I was keeping on eye on this record on eBay: Charlie Parker, Dial 202. It struck me that there are few of the Bird records that have the same cachet as collectibles, and perhaps even as music, as they did when I started getting into jazz 4o or so years ago. At that time, Bird was, well, Bird, and there was nobody more important. Finding an original Bird Savoy or an original Bird Mercury or Clef was a nice score. Not so much anymore. Anyway, this particular record, a 10-incher, has been bid up to more than $150, so somewhere there is still strong interest, which, to me, is a good thing.

From the same seller is Hank Mobley, Mobley’s Message, Prestige 7061. This is another one I once owned and now regret selling. This one looks to be in VG condition, perhaps VG+, but probably VG. It is about $120 with a few days left to go.

If it’s “insanely rare” it must be the seller bobjdukic, who is back with a bunch of records, including:

Moondog, The Story of Moondog, Prestige 7099. This looks to be an original pressing. The record is described as M- and the cover as VG++, but the picture on the cover shows that it is VG+ at best, with a water stain. That should impact the price, which is about $100 with a few days left. There is also a reserve price that has not yet been met. The cover, designed by Andy Warhol, is the reason this one is valued so highly as a collectible.

Overall, not bad. The concert wasn’t exactly as I expected. The first set there were no strings and only a little bit of McPherson. It was mostly a sextet under the direction of Vincent Gardner, a trombone player affiliated with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. They played a set of bop tunes associated with Bird, although the sensibility was more post-bop than bop, which was fine by me. The highlight for me was the alto player Wess Anderson. McPherson joined for the end of the first set and he was in okay form, nothing great.

The second set brought out the string section, with a lot more McPherson and also some more Anderson. This set was definitely more interesting to me. What was most compelling was watching the alto players playing with the string section and how much they enjoyed the interaction – then thinking about Bird, back in the early 1950s, and how much he would have valued this kind of background as well: Where he was the featured soloist in a far more highbrow type of setting and all of the other musicians, classically trained, were there to support him. It was actually enlightening from that perspective, and the music was nice as well.

As for the venue . . . can’t really complain. The acoustics were fine, everyone could see from all seats. The prices were quite high – I paid more than $80 a seat and sat upstairs – and the hall was small enough as halls go, so it’s definitely a nice setting for jazz, although there was nothing in either the music or venue that made me feel like, “Oh yeah, I have to come back here.”  Having said that, I’ll have no problem going back if there’s another concert that strikes my fancy.

There was this one that came close to the $1,000 bin: Lee Morgan Sextet, Blue Note 1541. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing that was listed in VG++ condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. It sold for $919.

We were also watching a bunch of records from the seller bobjdukic, which is always an interesting pastime. In a way you have to admire his ability to promote a 1978 Savoy reissue of Charlie Parker as an original and get someone to pay a fairly decent collectible price. Case in point: Charlie Parker, The Complete Savoy Studio Sessions, a boxed set issued in 1978 by Arista Records. This sold for $112.50. This one seemed to get a fair price: Sonny Rollins With the Modern Jazz Quartet, Prestige 7029. This was a New York pressing with the yellow cover. An original first press would have the orange cover and the kakubshi cover. This one seems to

have the second cover, but it is a New York pressing and as close to an original as you can get. It was in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $305. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing from the same seller that squeaked into the $1,000 bin: Paul Chambers, Whims of Chambers, Blue Note 1534. The vinyl was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG++ as well. It sold for $1,000 on the nose. I’m sure there are skeptics among our readers who would be suspicious, no?

Lee Morgan, Lee-Way, Blue Note 4034. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG++. The price was $847, which is by far the highest we’ve seen for this record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide.

Kenny Dorham, Afro-Cuban, Blue Note 5065. This  was an original 10-inch pressing that looked to be in very nice condition: The record was VG++ and the cover was M-, with a crisp, clear picture. The price was $811.91.

Doug Watkins, Watkins at Large, Transition 10. This was an original pressing that was listed in

M- condition, but it did not have the booklet. Still, the price was $875.

Here’s another Mobley for the $1,000 bin: Hank Mobley, Hank, Blue Note 1560. This was an original pressing that was in M- condition for the record and at least VG++ for the cover. The price was $1,158.

And another Bird for the $1,000 bin: Charlie Parker Volume 4, Dial 207. This was an original 10-inch LP that was listed in VG+ condition for the vinyl — with some background noise in the description — and probably VG+ or VG++ for the cover. The price was $1,009.

Jackie McLean, The New Tradition, Ad Lib 6601. This was an original pressing, of course, and  it was listed in VG++ condition. The price was $2,627. The seller was a collector from Japan, not a dealer. Haven’t seen that so often.

Jason did that story on Boston jazz the other day and, coincidentally, this record was available on eBay from Euclid Records: Charlie Mariano, The New Sounds From Boston, Prestige 130. This was an original 10-inch LP and it was listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. With a few hours to go before the bidding closed, this record was sitting in the $30 range. I though I might be able to get it for a cheap price and , not owning a copy, it had quite an appeal for me. So I used my sniping software, which is BidNip, and I

put in a bid around $80. I was almost sure I would win the record, based on some of the other prices of similar records. Hah! I looked at the final bidding and the price was $191. This was one out of a bunch of 10 inch LPs Euclid had up this week. Another was this: Charlie Parker Quartet/All Stars, Dial 202. This was listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the vinyl. The final price was $710.

Dexter Gordon, Dexter Blows Hot and Cool, Dootone 209. This one sold for $1,693.09. Clearly the restored cover impacted the price of this one, since this one has topped the $2,000 barrier — and even the $3,000 barrier — in previous instances catalogued on the Jazz Collector Price Guide. (2) I was also off in my prediction that the Bird Dial LP from this auction would get top dollar from among the group of 10-inch LPs we were watching. The Bird got quite a high price — $919 to be precise — but it will be topped by the Hank Mobley Blue Note, which is already at more than $1,100 with a little bit more than an hour to go before it closes.

Kenny Dorham, Afro-Cuban, Blue Note 5065. A beauty, no? This one is in M- condition for the record and what looks to be VG+ for the cover. The current price is around $225 and there are three days to go.

Here’s the next one up in the 10-inch Blue Note catalogue: Hank Mobley Quartet, Blue Note 5066. This is an original pressing, of course,and the vinyl looks to be M- and the cover somewhat close to M-. The current price is $338 and there are also three days to go.

Another 10-inch Blue Note? Why not. Here’s The Amazing Bud Powell, Blue Note 5003. This is an original pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It is being offered by Euclid Records and is currently at about $115.

Here’s the one on the list that will probably sell for the highest price:

Charlie Parker, Dial 203. This is part of that auction closing tomorrow from the Jazz Record Center. It is listed in “virtually mint” condition, which is saying a lot. This one is in the $350 range for now.

Here’s one on the Imperial label — don’t see too many of those, do you? Charlie Mariano With his Jazz Group, Imperial 3006. This is an original pressing in Ex condition. In classic Goldmine grading, what is Ex equivalent to  – VG+ or perhaps a little better than VG+. It would be nice if grading were standard.

Hank Mobley, Six Records, all on Blue Note: Blue Note 1540, 1550, 1560, 1568, 1574, 4031

Charlie Parker, Five Records: Dial 201, 203, 901, 905, Savoy 9000

Lee Morgan, Five Records: Blue Note 1538, 1557, 1578, 1590, Mosaic MQ6-162

Sonny Rollins, Four Records: Blue Note 1542, 1558, Prestige 7079, Period 1204

Kenny Dorham, Four Records: Blue Note 1524, 1535, 4063, New Jazz 8225

Sonny Clark, Four Records: Blue Note 1570, 1576, 1579, 1588

Anybody out there have all of these records, original pressings?

I regret to say I don’t have as many as I would like and, in fact, I’ve sold at least three of these for far less than $1,000, pre-eBay. My total count for these 28 records is eight in my own collection, original pressings. Whatever I don’t have as an original pressing, I have as a reissue, other than the Lee Morgan Mosaic, which I sold and which probably shouldn’t even count on this list, although I did enter it in the Jazz Collector Price Guide at more than $1,000 at one time.

I’m sure for those of you who venture over to other sites such as Popsike, you can find many more $1,000 records and I welcome you to add them to the list and see if you can discover artists with even more records selling for $1,000 or more. I have a feeling next time I update the list a couple more artists may make the four-or-more club, specifically John Coltrane and perhaps Miles Davis. But we’ll see.

Guess what came in the mail yesterday? Remember that Jazz Auction in which I participated a few weeks ago. Well the records are here and now I can tell you how I did. Remember, I bid blind on these records, based on the written descriptions, and I gambled on quite a few of the packages. I was competing with a bunch of sellers/dealers who were at the scene and had the opportunity to physically view the records. Also, I paid an extra 17 percent above what I bid because that was the fee taken by the auction house. In any case, here are the results, part one of three: Live vicariously through me if you please. The prices listed below include the 17 percent extra fee, so they are the amount I actually paid for each package. Also, the listings as I describe them below are similar to the way they were listed in the auction itself.

Wes Montgomery, Full House. Price: $70.20. This is an original blue-label Riverside

pressing. In the auction it was listed as VG+ for the vinyl and VG for the cover. It was actually quite undergraded. The record is actually M- and the cover is VG++, very clean. This is definitely an improvement over the one in my collection, so I can sell that one and, hopefully, recoup my investment. So far, so good.

The Incredible Jazz Guitar of West Mongtomery. Price $64.35. This is an original deep-groove mono pressing. It was listed as VG+ and VG++ and the record, again, is closer to M-. This replaces a stereo copy in my collection, so I’m pleased with this purchase as well.

Three LPs: Lester Young on Savoy; Art Blakey on Blue Note; Charlie Parker on Savoy. Price: $76.05. I bought this solely for the Blakey record, which was Free for All, Blue Note 4170. I figured if it was an original pressing in nice condition it would probably pay for the package. But this was a risk, for sure. The Blakey is an original, with the ear and the Van Gelder stamp, and it is a mono and it is in M- condition, so that gamble paid off. The Lester Young on Savoy is not an original. It’s the second pressing of Savoy 12068. The Bird on Savoy is also not an original: It’s a maroon-label. But both are in M- condition and will probably be headed toward eBay in the next couple of weeks.

Two New Jazz LPs With Purple Labels. Price: $93.60. This was We Three, New Jazz 8210, with Roy Haynes, Phineas Newborn and Paul Chambers, plus, Lem Winchester, Lem’s Beat, New Jazz 8239. The Haynes LP is an original pressing in beautiful M- condition, probably unplayed. It is much better than the one in my collection, so I should be able to sell this on eBay and recoup my investment. The Winchester is also an original pressing, probably unplayed as well. I don’t have a copy of this in my collection, so I will keep it. It was interesting with these two because the listings didn’t mention condition. The fact that they both turned out to be near-mint was a pleasant surprise and a bit of a revelation in that the other bidders didn’t go higher.

As I’ve looked through all the records, preparing to do these updates, the thing that comes through is that the owner of this collection kept the records in excellent condition and the auction house that was selling them actually undergraded them pretty consistently. If I would have known this I’m sure I would have bid on more records because I think there were probably a lot of bargains in the lot, even though there was the 17 percent surcharge. But, not everything was perfect, as I will share with you in the next part of this series.