Category: Jazz Vinyl on eBay

Jazz Collector, Back on eBay

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I’m on the road this week and won’t be able to post as frequently as I would probably like to, given the reality that the records I am selling on consignment with Carolina Soul Records began closing on eBay today and will continue tomorrow. I was paying so little attention to the auctions, I didn’t even realize they were closing today until I logged on around noon and saw that several of the auctions had already ended. All in all, about 300 of my records were on the consignment list today, with another 300 tomorrow. Despite whatever trepidations I may have had about the discrepancies between my grading curve and that of Carolina Soul, I’m very pleased by the results so far. Very pleased, indeed. And surprised. Having done Jazz Collector for about 20 years now, I feel like I’ve been well on top of the market and how it has evolved. But, seeing my own records being sold has been enlightening in a new way. I’m still processing the whole process and want to see how things end up tomorrow before sharing some of my preliminary thoughts. So let me do one of the things I do most frequently here at Jazz Collector, which is to look at the prices of rare jazz records that have been sold on eBay. In this case, every record on the following list was from my personal collection, singles or doubles. Read more

A Few of My Favorite Things

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Back after a lovely holiday in Costa Rica celebrating my birthday. Now it’s back to reality, which means watching rare jazz vinyl auctions on eBay. But first, I came back to a couple of notes in my inbox with opposing viewpoints on the same record and the same auction. This was the auction in question: John Coltrane, My Favorite Things, Atlantic 1361. The auction was from our friends at the Jazz Record Center in New York. This was listed as the “original mono pressing . . . on the red and purple labels.” The record looked to be in M- condition and the cover was probably VG++. There were four bidders, seven bids, and the final price was $255. Read more

Get Happy with Freddie Redd and Jazz Collector

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You would think that someone collecting jazz records for more than 50 years, as I have, and who had been obsessed with finding a clean copy of Shades of Redd, as I have, would have known about the following record, as I have not (until now): Get Happy With Freddie Redd Trio With Guests, Nixa Jazz Today Series, NJL.19. Not only have I been unfamiliar with this title, I am also unfamiliar with the label. So, excuse me for a moment, while I look at the record and do a search. A quick perusal tells me this is a Metronome Recording, Made in England and, as described on the label, is an “unauthorized public performance.” The trio is Freddie Redd, Tommy Potter and Joe Harris and the guests are Rolf Ericson and Benny Bailey. Based on the liner notes I would place the record in the late 1950s, maybe 1958 or 1959? Now to Popsike, Google and beyond. Read more

Ornette, Intrigue, Esquire and More

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Today we will get back to the normal business of watching and commenting on jazz vinyl for sale and we will also pose some reader questions and comments. Let’s start with Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz To Come, Atlantic 1317. This is a deep groove pressing, unplayed, still with its original loose sleeve. The start price is around $200 and the auction closes today with no bidders. This record caught my eye because in my other room just down the hall I have a copy of this record still with its original seal unopened. Oh, yes, and the record happened to be owned by Ornette himself. Oh, yes, and it is part of a collection that I recently purchased and am looking to sell in toto. Intrigued? I will be providing more details soon, because, as always, there was an adventure and a story that goes with it. In the meantime, if anyone is interested you know where to find me, alatjazzcollectordotcom. Read more

Two Rare Jazz LPs You Don’t Often (or Ever) Encounter

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It’s always fun to find records I’ve never seen before and, thanks to eBay, that happens more often than you would think, particularly since I’ve been scouring jazz vinyl bins for close to 50 years now (you can’t imagine how much it pains me to write that). Anyway, here’s one on eBay now: James Moody, Moody’s Mood, Vogue L.D. 018. This is an original French 10-inch pressing, with a very interesting cover. I’ve never seen a copy of this record before, although we have written about it before on Jazz Collector — actually, it was Rudolf who wrote about it in the post A Comprehensive Guide to French Vogue back in 2010. This copy looks to be in VG- condition for the record and VG for the cover. It has a start price in the $190 range and a buy-it-now in the $250 range.

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Riffing on Kind of Blue

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I’m at my home in The Berkshires and it is snowing. Will winter ever end? Other than my work and my records, there is also eBay to keep my pre-occupied, to wit: For some reason I was watching three copies of Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, Columbia 1355. I must have been doing so for a Jazz Collector post, such as this one, since I don’t have interest in the record for my own collection in that I am already in possession of three copies, and three copies of Kind of Blue is probably a more than somewhat reasonable number for any collection. Anyway, this first copy of Kind of Blue was a mono pressing with the six eyes logo and the white label and, if I were to be interested in a copy of Kind of Blue, it would be a promo pressing because that is one I do not happen to own. This would not have been the one, however, in that there were small scratches and, as described by the seller, “occasional light background noise,” a flaw that I am finding increasingly irritating as I get older, for some reason. The cover was also far from perfect and was graded in VG+ condition. The final price was $500, but not for me.

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Guest Column: Blue Note Angst

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Our friend Daryl Parks, who wrote a previous post on originals versus reissues, has written another piece, this one around the angst of both owning and selling original Blue Note records (and others) worth a lot of money. Here ’tis.

By Daryl Parks

Let me cut to the chase: I am selling first-press, holy grail Blue Notes this week. In our Jazz Collector community, we rarely discuss the emotions related to such sales, so I will. I’m not sure that I’m doing the right thing by selling these records. I am guess that your comments or bids will let me know.

I began to follow Jazz Collector some six years ago. A retired neighbor had given me a few pristine jazz lp’s worth a few dozen dollars, which caused me to learn as much as I could. Al and the JC family taught me more than I ever knew I wanted to know about jazz records: first editions, grooves, initials in the runoff, and more. As I knew I would never be able to afford the rarest of the rare first editions at the center of the site’s clamor (e.g., Blue Note, Prestige, New Jazz) I stood offstage with my re-issues and infrequent Impulse first presses for five years. I often dreamed about owning just one of the rare ones described and discussed. (Fast forward) Then, last year, out of the blue, I owned six. Read more

Jazz Vinyl on eBay and In Edison New Jersey

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I assume some of you noticed that I’ve been posting less frequently lately. I hope that situation changes and I can get back to what used to be my normal routine of posting every day, or at least attempting to post every day. I have been swamped with work and have had less time to think about jazz records, let alone do the work required to create interesting posts. I know that sounds like blasphemy in this narrow vinyl world that we typically obsess about here at Jazz Collector, and, indeed, it does feel a bit untethered to not be poring over eBay or pulling out gems from my collection and putting them on the turntable. All of which is a roundabout way of saying that I have a lot of email to catch up on. 🙂 Let’s start where we so often start: With our friend CeeDee, who has sent me several links that I am anxious to clear out of my inbox, including Johnny Coles, The Warm Sound, Epic 16015.

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Free Jazz Cracking the $2,000 Bin on eBay

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There was a time not all that long ago when obscure records with relatively abrasive – or at least not for the feint of heart – musical content didn’t break the bank or require a second mortgage on one’s house. This was even the case for the first several years of online record buying, when private-press free jazz LPs were, though rare, not a matter of renegotiating one’s financial well-being to obtain. Well, that period has been officially over for a while now, but nevertheless the hits keep coming and new price points are reached. Take, for example, the lone LP by the Black Unity Trio, Al-Fatihah, on their own Salaam imprint. It’s a scarce and in demand post-Ayler document out of Cleveland, Ohio featuring an early appearance of cellist/bassist Abdul Wadud, along with saxophonist Yusuf Mumin (of the Norman Howard group) and drummer Haasan Al-Hut. Most copies I’ve run across look like they’d been run over by a skateboard and tossed into a puddle. This one was better, with a grade of VG++ for the vinyl and probably a strong VG for the matte white cover. Nevertheless, $2,355 is nearly double the next highest price in the internet marketplace and there was a time several years ago when $400-$500 was a healthy number for this album. Not anymore! Read more

Rare European Jazz on eBay: Meinert, Pelzer and more…

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Greetings to all from the world of obscure jazz records on eBay. It feels weird writing that, considering how much strife and upset is occurring due to our political situation and like Al, it’s been hard for me to find much respite even in my own projects. At the same time, settling down with music made as the world was in the midst of conflict does give one hope that as a whole we can get through these seemingly insurmountable situations. Not unscathed, but through.

With that in mind, here are a number of European jazz records on eBay that I’ve been watching. First up is the third LP by Finnish saxophonist Eero Koivistoinen, The Original Sin, released on Scandia in 1971. It’s a fantastic slice of Finnish-American (due to the presence of guitarist Lance Gunderson) modal jazz and jazz-rock that has recently been reissued (though even the reissue is hard to find). Koivistoinen also released a couple of superb records on RCA Victor somewhat later, both of which are well worth seeking out. Scandia pressings aren’t known for their high quality, and this one was probably in VG+ or VG++ for the vinyl with the thin cover in VG or VG+ condition. The final price was $477. Read more

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