This week’s theme: Jazz With Strings. Featured artists include Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Charles McPherson, Bill Evans, Kronos Quartet, Ben Webster, Sonny Stitt, Cannonball Adderley, Clifford Brown, Sarah Vaughan.
This week’s theme: The Billie Holiday Songbook
Do you see a lot of live jazz anymore? I don’t. When people ask why, I kind of laugh it off and tell them that just about everyone I’d want to see is dead. Which, unfortunately, is pretty true, with a very few exceptions. I do still try to see Sonny Rollins whenever possible and perhaps a couple of others, but I no longer go to the Vanguard regularly or any of the other clubs in New York. Perhaps this will change when Mrs. JC and I make our long-awaited move to Manhattan, which is in the works (we hope). In any case, I bring this up because I did recently trek to Rose Hall in New York for the first time to attend a Jazz at Lincoln Center concert. The concert was billed as “Bird With Strings,” featuring Charles McPherson accompanied by a string section and playing the music from the original Charlie Parker Bird With Strings album. I like McPherson, a love Bird With Strings and I figured this would be a good opportunity to see some live jazz and check out the location. So how was it?
Let’s catch up on some of the Prestige jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay:
Sonny Rollins, Moving Out, Prestige 7058. This was an original New York pressing. It was listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover and the seller has a good reputation. The price was $197.50. This one has Kenny Dorham and Thelonious Monk. We would have expected a higher price.
Webster Young, For Lady, Prestige 7106. This was an original New York pressing as well. The record was only VG, while the cover was M-. The price was $213.50.
Eric Dolphy at the Five Spot, Prestige 7294. This was an original yellow label pressing with
It’s been a couple of weeks since we posted our latest contest for a free collectible, so it is time to announce the winner. The item is Red Rodney, Bird Lives, Muse 5371. This is a 1989 pressing of a 1973 recording and, in addition to Rodney, features Charles McPherson, Barry Harris, Sam Jones and Roy Brooks. What is interesting about this LP, in addition to the fine music and the fitting tribute to Charlie Parker, is that this is a copy that is still in its original factory seal, not bad for a record 20 years old. As always, the criteria to be considered eligible to win the contest is to comment somewhere, anywhere on the Jazz Collector site. As we’ve mentioned many times, our only goal is to encourage people to comment so we can build a nice community of people interested in the jazz collectibles market and we can share information and experiences. For this record, we have eight eligible Jazz Collector readers. They are: Michel, Rudolf, Troy Grooms, Gregorious, Jim Beattie, Jim Thornton, Steve H and Bethellodge. As always, we are having the lovely Mrs J.C. pull the names out of a hat . . . and here she is . . . and here’s the hat . . . and here are the names . . . and here she goes . . . and, finally, the winner is . . .
Time to give away another free jazz collectible (that’s free as in no cost, not free as in no chord changes). There was some discussion on the site last week in reference to a sealed copy of Bill Evans’ Waltz For Debby, which sold for more than $2,000. We posed the question: What do you do with a sealed record? Do you open it and play it, thereby violating the seal, or do you just collect it and look at it? Anyway, we were perusing through our records and came upon a few items that were still sealed and decided to use one of these for our next giveaway contest. The item we chose is: Red Rodney, Bird Lives, Muse 5371. This is a 1989 pressing of a 1973 recording and it features Charles McPherson, Barry Harris, Sam Jones and Roy Brooks. The record features Read more
Quite a few mid-tier items up early on eBay today, so I am up early to post them. Here are a few:
We’ve been talking a lot about Andy Warhol covers on the site. Here’s a chance to get one, perhaps at a bargain price because the seller didn’t realize that the cover is by Warhol: Count Basie, RCA 1112. This is not in great shape, but it’s only $1.99 and closing fairly soon. A few weeks ago, we recorded one of these in the Jazz Collector Price Guide for $161.
The seller Tuneup Music has quite a large group of pretty nice records for sale this morning, including Blue Mitchell Big Six, Riverside 273. This is an original blue label pressing. The record is VG++ and the cover is VG+. The current price is $75. Also from this seller is a sealed copy of Larry Young, Into Something, Blue Note 84187. This is already at $125. The challenge with a sealed record is not knowing whether it’s an original label, so, personally, I’d be careful on this one. If you look at these records, you should click View Seller’s Other Items because there’s a lot more.
