldn’t put on our turntables. The cover was listed in VG+ condition. It sold for $311.

J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding and Bennie Green, Trombone by Three, Prestige 16-4. This was an original pressing and a very rare 16-RPM LP. It was in VG++ condition, both the record and the cover. The price was $290.

Monk with Warhol Cover Sells for $843

February 25, 2009 Al 3 comments

We had expected this record to sell for more than $1,000, but it didn’t: Thelonious Monk, Prestige 7053. This was a promo copy with the Andy Warhol cover and the New York label. The record was in VG+ or VG++ condition and the cover was VG++. The price was $843. A few weeks ago a copy of this record in VG condition sold for more than $2,000. Perhaps, as we mentioned before, things are softening a bit. Is the economy starting to affect the market for high-end jazz collectibles?

Today on eBay, Feb. 2, 2009

February 2, 2009 Al 21 comments

Here are some of the items we at Jazz Collector are watching on eBay today:

The previously mentioned Euclid Records has a few nice items up today, including Charlie Mariano Sextet, Fantasy 3-10. This is a 10-inch LP in M- condition. The current price is $76.

Here’s another one for the $1,000 record bin, or perhaps even the $2,000 bin: Thelonious Monk, Prestige 7053. This is the one with the cover design by Andy Warhol. The record is only in VG condition and the cover is VG+, yet the price is already at $1,775. The same seller has another Warhol cover: Artie Shaw, Both Feet in the Groove, RCA 1201. This is an original pressing and it looks to be in at least VG+ condition. The current price is $71.

Finally, here’s a pretty Norgran currently in the $50 price range: Johnny Hodges, Ellingtonia ’56, Norgran 1055. This one is in what looks like VG++/VG+ condition.

Back in Business, Part 2

November 19, 2008 Al Leave a comment

OK, so we’re starting to get back into the blogging rhythm, shredding some of the cobwebs. Here are a few more items Jazz Collector is watching on eBay: Euclid Records has a couple of nice Anita O’Day Norgran records closing soon. This one, Anita O’Day Sings Jazz, Norgran 1049, is in M- condition and is now priced at $105.50. Note the beautiful cover illustration by David Stone Martin. And this one, An Evening With Anita O’Day, Norgran 1057, is also in M- condition and is priced at $124.50. We’re personally more partial to this one, since it features the presence of Tal Farlow in his prime on several of the cuts. We’ll keep an eye on both of these and see what happens. We missed the Anita O’Day movie when it was out this past summer, but we heard it got great reviews. Anyone out there see it. Wanna share with us?

Ebay Today, Oct. 2, 2008

October 2, 2008 Al Leave a comment

Ready for another day on eBay? Here we go:

Yesterday there were a couple of comments on the Norgran label. Here’s one for sale today: Lester Young, Pres and Sweets, Norgran 1043. Not my favorite of the Pres records, but it has a great cover by David Stone Martin. And if you like Sweets, try this: Sweets, Verve 8097.

Here’s a heavyweight: Freddie Hubbard, Open Sesame, Blue Note 4040. If you take a look at our Price Guide, you can see that it’s sold for as much as $1,600 on our watch. We’ll see how it goes here. This one is an original in very nice condition, but not mint. Read more

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