Category: Norgran

A Few Non-Blue Notes; A Flat Market?

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Is it just me, or is there a softness in the market these days? To expedite my posting I  sometimes do a search of jazz records for sale filtered through the highest prices first. There are often $1,000 records and many in the $500-plus category. Lately, however, the searches in that range have been coming up short. Are prices relatively flat at this point or is there just less good stuff on eBay now? These things go in cycles so I wouldn’t put any meaning into it either way. In the meantime, here are some of the rare jazz records that came up on my latest search.

Red Rodney, Signal 1206. This is an interesting one because of the condition. There’s a nice clear picture of the cover, which may give the impression that the cover is in nice condition. However if you look closely and read the description, the cover is in only G condition. And the vinyl is only VG. Despite the condition issues, however, the bidding is already more than $400. I guess this LP is in greater demand than I would have realized.

This is another one that’s getting up there in price, somewhat to my surprise: Booker Little, Time 52011. This is an original mono pressing with the deep grooves and gatefold cover. The record is in M- condition and the cover is VG+. The bidding has already topped $250 and the auction closes later today. Perhaps my previous comment about a soft market was premature.

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Catching Up With Some Jazz Vinyl Auctions

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

Bud Powell, Jazz Giant, Norgran  1063. This was an original yellow-label deep-groove pressing with the cover illustration by David Stone Martin. The record was listed in probably VG++ condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover, although you have to read the descriptions carefully to reach those conclusions. This one sold for $260.99, which is quite a nice price for a Norgran these days. I have a duplicate of this record, but it’s not in quite as nice condition.

Joe Henderson, Mode For Joe, Blue Note 4227. This was an interesting one: It was a factory-sealed pressing. It has all the makings of an original pressing, with the mono cover, the lack of anything remotely Liberty, the right address. But is it an original? Only the buyer will know for sure, presuming he eventually opens the LP to listen to it. This one sold for $215.63. Question to think about: Would it have sold for more money if it had been opened and the seller could guarantee that it was an original pressing?

Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims, Blue Note 1530. This was the one we mentioned the other day:

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A Jazz Vinyl Potpourri From Jazz Record Center

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We always like to watch the auctions from the Jazz Record Center because they are a nice gauge of the overall market. Here are a few items from their latest auction, starting with: Sonny Rollins, The Sound of Sonny, Riverside 241. This is an original pressing with the white labels. It is listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The start price is $200 and so far there are no bidders, but we’d expect that to change. We’ve seen copies of this record sell for more than $500 in the Jazz Collector Price Guide.

Bud Powell’s Moods, Norgran 1064. This is an original yellow label pressing. The record and the cover both look to be in M- condition. It has a cover design by David Stone Martin and has a start price of $100. We’d also expect this one to sell, right?

The bidding has already started on this one: Dizzy Reece, Star Bright, Blue Note 4023. This is an original pressing that also looks to be in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The auction closes in about five days and the bidding is now in the $260 range.

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Rare Jazz Vinyl, Some With Autographs

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Sorry for taking such a long break over the Memorial Day weekend. But we are back to our post at Jazz Collector and ready to begin posting regularly again, starting with a catch-up of items we were watching last week on eBay.

First there was that copy of Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants, Prestige 7150, that was autographed by Miles, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk. It was offered by the Jazz Record Center so there was some level of credibility attached to the autographs, although the listing didn’t say anything about independent verification. The price for this was $4,305. It’s certainly a one-of-a-kind item, so there is probably no price too high to have surprised us. This seems pretty reasonable for such a rare item. Here are a couple more from the same auction: Art Pepper, Intensity, Contemporary 3607. This was not only signed by Art Pepper, he also put the date and his home address with the signature. The record and cover both looked to be in M- condition. This one sold for $150.27. This one was not signed: Johnny Hodges, In a Tender Mood, Norgran 1059. This was an original yellow label pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $161.50. I was watching this because I like to keep an eye on the original Norgrans, just to see that there is still a collector’s market for them, since they really reflect artists mostly from the pre-bop era, with a few exceptions, of course. This one also has that weird kind of cover from the era, with a picture of a white woman as the sole image on the picture of an album by a black male artists. Is it really possible that

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Jazz Vinyl Today: Signal, Norgran, New Jazz

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Here’s some jazz vinyl we’re watching on eBay that is not Blue Note, starting with: Duke Jordan, Jazz Laboratory Series, Signal 101. This is an original pressing that looks to be in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. You don’t see these too often. This one is priced at about $130 with a couple of days to go.

Here are a couple of nice Norgrans: Lester Young, Lester’s Here, Norgran 1071. This is an original yellow label pressing and it is listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The current price is about $180. Then there’s this gorgeous one with the David Stone Martin cover: Lester Young, Norgran 1022. This one is also an original yellow label pressing and is in VG++ condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. The price is about $160. I do have one small nit-pick for the seller, who I believe is Looney Tunes up in Boston, where I have spent many an idle afternoon and many a dollar. I wish they would use the whole picture of the cover, back and front, on their listings. I get the sense the use a scanner, which doesn’t show the whole image. I’d prefer seeing the whole thing as a potential bidder and also, as Jazz Collector, I’d like

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10-Inch, 12-Inch: Does Size Really Matter

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Here’s some of the jazz vinyl we’re watching heading into the weekend:

The Tal Farlow Album, Norgran 1047. This is an original pressing with the yellow label, deep grooves and beautiful David Stone Martin cover. Or is it? My friend Dan, who was Tal’s great friend and protege, has always been a devotee of the 10-inch version of this record based on the crispness of the sound and the fact that it was the original original pressing. I once did a comparison, played the 12-incher and the 10-incher back to back, and it was true: You could hear a difference in the sound. I’m not sure why: Perhaps it was psychological, Dan had planted it in my head and I always trust him when it comes to music.  The 10-incher, Norgran 19, has eight tracks. This one has additional tracks that come from . . . . where? Dan, if you’re out there, please fill in the blanks. Based on the description, this looks to be in VG+ or maybe VG++ condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. The current price is around $80.

Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims, Blue Note 1530. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing and it looks to be in very nice condition, M- for the record and probably VG++ for the cover. The bidding is already quite high for this, in the $1,500 range with more than two days to go.

A Couple for The $1,000 Bin, And one for the $66 Bin

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There were a bunch of interesting jazz vinyl auctions that closed last night, to wit: Red Rodney, Signal S 1206. This looked like an original pressing in perhaps VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover? The seller uses a wide variety of grades that don’t necessarily correspond to the grading language we typically use, so it’s up for interpretation. Hopefully the buyer will be pleased. This one sold for a whopping $1,825.55.

Her’s one for the $2,000 bin: Lee Morgan, Candy, Blue Note 1590. This was an original pressing that looked to be in M- or VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It sold for $2,111. There was another copy of this record that we mentioned the other day, Blue Note 1590, that was in just VG- condition for the record and cover. We wondered about the eventual price for a record that may not be all that playable. The price was $237.65

How the market has changed through the years: Johnny Hodges, Castle Rock, Norgran 1048. This was an original yellow label pressing. It was in VG+ condition for both the record and the vinyl. It sold for $66. When I started collecting jazz, there seemed to be much more interest from collectors in the original Norgrans. A different era, I guess — but also an opportunity to pick up some of these very nice records at reasonable prices.

Someone’s Getting Lucky This Week

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I had said earlier that it was a big week for jazz vinyl on eBay and there are still many nice items to watch from afar (or from up close, depending upon your point of view and/or eyesight). Among the items of interest to us:

Lucky Thompson, Accent on Tenor, Urania 1206. You don’t hear much about Lucky Thompson anymore, nor do you often seen Urania LPs among the collectibles we watch on Jazz Collector. Thompson was a nice tenor player, an early bopper who played on some of the earliest bop dates. If I recall correctly, Dizzy hired him so that there’d be a sax player on the stage when Bird would either be late or not show up at all. How much longer to you think there will be a collectibles market for Lucky Thompson? This one is in M- condition and is in the $350 range with more than a day to go.

The pianist Kenny Drew generally has more cachet as a collectible artist than Lucky Thompson, but this one suffers from condition issues: The Modernity of Kenny Drew, Norgran 1002. This one is listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG- for the cover, but the picture looks pretty decent. You’ll usually see these covers with some ringwear. It’s a great cover, isn’t it, straight out of the Norgran style of the ’50s. This one is around $80 and is closing today.

While we’re on the subject of  Kenny Drew:

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Jazz Vinyl on eBay: Some Blue Notes & A Nice Norgran

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I logged onto eBay last night, found a number of interesting records to watch and, with great pride, was able to go to sleep without slipping into the temptation of placing any snipe bids. Progress, right? Anyway, here is some of the jazz vinyl we were watching that closed yesterday:

John Jenkins, welcome to the $1,000 bin: John Jenkins and Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1573. This was an original deep groove West 63rd Street pressing and it was in M- condition for the record and VG for the cover. It was a reputable seller, there were 11 bids and more than 450 page views and the price was $1,136.55. Not bad in a soft market if, indeed, this can be called a soft market.

Actually, perhaps in retrospect I should have put in a snipe for this one: Sonny Red, Out of the Blue, Blue Note 4034. This was an original pressing in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. Quite a fair price, depending, of course, on what VG+ means to the buyer and seller. As we’ve learned long ago, VG+ is in the eye of the beholder. I had this record once upon a time but traded it away in a lopsided trade that favored the other guy. Not sure what I was thinking at the time, but I’m more knowledgeable now. So this is one that got away. Getting it back for $283 or so, which is what this one sold for, would be quite a coup in my eyes.

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Catching Up: More Warhol Madness

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Time to catch up on some jazz vinyl sales on eBay:

This one made the $1,000 bin with plenty to spare: Conte Candoli, Cool Gabriels, Groove 1003. This was an original pressing and, of course, the main feature is the cover illustration by Andy Warhol. The record was VG-, the cover had splits on the top and the bottom, yet it still sold for $1,825. The Warhol market is driving these prices quite high, but this one seems to do even better than the Blue Notes in better condition. It must be harder to find? Or perhaps the Warhol collectors are more enamored with the artwork?

This one was not an original pressing, at least not in the way we think of originals as “first” pressings: Sonny Rollins Volume 1, Blue Note 1542. This one had the West 63rd Street address, plus the deep grooves and ear and all the other markings of an early pressing: But a first pressing would have had the Lexington Avenue address. This one was in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover and it sold for $334. Quick question: I know most collectors prefer Blue Notes over Prestiges in general but, musically, to me the Sonny’s on Prestige are far more preferable and inventive than the Blue Notes. How do other collectibles feel about this?

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