Jazz Vinyl Gems, Some With a Little Tarnish

Finally, back on eBay. Contrary to my last experience a few weeks ago when I  asked the question Where’s The Action?, I’m actually seeing quite a bit of activity this week, from buyers and well as sellers. Let’s start with Kenny Dorham, Afro-Cuban, Blue Note 5065.This is an original 10-inch pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG for the cover, although the picture of the back cover might call that grade into question for discerning buyers. But the seller stands by his listings, and any bidder can see the picture and judge for himself. There are seven bidders and the price is in the $160 range with a little more than a day left on the auction. Read more

Four for the Holidays

Heading into the holiday weekend, here are some of the auctions we’ve been watching on eBay, starting with the Roy Haynes Quartet, Out of the Afternoon, Impulse A-23. This was an original mono pressing with white promo label and the Van Gelder in the dead wax.  The record and cover were both listed in VG+ condition and the final price was $416. The same seller had Curtis Fuller Volume Three, Blue Note 1583. This looked to be an original deep groove mono pressing with the West 6rd Street address. The record and cover were listed in VG+ condition. The final price was $736. Read more

Free Jazz (And More) At a Price

Like many of you, I was closely watching the auction last week from the seller  Carolina Soul. There were some items in my wheelhouse, such as Lee Morgan Indeed and Tommy Flanagan The Cats, but what caught my attention were the free jazz and other jazz records that were outside my normal area of interest and expertise. I will leave it to others to flesh out more detail – thank you, Clifford, in advance – so I will just share some of the highlights, starting with Don Pullen/Milford Graves in Concert at Yale University. This copy had a hand-painted jacket, the likes of which was unfamiliar to me. The final price was $9,515. Read more

“A Pretty Nice Batch of Sides”

Let’s turn this one over to our friend Japhy, who sent me the following note under the subject “New Trombone, New High!”

“Heya, Al, just randomly nosing around eBay and noticed a few records, all from the same seller. Not one of the more-known sellers we talk about, but the guy recently sold a pretty nice batch of sides for some hefty sums. Included in those were Curtis Fuller New Trombone, Prestige 7107, which at $1,259 set a new record, and also a Riverside white label Monk Plays Ellington, which, at $1,077, was the third highest ever, according to Popsike. Read more

Really, McCoy!

I realize it’s a long gap between posts when readers send me links to records that have sold  recently on eBay. It’s like a gentle reminder that you are still out there, which I appreciate. This link came to my in box yesterday from Aaron: McCoy Tyner, The Real McCoy, Blue Note 4264. This was an original mono Liberty pressing from the seller Carolina Soul. It was listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. I’ve never purchased from them, but based on the prices they get and their descriptions of the records, I have a sense that they are pretty conservative with the grading. Is that true? In any case, this record sold for $336, with the following note from Aaron: “Hi Al, Not sure if you saw the latest auction for an original mono McCoy Tyner The Real McCoy but it brought back memories of your post from 2014 (Really, McCoy?) when it ‘sold for $171.05, quite a high price for a later Liberty.’” To Aaron and all: In hindsight, I probably misjudged the rarity of and interest in this record back in 2014, particularly the original mono version. According to Popsike, there have been many instances of The Real McCoy selling for more than $200, with a top price of $406. Read more

Catching Up: Blue Notes and Prestige

Sorry for the long gap between posts. I spent a week in New York and when I got back I began a major record reorganization project to clear space in the house, which has resulted in me moving 2,000 records and my entire Downbeat collection into storage for potential sale and/or donation. I imagine that sentence may pique some interest, so feel free to email me if you have questions. The time is ripe: I’m in a purging frame of mind, and who knows how long that will last? Anyway, I’m back on eBay once again and, as always, watching jazz vinyl for sale, starting with: Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk, Prestige 190. This is an original 10-inch LP, listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG for the cover (and what a great cover it is). The bidding is in the $240 range. Seeing this record, which I don’t own, I am wondering why Prestige chose to issue this on 12-inch in Monk’s name and not Sonny’s. Anyone venture a guess or opinion? Rudolf, our Prestige expert, any insight? Read more

Four for Jazz Vinyl

Back to the grind of watching rare jazz vinyl on eBay. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. Here are items sitting in my current watch list, starting with Curtis Fuller, The Opener, Blue Note 1567. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in EX condition for both the record and the cover. The bidding starts at $500 and there is already one bidder with more than two days left on the auction. In the past, this record has made it into the $3,000 bin one time and into the $2,000 bin twice, according to Popsike. In this condition, we wouldn’t expect it to reach those lofty heights. As for my own copy, I just reorganized my records the other day and re-affirmed that I do not have an original pressing of The Opener, but rather a United Artists pressing that I purchased more than 40 years ago and probably haven’t listened to since I first brought it into my home. Perhaps I will listen today or tomorrow, if I have the opportunity. I have been doing that recently, pulling random records out of the collection and putting them on the turntable. I am preparing posts both on the reorganizations efforts as well as these random listening sessions, so stay tuned. Read more

New Newk, New Guest Columnist

I suppose many of you have already seen that a new Sonny Rollins album came out last week, Rollins in Holland. Unfortunately, Sonny is no longer playing the sax. The music and interviews are from radio and concert appearances from May 1967, a time when Sonny was taking a hiatus from studio recordings in the States, so this is an interesting addition to the catalogue from a time period where there isn’t much Newk on record. I have to admit, I haven’t ordered the record yet, nor have I heard the music, but I will order it as soon as I finish writing this post. I was planning to wait until getting the record to write about it, and I will probably still do that, but in the meantime our loyal reader from Amsterdam, Maarten Kools, sent me an email last week with some insights on the album and I wanted to share them here. Maarten also sent me a separate email a few weeks ago about some of the great jazz artists who are still alive, so I henceforth shall be turning this post over to Maarten as an improvised guest column of sorts. Read more

Blue Notes Galore

Lots of Blue Notes caught my eye as I was perusing eBay this afternoon, so let’s dig right in, starting with Sonny Red, Out of the Blue, Blue Note 4032. This looks to be an original deep-groove, West 63rd Street pressing. The record and cover are both listed in VG+ condition. The start price is about $500 and so far there are no takers. This would be a major gap sealer in my collection, since once owned a mint copy that I bought for five dollars and subsequently traded away before I even had a chance to even listen to it. Just the thought makes me shudder. I’m sure I’m not the only one here who has, at times, reached that level of stupidity. Read more

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