Strange (And Not So Strange) Prices on Jazz Vinyl

Wow. That Ben Webster record I mentioned yesterday — Ben Webster, Soulville, Verve 8274 — sold for a whopping $201.50. Although the seller listed it as an “original” there was a clear picture that showed it was an MGM pressing. What do the MGM’s sell for, generally, $20 or $30, at best. The bidders either weren’t paying attention to the picture or they mistakenly thought it was a bobdjukic auction.

Johnny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Blue Note 1559. This was an original pressing in VG condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It sold for $415. These original Blue Notes are so coveted and hard to get that $415 for a VG seems like a reasonable expectation. I bet is sounds nice too. Although this one failed to sell at all: Sonny Rollins, Newk’s Time, Blue Note 4001. The record was listed in VG condition and the cover VG+. The start price was $400, but there was no action.

 

Finding Jazz Vinyl To Watch on eBay

Slow time on eBay this week for collectible jazz vinyl. To save time, rather than going through all the listings I’ll often do searches of Blue Notes or high-priced records or other filters to find the items most interesting to the Jazz Collector audience. Using those same filters I always use, hardly anything too exciting or expensive came up for this entire week. Perhaps its a hangover from the bobdjukic auction that seems to have everyone so enthralled. Having said that, there are always items of interest to watch, bid on, envy or all of the above.

Horace Silver, Six Pieces of Silver, Blue Note 1539. This one has the West 63rd Street address which makes it a second pressing, or at least not a first pressing. The record is in VG++ condition and the cover is VG. What makes it interesting is that it is signed by Horace Silver. What’s that worth? We’ll see. So far there are no bidders with a start price around $200.

Here’s a reason to read auctions carefully: Ben Webster Soulville, Verve 8274. This is advertised as an original pressing when it clearly is not. This has the MGM label while an original has the trumpeter label. Nonetheless there is a bid of about $80 on this records. The seller has minimal feedback. Not a good way to get started on eBay.

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Jazz Vinyl Watch: Setting Some New Records

Here’s some of the jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay:

Art Tatum/Ben Webster Quartet, Verve 8220. This is an original pressing with the trumpeter logo. The record was in M- condition and the cover was VG++. There were four bidders, 15 bids and the ultimate price was $290. My sense is most of the readers here at Jazz Collector tend to prefer post-bop era jazz — I generally do as well — but this is one of those must-have records, in my opinion, that always sounds beautiful and fresh when you put it on the turntable.

Haven’t seen this one sell for such a high price before: Sheila Jordan, Portrait of Sheila, Blue Note 9002. This was described as an original U.S. pressing in “superb” condition. It sold for $405. Our previous high for this record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide was just $123, so that’s quite a leap. Great record, though.

Here’s a perennial for the ever-more-crowded $1,000 bin:

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Jazz Vinyl Update: An Argo, A Blue Note, a Verve

Here’s some more jazz vinyl we’ve been watching recently, just to catch up on 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:

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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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Now on eBay: Webster on Verve, Evans Promo

I’m a big fan and collector of the Verve label — as well as Norgran and Clef, of course — so it was with great pleasure that I saw this record on eBay selling for a relatively high price: Ben Webster, Soulville, Verve 8274. This looks to be in M- condition and, with several hours still to go, is already more than $200. It does not have a David Stone Martin cover, and it’s Ben Webster not Lester Young, so I’m kind of wondering what cachet the record holds that would cause it to fetch such a high price. Perhaps it’s just because it’s a nice record in excellent condition.

Also on eBay now is a rare white-label promotional copy of this record:

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Nice Norgrans at High (But Not Blue Note) Prices

We’ve been watching a few records on the Norgran label on eBay and we’ve been pleasantly surprised by the continued strong market. Here are a couple of the records we’ve been watching:

Johnny Hodges, Dance Bash, Norgran 1024. This was an original pressing in M- condition, both record and cover. It has a beautiful cover illustration by David Stone Martin. The price was $274. This is one of those Norgrans that, instead of the trumpeter logo, has the logo of the couple dancing, also designed by David Stone Martin. I’ll post a copy in a later posting. I still owe Rudolf  a post on the David Stone Martin book, which I will also get to later.

Stan Getz, Interpretations Volume 3, Norgran 1029. This was also an original pressing (with the trumpeter logo) and also has a cover designed by David Stone Martin. This copy was in M- condition, both record and cover, and sold for $274.

Then there was this item from Ben Webster:

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Price Updates: Kenny Drew, Hawk, Hank, Pres

We’ve been adding records to the Jazz Collector Price Guide and came upon another beautiful 10-inch LP that sold recently: The Ideation of Kenny Drew, Norgran 29. Look at this beautiful cover illustration by David Stone Martin. This record was in M- condition, both record and cover. It sold for $393.

Also for the Price Guide are:

Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Prestige 7038. This was a New York pressing with the second cover. The record and cover were in VG+ condition. The price was $165.20.

Sonny Clark, Leapin’ and Lopin’, Blue Note 84091. This was a stereo pressing with the New York USA label. The record and cover were M-. The price was $179.02.

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Updating the Price Guide, January 18, 2009 (Part 1)

We have a bunch of records we’ve been watching that we’ll be adding today to the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Here are some of them, without links, since many of these have appeared with links in previous posts:

Thad Jones, Detroit-New York Junction, Blue Note 1513. Two copies of this sold recently. One was a Lexington Avenue pressing that was in M- condition, both record and cover. It sold for $776. The other copy was also a Lexington Avenue pressing, but it looked to be in VG+ condition. It sold for $423.

The Magnificent Thad Jones Volume 3, Blue Note 1546. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing. The record was VG++ and the cover was VG. Price: $338

Bennie Green, Walking Down, Prestige 7049. This was a yellow label, New York address copy. The record was M- and the cover was VG++. Price: $225.50

Jon Eardley Seven with Zoot Sims, Prestige 7033. This was an original New York pressing. The record and cover were both in VG++ condition. Price: $515

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Selling Soon on eBay

In addition to the Mobley record we just mentioned, there are some other nice items closing in the next few hours on eBay. The seller jazzsoulandfunk from Italy has a nice batch of items closing soon, including: Miles Davis, Miles, Prestige 7014. This is an original New York pressing in VG++/VG++ condition. The current price is about $300. Also from this dealer is Lester Young and His Tenor Sax Volume 1, Aladdin 801. This is an original pressing in VG+/VG+ condition. It is now at $325. The best thing to do is to go to one of these records and then click Veiw Seller’s Other Items to see what else this dealer has for sale. There’s a lot of good stuff. At Jazz Collector, we have a few items closing soon, nothing major, but the price seems right.

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Latest Additions to Price Guide

Here are updates on some of the records we’ve mentioned here in the past few days. We’re not using links with these, since there are links on these elsewhere on the site. You can just do a search if you want to look at the original. Nothing too crazy here as far as prices, but nothing at all that would lead you to believe there’s any kind of slowdown. These will also be added to the Price Guide, as soon as I finish this post. Here goes: 

Ben Webster, The Consummate Artistry, Norgran 1001. When we first spotted this, it was at about $30 with just a few hours to go. It sold for $203.51. It was an original pressing in M-/VG++ condition.

Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come, Atlantic 1317. This was with the bulls-eye label in VG++/VG++ condition. It sold for $72.60

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Today on EBAY, October 15, 2008

I asked the other day why things are slow on eBay. Nobody replied, so I assume it’s just one of those things. Today is still slow although, as always, there are some interesting items to watch. Here goes:

Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz To Come, Atlantic 1317. This pressing has the bulls-eye label. It’s closing soon and is at $73. One of the reasons I’m watching this is because I’ve seen this record often and rarely have I seen it fetch collectible prices. But, even at $73, that’s already evidence that it is becoming more of a collectible, at least the version with this label. 

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Catching up on Some Nice Collectibles

Here’s a long list of records we’ve been watching:

Hank Mobley, Mobley’s Message, Prestige 7061. This was an original pressing in VG+/VG+ condition. Price: $679.58. That’s a pretty steep price for a VG+ record.

Speaking of steep prices for records in VG+ condition: Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus, Prestige 7079. This was an original New York pressing in VG+/VG+ condition. Price: $1,475

And yet another in VG+ condition: Jackie McLean, Swing, Swang, Swingin’, Blue Note 4024. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing. The record was VG+ and the cover was VG+. The price was $749.99

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Catching Up With Some Interesting Collectibles

Here are some interesting results from some records we’ve been watching on eBay:

Red Garland, All Kinds of Weather, Prestige 7148. This is an original yellow label pressing with the New Jersey address in M- condition. Price: $385. I’ve never quite figured out which Red Garland records sell for the highest prices, and why. So, if anyone out there has the answer, please post a comment.

Here’s an interesting one: Paul Chambers, Whims of Chambers, Blue Note 1534. What’s interesting is that this was not an original pressing: The original pressing on this has the Lexington Avenue address, and this copy had the West 63rd street address. So it was not original and it was only in VG condition, yet it still sold for $124.50.

Ben Webster, Soulville, Verve 8274. This was an original pressing with the trumpeter logo in M- condition and sold for $190.09. That’s a pretty nice price for a Ben Webster on Verve. This was sold by

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Miles, Ben Webster and, Surprise, Nat Cole

We’re not watching eBay as closely as usual. From the prices we’re seeing, we’re not aware if things are slowing down this summer, as they often do. Here are a couple of high-ticket items that would seem to indicate there’s not a slowdown. What about you out there: Are you noticing any changes in the market?

Miles Davis, Walkin’, Prestige 7076. This was an original New York pressing in near ming condition. Price: $261

Ben Webster, Music With Feeling, Norgran 1035. This was an original pressing with a beautiful cover illustration by David Stone Martin. Price: $285

I don’t normally watch Nat Cole LPs because they don’t really fetch collectible prices. So I was surprised, while skimming through eBay, to see this LP with a high price tag: Nat Cole, The Very Thought of You. Price: $113.50. Turns out this was not an original, but an audiophile reissue on the DCC label. This was a sealed copy.

eBay on A Summer’s Day

I can’t believe it’s July 1 already. I’m definitely in summer mode. I took two days off and haven’t posted since Monday. I think that will happen fairly routinely this summer so keep checking the site to see if we’re up that day and what gems we might find for you on eBay. We’re following the market just as closely and we’ll make sure to keep the Price Guide and Latest Prices up to date regardless of whether we post new entries on the site each day. I hope this makes sense on at least some level.

 

In any case, we’re up on the web today and here are some of the items we’ve been watching on eBay.  We start off with a nice collectible from the rare Imperial label:

 

Sonny Criss, Go Man!,  Imperial 920. This was an original pressing in M- condition. It sold for $650.

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Original Pressings, Reasonable Prices

Back from the weekend, so it’s time to catch up on eBay. Here are some of the records we were watching.

 Donald Byrd Sextet, Transition 5. This was an original pressing in what seemed to be M-/VG++ condition. The LP had the booklet and sold for $300.

Eric Dolphy at the Five Spot, Volume 1, New Jazz 8260. This was an original pressing with the purple label. The seller listed it in M-/M- condition, although there seemed to be ringwear on the cover, based on the photo. Still the price was $278.99.

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Billie Record, Warhol Cover

More eBay watching today. Here are some of the items and dealers we’re keeping an eye on for you:

 Billie Holiday at Jazz At the Philharmonic, Clef 169. This is a 10-inch LP with the beautiful illustration on the cover that is either by David Stone Martin or Andy Warhol. We looked in our price guide for earlier mint copies of this LP and it sold twice recently, for $610 and $325. This copy is also near mint and was only in the $70 range as we posted this.

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A Potpourri of LPs

I went away for the long Memorial Day weekend and didn’t look at eBay for three days. Here are some of the things I missed:

 

Howard McGhee, Music From The Connection, Felsted 7512. This was in nice condition and sold for more than $1,000.

 

Benny Carter, Cosmopolite, Norgran 1070. This was an original yellow label copy, autographed by Carter and, according to the dealer, directly from Carter’s own collection. A nice collectible, indeed.

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Our First Newsletter, May 9, 2004

Welcome to Jazz Collector. If you’re receiving this, then you’ve been selected for a free subscription to our daily email newsletter. For more information come to our web site at jazzcollector.com. Otherwise, please read on. Woke up in a generous mood this morning, so I delved into the collection and came up with an item to give away to a lucky subscriber.  Here it is: Gene Ammons, Live! In Chicago, Prestige 7495. This is an original 

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