Jazz Vinyl on eBay: Brilliant Brilliant Corners, et al

Here’s some interesting jazz vinyl to watch on eBay as we head into the Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S.:

This seller has some nice items up now, including: Thelonious Monk, Brilliant Corners, Riverside 226. This is an original pressing with the white label, quite hard to find, and it is in M- condition for both the record and the cover. This one is a bit more than $300 and there’s another day to go and I wouldn’t be surprised if this one breaks into the $1,000 bin. This one is from the same seller: Dizzy Gillespie, Horn of Plenty, Blue Note 5017. This is an original Blue Note Lexington Avenue pressing. The record is in M- condition and the cover looks to be VG+. It hasn’t even hit the $100 mark yet. Correct me if I’m wrong — and I’m sure someone will — but I think this is the only Dizzy record on Blue Note, right?

This seller also has some beauties, including: Sonny Clark, Leapin’ and Lopin’, Blue Note 84091. This is an original stereo pressing, which means it doesn’t have the same cachet or value as a mono pressing, but it is still about $140, closing later today. It is in M- condition with the shrink wrap still on it.

Okay, I need some help figuring this one out:

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Cool Struttin’ for $2,700; A Pair of Boxed Sets

Here’s one for the $2,000 bin: Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588. This was an original pressing that looked to be in M- condition and had beautiful pictures and came from a highly reputable seller. It sold for $2,701.99.

I had a couple of boxed sets I was watching. I have mixed feelings about boxed sets: I like the idea of the packaging and the extended liner notes and all of that, but when I actually look through my records to decide what to play, I rarely look through them and rarely play them. I have a bunch of the Mosaics — probably 50 in all — plus some nice Norgrans and Verves. I suppose if I had more time to listen, and more time to concentrate . . . Anyway, I have this record in a boxed set and was watching it on eBay: Stan Getz at the Shrine, Norgran NG 2000-2. This one was in M- condition of the records — two of them — and VG++ for the packaging. It sold for $280.55. This one also has the advantage of

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Jazz Vinyl This Week: A New High For Shorter

Here is some of the jazz vinyl we’ve been watching this week on eBay:

Wayne Shorter, JuJu, Blue Note 4182. This was an original New York USA mono pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The price was $537. This is the highest price we’ve ever recorded for this record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide and is, in fact, the highest price we’ve ever recorded for any Wayne Shorter album.

This one was from the same seller: Kenny Burrell, Blue Lights Volume 2, Blue Note 1597. This is one of the ones with the Andy Warhol cover. This was not an original pressing — at least not a first pressing — because it had the New York USA labels as opposed to the West 63rd Street labels. We’ve been watching a lot of second and third presses lately, particularly the Blue Notes, because we’ve seen a pretty strong uptick in prices. This one sold for $179.50 in M- condition for both the record and the cover.

We flagged this one when the bidding topped $60 because we’ve never considered it that much of a collectible:

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Adventures in Jazz Collecting: Red Carraro, Part 1

There was a time, before the Internet and eBay, when jazz record dealers would amass hundreds of collectible records and compile them in lists and send those lists all over the world so that collectors could bid on them, blindly, hoping they would make the top bid and receive a shipment of rare jazz vinyl several weeks later. One of the leading and last practitioners of this fading art was a gentleman, and I use that word purposefully, by the name of William Carraro, known to all as “Red.” I am sad to report that Red passed away in his sleep yesterday morning.

I will tell you more about Red in a subsequent post, but first let me tell you the story of the first time I met Red. It was back in the early 1970s and I had just started collecting jazz records. I was 19 years old. My good friend from childhood Dan Axelrod had also begun collecting jazz records at the same time and Dan was far more obsessive about it than I was, so he was always finding scores before me. He’d call from Philadelphia or Miami, out of breath, describing beautiful Blue Notes

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Jazz Vinyl on Ebay: Prestige, Vanguard, Verve

Here are some odds and ends we’ve been watching on eBay:

Billy Taylor Trio Volume 2, Prestige 7016. This one was in M- condition for both the record and the cover and it sold for $74.99, which is about what you’d expect for a Billy Taylor Prestige these days. I do have a question on this: I’ve had this record with two different covers — the one shown here and another one that I recall as having a black and white and gray design with a picture of Billy. Not sure which is original, but both had the New York address on the label and the cover. I’m sure the original had the kakubushi cover, but I am not home now to check it out. Anyone? Rudolf?

Dave Burns, Vanguard 9111. This one was in M- condition for the vinyl and VG++ or M- for the cover. The price was $182.50. I own this record and it’s quite good, featuring Herbie Morgan on tenor sax, and I have rarely seen it on eBay, or anywhere else for that matter.

This one didn’t get a single bid, much to my surprise:

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Adventures in Jazz Collecting: The Auction, Part 5

All right, let’s do some more of this Jazz Auction stuff. So, by this point in the auction I have purchased eight lots and I am clearly on a roll and forgetting about the 17 percent surcharge and figuring, “What the heck, I’m already paying for shipping, let’s buy some more records.” And so I did.

Gerry Mulligan, Seven LPs. Price: $46.80. Why? There is no good answer to this question. I certainly have all of these LPs, and probably don’t even want to keep all of these LPs, and there is probably not that much of a market for these LPs on eBay. The best of the records, from a collectible standpoint, is The Gerry Mulligan Songbook on World Pacific. There’s also a nice Mulligan on Emarcy with Zoot Sims. There’s a copy of Mulligan and Stan Getz on Verve, but it’s an MGM pressing. Really, there was no rhyme or reason to bidding on these — and actually winning — other than the adrenaline rush of buying more records.

Sonny Rollins, Three RCA Victor LPs and Lester Young For LPs. Price: $93.60. This fits into

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Adventures in Jazz Collecting, The Auction Part 4

OK. The auction records are here, in a newly created bin on the floor of my music room/office. It’s fun looking through the records, of course, encountering pleasant surprises, but what I am most looking forward to is listening to them. That’s the best thing about getting new records, or even getting new copies of old records: Exploring and discovering (or rediscovering) the music. As I type this I’m listening to Wes Montgomery Full House and it’s probably the first time I’ve listened to this LP in 10 years or more. With 10,000 records a lot of great LPs wind up sitting on the shelf. I remember the first time I heard this record. I was in a car with my friend Dan and we had the radio on and we heard a Wes solo and we knew immediately it was Wes and then the tenor player starting playing and we were both blown away because he was really cooking and we couldn’t figure out who it was. It was, of course, Johnny Griffin. And now I am listening to this beautiful near mint copy of this record again and, ah, what a nice way to start a gorgeous Sunday morning. Anyway, back to the auction items:

The next one I purchased was listed as: Stan Getz, Three Verve LPS with Trumpeter labels. Price $40.95. These turned out to be For Musicians Only with Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Stitt;

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On eBay: Getz, Anita O’Day, Sonny Clark(e)

Speak of the devil, here’s a copy of Stan Getz Plays, Norgran, 1042, on eBay now courtesy of our friends at Euclid Records. The record is listed in M- condition and the cover is VG++ and the words “beautiful” and “gorgeous” are thrown in as well. The price is around $140 and there are still more than two days to go.

Don’t usually expect to see this one at $100 or more, but this copy is there already: Anita O’Day Sings the Most, Verve 8259. This is an original pressing with the trumpeter logo and it is in M- condition.

If someone is doing a search of Sonny Clark, will this record come up:

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Catching Up: Norgran, Clef, Verve

Playing some more catchup on the Jazz Collector Price Guide:

This one sold for quite a tidy sum a few weeks back, particularly for a Verve: Ben Webster Soulville, Verve 8274. This was an original pressing in M- condition. This one has a David Stone Martin cover. I’d normally expect this to sell for maybe $100 in this condition. This one sold for $463.99. Here’s a nice Norgran: Lester Young, Jazz Giants ’56, Norgran 1056. This was a original yellow label pressing with the heavy vinyl. The record was in M- condition and the cover was VG++. The price was $105.15. And another nice Norgran:

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Catching Up on Some Odds and Ends

Here are a few odds and ends we’ve been watching:

So when did this become a collectible: Don Patterson, The Hip Cake Walk, Prestige 7349? This was stereo pressing with the blue label. It was in M- condition for the vinyl and probably VG++ for the cover. It sold for $71. I realize that is not a Blue Note price, but I kind of viewed this as a $20 record. Is it the presence of Booker Ervin? I’ve seen certain Booker Ervin records, The Song Book on Prestige and The Book on Bethlehem, sell for nice collectible prices, but not any previous Don Pattersons on Prestige.

Here’s a nice Verve: Lester Young and Teddy Wilson, Pres and Teddy, Verve 8205. This was an original pressing with the trumpeter logo. It is also

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