A Bargain At Under $1,000?

If a record should sell for more than $1,000, perhaps this would fit the bill: Sonny Rollins, Tenor Madness, Prestige 7047. This was a beautiful, New York pressing in mint minus condition, for both the record and the cover. Sonny and Trane together, an early Prestige, great cover. It’s got it all. This one sold for $832. As great a record as this is, this is the highest price we’ve ever recorded for it. The previous high in the Jazz Collector Price Guide was $543.  I actually think this one would have sold for a higher price with a better picture. Someday soon we will be adding a copy of this to the $1,000 been, we are quite sure.

The Incredible Rise of the $1,000 Jazz Record

The $1,000 bin truly doth runneth over  days. It’s quite an interesting phenomenon.

Paul Chambers, Whims of Chambers, Blue Note 1534. This was an original pressing in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. A few years ago, I bought a copy of this on eBay in similar condition for about $300. At the time, I thought I was overpaying. A few weeks ago I sold a separate copy on eBay for about $325. It was in nice condition, with a VG+ cover. This was not a record I ever expected to see in the $1,000 bin. This copy sold for $1,313.

Here’s another one I never expected to see sell for more than $1,000: Cannonball Adderley, Somethin’s Else, Blue Note 1595. This is a nice record, but has never been among the higher-priced Blue Notes. The highest price we had previously recorded for this in the Jazz Collector Price Guide was around $400. This copy was in mice M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $1,475.

This one almost entered the $2,000 bin:

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Today on eBay: Tadd, Zoot, Fuller, Miles, et al

We’re back from The Berkshires after our successful gig in the Monterey General Store and it’s time to get back to the ever-lasting grind that is eBay. We took a look at listings over the next couple of days, and it’s actually pretty quiet out there, although our friends at Euclid Records have a few nice items closing today. Here’s some of what we’re watching:

Tadd Dameron, Fontainebleau, Prestige 7037. This is an original New York pressing that is in M- condition for both the record and the cover. This one is not usually among the higher-priced early Prestiges, but the bidding is already at $162, which is nice to see for a nice record.

Zoot Sims and Joe Newman, Locking Horns, Rama 1003. This is a rare record on a rare label. The vinyl is listed as M- and the cover is VG++. The price is nearly $300, with more than an hour left.

Miles Davis, Miles, The New Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige 7014. This is the album that introduced John Coltrane to

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For the $1,000 Bin: Jordan/Gilmore On Blue Note, Saxophone Colossus

It’s time to throw a few more items into the $1,000 bin. These are some of the rare jazz records that have recently crossed the $1,000 price threshold.

Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore, Blowin’ in From Chicago, Blue Note 1549. This was an an original pressing with the West 63rd Street address and deep groove. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover appeared to be at least VG+, perhaps better. The price was $1,199.99.

Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus, Prestige 7079. This was an original pressing. The record was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+. The price was $1,266.66. The item had more than 500 page views, compared to less than 200 for the Cliff Jordan/,John Gilmore LP. The seller, bobdjukik, seems to have a knack for getting people to view his records.

Today on Ebay: Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On

The seller Herschel78 is back with some very nice items that are closing today. Here are a few:

Jackie McLean, Lights Out, Prestige 7035. This record is VG++ and the cover is near and it’s an original pressing with the New York address and yellow label. A real beauty, at least in the picture. The current price on this one is $620 and there are still a few hours to go. Tempting, but I’m trying to get rid of records, not acquire them.

Also, Here Comes Louis Smith, Blue Note 1584. This is an original pressing in near mint condition, “the finest copy you’ll ever see,” according to the listing. This is now at $800 and is a near certainty to crack the $1,000 barrier. In the Jazz Collector Price Guide we’ve seen it go for as much a $1,420.

This one is also in beautiful, near-mint condition:

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All Things Considered, Some Surprising Prices

Time to catch up with some of the items we’ve been watching this past week. We will do this in a few posts throughout the weekend. We’ll start with some of those items sold by the seller bobdjukic, who’s clearly got something going on that enables him to get wacky prices as well as staggering numbers of page views.

We’ll start with Thelonious Monk, Monk’s Music, Riverside 1102. This was a later stereo pressing, with that gold stereo stamp that many of the Riverside’s carried. Clearly not an original, which was a white label mono. One time on eBay, an original copy sold for more than $3,000. We chronicled it on Jazz Collector and it created quite a stir. See here. In any case that price for a mono was an aberration, just as we feel the price here for a stereo is an aberration. This copy, in M- condition for the record and cover, sold for $413.55. The seller actually wrote this in his listing: “Monstrously rare stereo pressing, many times rarer than the mono.” Yikes.  The other amazing thing about this record: It had more than 1,700 page views in eBay. Yikes again.

Speaking of second pressings, there was the copy of John Coltrane, Giant Steps, Atlantic 1311. This was the one with the bulls-eye label, that was characterized as being of the same provenance as the black label. This record

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Today at Jazz Collector: Trane Reigns

This is a busy day here at Jazz Collector, with a particular emphasis on John Coltrane collectibles. Some of the heavy-ticket items we’ve been watching are closing today, including that copy of Giant Steps, which is now more than $200; later today we will be announcing the winner of our contest to win a copy of My Favorite Things; and we are closing our last auctions for a couple of weeks, as we head off for a brief holiday. Have no fear, during the holiday we will still be doing our daily posts, and more, on Jazz Collector. Meanwhile, some of the items closing today.

Art Taylor, Taylor’s Wailers, Prestige 7117. This is an original pressing and the record features an all star lineup of John Coltrane, Jackie McLean and Charlie Rouse, among others. The record is in M- condition and the cover is VG++. The price is now about $450. This is one of those records in the batch being sold by Bobdjukic, which also includes the Giant Steps LP. What I find incredible is

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Phil Woods & eBay Existentialism

I have a friend who is a big fan of 10-inch LPs and a big fan of 1950s Phil Woods. I was looking at eBay today and sent him this photo and this listing: Phil Woods New Jazz Quintet, Prestige New Jazz 1104. This one is only in VG condition, but I knew he would love it. Sure enough he wrote a reply: “You know me too well.” I love this one too, particularly the red and white New Jazz label, which you don’t see too often and, if I recall, doesn’t appear on 12-inch LPs at all. It is now in the $50 price range. So I’m picturing my friend now sitting at home pondering: To bid, or not to bid. The essential existential e-Bay question on a sultry summer day in New York. My bet on the answer? To bid.

Miles, Introducing Trane, On eBay, In Metronome

I was perusing eBay early this morning and came across this beautiful item: Miles, The New Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige 7014. I’ve always loved this LP, not just for the music and the great cover, but for the historic value as well: The introduction of the great Miles Quintet of the ’50s and, in particular, the introduction of John Coltrane. So, I put this item on my watch list and took a further look and it turns out to be a listing from Rudolf, our faithful friend and commentator. So we are happy to help Rudolf publicize this listing on the Jazz Collector site, but we also noticed a nice teaser in the listing, which notes that they album will be offered with a copy of Metronome’s July 1956 review of the album. Furthermore, the listing notes that the Metronome review is

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The $1,000 Bin Welcomes an Old Friend

When I first became aware many years ago that there was actually a sub-culture of jazz collecting and collectible jazz records, one of the first of the “rare” jazz records I heard about was Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7132 (I was not aware of the Metronome version). In all the early years of collecting and searching for records in the bins of hundreds of record stores around the world, I never saw a copy of this record. By the time I did find a copy, by then the collectibles market had taken off and the price tag was out of reach. I’ve looked on eBay for affordable copies, but, somehow the words “eBay” and “affordable” don’t always go together. I’m content now to watch the record sell and listen, if I desire, to my very fine Japanese pressing. This is all a long way toward getting to the point, which is:

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