Lou Donaldson, Lou Takes Off, Blue Note 1591. Hard to believe, but I never had an original pressing of this record — until now. I have made a little bit of a purchase, including a bunch of Blue Notes. I will give you more details once the full purchase is complete, probably sometime next week. In the meantime, I’m watching this to see if I overpaid. This one is listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. It is currently at about $215 with another day to go. I expect this to go for quite a bit more, with the added benefit of Sonny Clark on piano.

This one could set a new record, perhaps: Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This is an original pressing listed in near mint for the record and what looks to be at least VG++ for the cover. The seller is reputable and has been posting some very nice items the past few weeks. This one is already more than $3,100, yet it hasn’t met the seller’s reserve. In the Jazz Collector Price Guide we’ve recorded this as selling for $5,600 in the past, the highest price we’ve ever seen for a single jazz record.

In that collection I’m buying, there is also a clean copy of this: Sonny Rollins, Newk’s Time, Blue Note 4001. The one here is in M- condition, probably comparable to the one I’m getting. This one’s at around $250 with a few days to go. I may be looking to trade one of my copies pretty soon. Unless my collector’s gene kicks in and I decide to keep everything, even doubles and triples, so I can experience both the thrill of the conquest at the thrill of seeing all of my conquests on my shelves.

Tommy Flanagan, The Cats, New Jazz 8217. This is an original pressing with the purple labels and deep grooves. It is a relatively early John Coltrane record featuring Trane as a sideman, along with Kenny Burrell. The record and cover are both in M- condition and the price is in the $250 range, but it has not yet reached the seller’s reserve. My personal story with this goes back nearly 40 years when I was doing some record trading with a sax player named David Krieger and I had a broken leg and couldn’t drive and something came up and he had to leave so I was alone in his basement with his entire record collection, including some gorgeous Blue Notes. I could have taken off with a few gems but of course I did not. I can’t ever look at a copy of The Cats and not think of Dave who sadly passed away earlier this year.

This one is a pretty one right in the time frame when Prestige was doing some of its best work:

Curtis Fuller, Soul Trombone, Prestige 7107. This is an original pressing with the yellow label and New York address. The record is VG+ and the cover is VG++. This one is in the $240 price range and still has more than a day and a half to go.

John Jenkins and Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1573. This is an original pressing that looks to be in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The start price on this was $1,000 and there is a bid on it, so it will be sold and will enter the virtual $1,000 bin.

John Coltrane, Giant Steps, Atlantic 1311. Here’s a more clear explanation of this than we’ve heard before. Jazz Record Center refers to this as the “pinwheels” label, although we’ve most often seen it described as “bulls-eye.” It is described as an “original deep-groove second press,” which kind of makes sense. It’s still valued among collectors, even though it is not a first press. This one looks to be in M- condition for the record and the cover and is already at more than $170. Speaking of original Coltranes on Atlantic: John Coltrane and Milt Jackson, Bags and Trane, Atlantic 1368. This is an original mono pressing with the red and purple labels, although I’m still not 100 percent sure how to distinguish it as a first pressing. This one is in M- condition and so far there are no takers at $50.

Blue Note stereo pressings don’t usually have the cachet — or value — of mono pressings. Case in point: Joe Henderson, Inner Urge, Blue Note 84189. This is an original stereo pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It’s in the $100 price range at this point. As we saw earlier this week, a mono pressing of Henderson’s Page One sold for $2,000, although we still think that is a weird aberration.

Paul Chambers, Bass on Top, Blue Note 1569. This is an original West 63rd pressing and it is in M- condition for both the record and the price is $338. Tempting, but not for now.

Benny Golson seems to be more popular as a collectible artist than he ever was as a jazz artist, if you know what I mean: Benny Golson, Groovin’ With Golson, New Jazz 8220. This was an original pressing in M- condition for the record and the cover. It sold for $310.

Here’s a record that’s not only unplayed, it is actually in a virgin state: Lou Donaldson, Lou Takes Off, Blue Note 1591. It sold for $511.01.

What happens to the non-collectible records in the future? I have many more non-collectible records than collectible ones and, although I like a lot of the music, I have many more records than I desire to keep. But there is no market for them, at least if I want to sell them. Where do they go? Is all that music, and the covers and liner notes, is it all destined for the garbage bin some day? Is there no afterlife for this stuff?

Paul Gonsalves, Cookin’, Argo 626. This was an original pressing with the black labels and the deep grooves. It looked to be in M- or VG++ condition for the record and similar condition for the cover. The seller didn’t actually apply grades, which I think would affect — negatively — the sale price. This one fetched $264, which is the highest price we’ve recorded for this in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, so perhaps  it’s better to not list a condition.

Thad Jones, Detroit-New York Junction, Blue Note 1513. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. Love to see those original Lexes, especially when they are in my collection (which this one, unfortunately, is not).  The record was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+. The price was $767.

This one was a leftover from the recent bobjdukic sale:

Is there a reason why the Ben Webster Verve LPs, particularly this one, seem to have a premium over other artists, such as Stan Getz or even Lester Young? Ben Webster, Soulville, Verve 8274. This one was in near mint condition and sold for $330.09.

J.R. Monterose, In Action, Studio 4 SS 100. This is an original pressing of a rare record that we’ve written about fairly extensively in the past. We even posted some very rare audio that, to our knowledge, is only available here (More on J.R.: Original Audio). This was quite a descriptive listing, although it’s not so easy to decipher what it says. Bottom line, it seems like the record was in VG++ condition and the cover somewhere about VG. It sold for $1,500 with just one bid, which always makes me a little suspicious.

Doug Watkins, At Large, Transition 20. This was an original pressing, with the booklet. Based on the description, this one looks to be about VG+ for the record, VG or VG+ for the cover and M- for the booklet. It sold for $1,136.

Dexter Gordon, Dexter Blows Hot and Cool, Dootone 207. This looked to be an original with the red vinyl. The record was listed in VG condition and the cover was listed as VG++. It sold for $933.50.