Category: Jazz Vinyl on eBay

Temptation, Thy Name is Blue Note

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Lou Donaldson Jazz VinylDoes a listing like this one tempt you: Collection of 40 RARE Original Jazz Albums LP’s All on the Blue Note Label? The seller states clearly that the records are all in VG condition or below. He also shows pictures with a lot of damaged covers. Yet . . . I see that picture of Lou Donaldson, Quartet, Quintet and Sextet, Blue Note 1537, and I think: Maybe it’s not that bad, maybe if I clean up the record, it would play nicely on my turntable and sit nicely on my shelf. There are also some other nice potentialities in the listing, such as Hank Mobley Roll Call, Whims of Chambers, Bass on Top, and a bunch of Blakeys, among others. There’s also a lot of junk. Anyway, my answer to the question is “Yes I am tempted.” At what price? That remains to be seen. So far the bidding is at $743.

 

M’Boom, John Gordon and Other Rarities from Jazz Record Center

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s-l1600Greetings all – Al should be back posting soon as I think he’s nearly back from holiday, but it’s been fun writing up various eBay shenanigans while he’s been out. The Jazz Record Center had a number of interesting items up last week, mostly 70s jazz on the Strata-East label, and I actually completely let these records slip notice until they were done for. A few titles in the list I might’ve gone toe-to-toe on but likely would’ve been taken to the cleaners anyway, starting with this one:

M’Boom – their self-titled debut, issued on Strata-East in 1973, went for a whopping $1,592. It’s probably the rarest Strata-East album by a long shot and certainly one of the scarcest in Roach’s discography. My memory is foggy on the details, but I believe that Roach decided he wanted the record pulled right after Strata-East released it and most copies were destroyed. Maybe he had a falling out with Tolliver and Cowell? A few leaked out, though, and it was bootlegged on CD in Japan several years ago (that’s what I’ve got). It’s probably their strongest album, and percussion ensembles are (for me) usually a pretty engaging listen. This one was M- for both record and cover.

Trombonist John Gordon’s Erotica Suite is another rare Strata-East title, though I don’t think I’ve ever seen it go for quite this much. Sealed and presumed Mint, this copy went for just shy of $1,000. It’s a nice, funky post-bop record with reedist James Spaulding, drummer Frank Derrick and trumpeter Waymon Reed. Gordon has another nice record on Strata-East that doesn’t usually go for nearly as much – in fact, it attracted no bids at the opening price of $75 and was also sealed.

Here’s a rare one – pianist Enrique Villegas’ trio featuring Paul Gonsalves and Willie Cook, titled Encuentro, on the Argentine label Trova (which also issued a nice record by pianist Alberto Favero called Suite Trane). Fred showed it to me in the shop at one point though I wasn’t feeling like spending $250 that day. Someone got lucky and was able to get it for $91 at auction. The record was listed as M- and the cover was probably a strong VG++. I like those later Gonsalves LPs and wouldn’t mind having this one in the collection at some point.

Until next time, happy bidding and happier listening…

Le Jazz Vinyl Et Plus

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Barney Wilen Jazz VinylI thought I’d have more to say about the death or Ornette Coleman, but I really don’t. I am not an expert on his music and was never really a fan, although I typically liked what I heard, at least from his early years. So I’m going to go back to what I normally do here, which is watch records on eBay, starting with a pair of French records from a French seller: Barney Wilen, Tilt, Swing 30.058. This is an original pressing from 1957. It is listed in VG+ condition for the record and M- for the cover. The price is in the $400 range with less than two days left, but it has not yet reached the seller’s reserve price. Nice cover, but don’t know the record. Readers? Another one that is quite rare, but unfamiliar to my ears:

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Insanity Check

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Monk2 copyHaving taken note of what I considered to be the pretty high price on that stereo copy of Giant Steps, and having taken note that it was a listing by the seller bobdjukic, I wandered over to eBay to look at some of the other completed listings of his recent auctions because I am always impressed and somewhat taken aback by the prices he is able to get on most of his jazz vinyl listings. And, while there wasn’t that much jazz in these latest auctions, the prices continue to rise to the occasion, so to speak. Here are a few examples:

Thelonious Monk, Monk’s Dream, Columbia 1965. This is a two-eye pressing that is listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG++ for the cover, although upon close examination of the pictures of the cover it would seem more like a VG+ on my grading system. This one was only listed as “very rare,” but it sold for $127.50, which is significantly more than we typically see for this album.

Duke Ellington at Newport, Columbia 934. This is an original six-eye mono pressing that is in shrink wrap, although, to be fair, they were not actually shrink wrapping records when this came out in 1957.

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Spreading the Insanity

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miles DavisSo here it is — now we have sellers ripping off bobdjukic to make their auctions look like his and, apparently, to try to weave the same brand of black magic that apparently results in insane prices. And perhaps it works. Take a look at this auction: Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, Columbia 1355. It’s not exactly laid out like one of the bobdjukic auctions, but it’s clearly evocative. And the listing starts with the oh-so-familiar phrase “INSANELY RARE” in all caps, of course. This must be the most widely circulated insanely rare record of all time. The record is graded at near mint minus, whatever that means, and the cover is graded at VG+, which seems highly generous given the obvious ring wear on the front cover and the big signature of a previous owner on the back. But despite whatever flaws we may see in the record and/or the listing, it seems to have that black magic sheen to it and the bidding has already surpassed $260. We didn’t think insanity was a contagious condition, but perhaps we were wrong.

An Early Prestige, A Few from KD

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jonWow, that last post drew quite a compelling discussion. I have yet to listen to that Ted Brown record, but it is definitely on the agenda. In the meantime, there are many interesting records currently for sale on eBay, including:

Jon Eardley Seven with Zoot Sims, Prestige 7033. This is an original New York yellow label pressing. The record is in VG+ condition and the cover is VG++. The start price is in the $300 range and, with nearly three days left in the auction, there are no bidders yet. We would expect this one to sell, but you never know. It is Prestige and not Blue Note, after all.

Kenny Dorham and the Jazz Prophets, ABC Paramount 122. This looks to be an original deep groove pressing. It’s not simple to decipher the condition based on the seller’s description, but I would guess that the record is between VG+ and VG++ and the cover is probably about the same. The start price for this one is $300 and, with less than two days left, there are no bidders.

Speaking of Kenny Dorham:

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Realistic Pricing. Not

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gerryI still have a few records and comments left over from the other day, so here goes.

What are some people thinking? Here’s a listing I decided to watch: Gerry Mulligan, Night Lights, Phillips 600-108. This was a stereo pressing with a promo label. The record was in M- condition and the cover was VG+. If you walked into a store and saw this record for $10 and you didn’t have it, you might buy it. The seller had a start price of $126. Seriously. Not only were there no bids, but only six people looked at the listing and I think three of them were me because I was so incredulous. At least there was free shipping.

Spend 24 hours on eBay and you’ll find dozens of similar examples. The seller of this record have had more than 80 all by himself: Lee Konitz with Warne Marsh, Atlantic 1217. This was an original black label pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. A a nice record, to be sure, but a start price of $320? From a seller who calls himself “vinyl realist?” Give him credit, though. He did manage to sell a few records and get top dollar for them.

 

A Rare One, A New One & A Work of Art

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barney WilenLots of interesting jazz vinyl on our watch list today, so let’s get right to it, starting with Barney Wilen, Tilt, Swing LDM 30.058. This is an original French pressing is in Ex- condition, which may be VG or VG+, and the cover is probably VG, with very visible ring wear. This is one of the real rare ones and has sold for as much as $2,700 in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Given the condition, this one won’t  fetch nearly as much, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it hit the $1,000 bin, just based on it’s rarity.

I always like to find records I’ve never seen before, and here is another: Jimmy Forrest’s Night Train, United Record Company 002. This looks to be an original 12-inch LP in VG condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. I have a bunch of 78s on the United label, but no LPs. Apparently the label was in existence from 1951 to 1957, out of Chicago. According to Wikipedia it never issued 12-inch LPs, but this would seem to prove Wikipedia wrong? Unless the seller is mistaken? Somebody out there should know this, right? Anyway, the start price for this record, whatever the format, is about $150 and so far there are no takers. Looks like a nice piece of history to me.

I’ll be curious to see if this record sells:

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Blue Notes, Prestiges, Jazz Collector Price Guide

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Bone & BariSorry. I had promised more updates for the Jazz Collector Price Guide and then got distracted by the lovely holiday weekend up in The Berkshires. So here are a few more that will go into the Price Guide soon:

This is a new high point for this record: Curtis Fuller, Bone & Bari, Blue Note 1572. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd Street and NY 23 labels. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG+. The final price was $1,789. I have an M- copy of this record. Would I sell it for $1,789? Hmmmm.

This one also sold for quite a hefty price: Ray Bryant Trio, Prestige 7098. The record and cover were only in VG+ condition, although the cover certainly looked nicer in the photo. Good lesson to be learned here: Spend some time on the photos if you are going to list on eBay, and make sure they are nice and clear. This record sold for $987.77.

Jerome Richardson, Roamin’ with Richardson, New Jazz 8226. This was an original purple label with the deep grooves and the record and cover both seemed to be in M- condition. This one sold for $374. Frankly, I thought it would fetch a higher price.

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Three Tenors

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Just spent some time rummaging through the high-end bins on eBay and found quite a few interesting items, starting with: Dexter Gordon Quintet, Dial 204. This is an original 10-inch pressing listed in near M- condition for the record and M- condition for the cover. Seller took beautiful clear pictures and the record is quite tempting to this Dexter Gordon and 10-inch LP fan. But the start price is around $350 and, tempting as it may be, it is not tempting enough to entice me at that price. Nobody else is enticed yet, either, but I do have a feeling this one will sell.

This is another nice one that is also lacking bids at the moment: Sonny Rollins, Way Out West, Contemporary 3530. this is an original promo copy in M- condition for both the cover and the record. Looks like a real gem, also with nice pictures from the seller. There is a start price of about $500 and a buy-it-now price of about $700. If any copy of Way Out West would set a new price high, this would seem to be it, an original promo in M- condition. But the start price is up there. In the Jazz Collector Price Guide we’ve never recorded a copy of this record selling for more than $300.

One more:

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