Some 10-Inch LPs and Some Bird Envy

Here are some of the results from the Jazz Record Center auctions we were watching, including the one with the cover that has some of our readers weirded out. Let’s start with Kenny Dorham Quintet, Debut 9. This is an original 10-inch pressing, quite rare, that looked to be in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $960.

Charlie Mariano, Mariano, Bethlehem 1022. This was another 10-inch record from the collection of Tom Stewart and like the others the record was in M- condition and the cover probably VG++, with the owner’s name written in ink. This one sold for $355.

Now for the one with the weird cover, Red Mitchell, Happy Minors, Bethlehem 1033. This was from the same collection, M- for the record, VG++ for the cover. It sold for $333.88. So far I haven’t found a copy in my own collection. If I didn’t buy it originally for $50, I can say for pretty sure that it was because of the cover. Not one of my favorites, to be sure.

Speaking of covers, check out the next listing, and we will show a picture of the cover below:

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The One I Left Behind?

Some interesting 10-inch LPs, 78s and other items on the new eBay auction from the Jazz Record Center. Here’s a few to watch, starting with Red Mitchell, Happy Minors, Bethlehem 1033. This is an original 10-inch pressing In M- condition for the record and probably VG++ for the cover. There’s writing on the back, but the writing is from the previous owner, Thomas Stewart, who also wrote the liner notes for this record. So it has some interesting provenance. It also has the presence of  Zoot Sims and Bob Brookmeyer, which can’t hurt. The start price is $200. My own story with this record: I used to travel to Palo Alto all the time for business. There was a book store that also sold records and occasionally they would get some nice jazz. The prices were a bit high for the time, but not unreasonable. I remember a mint copy of this record sitting on the shelf for $50. I had it in my hand, put it down, had it in my hand, put it down, looked at a few other records, picked it up again. This went on for a while. In my memory I wound up buying the record for $50. Except, I guess I didn’t. I just looked on my shelves and, alas, no Happy Minors. My hope is that I have the record, but I just misfiled it or something. So later, or this weekend, I will go through all of my 10-inch records in search of the one I may have left behind. It’s probably a great record, right?

A few others from the Jazz Record Center:

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Closing out 2012 With Jazz Vinyl

Here’s an update on some of the jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay as 2012 comes to a close, starting with Johnny Coles, Little Johnny C, Blue Note 4144. This was one of Rudolf’s listings. It was an original pressing and was interesting because it looked as if one side had deep grooves, which seems kind of odd because it was issued after the deep groove era, wasn’t t? This looked like a beauty in M- condition and it sold for $615, so it was not a bad time to be listing this record.

This used to be an item that would regularly sell for more than $1,000 and often more than $2,000, but its value seemed to have been dropping in the past few years: Fred Astaire, The Astaire Story. This is the beautiful bound set that includes the four records, David Stone Martin Prints, photos, booklet and, of course, the original Astaire signature. This one looked to be in beautiful condition and sold for $1,009.

One more that we don’t often track here at Jazz Collector:

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Rare Autographs: Bill Evans, Charles Mingus

A Bill Evans autograph. That’s one of the items on the latest auction from the Jazz Record Center. To me it’s kind of cool to have, but not sure how it fares in the collectibles market. There was that letter from Bill Evans to John Coltrane that sold for $38,000 several years ago. A friend of mine spent a few hundred dollars for a high school yearbook signed by Evans. Anyway, this is a copy of the record Bill Evans, Trio ’65, Verve 8613. It is a second pressing signed on the front by both Evans and Chuck Israels. The start price is $100 and so far there are no bidders.

From the same auction is an Autographed Letter From Charles Mingus on the stationery of Debut Records. It is to a fan/customer who was complaining about a specific pressing in his recording from the Cafe Bohemia. A rare, very cool find indeed. This one is priced starting at $500 and there is already one bidder.

Updating the Jazz Vinyl Price Guide

I’ve been spending the entire morning catching up on the Jazz Collector Price Guide and, if time allows, this weekend I will make a lot of additions and finally take the database to more than 5,000 records. Quite impressive, if you ask me, since I’ve logged every one of those by myself, by hand, typing in each entry one by one. Here are some of the recent items that will be added and I hope to do another post before the end of the year with some of the older items I may have missed during the past few months.

Brew Moore in Europe, Debut 127. This is the original Danish pressing, quite hard to find. The record was in VG++ condition and the cover was M-. The price was $373.

Here Comes Louis Smith, Blue Note 1584. This is one of those where you had to look carefully at the listing. The record is listed in Ex+/N- condition and the cover as Ex. The picture shows that the cover has tape all around it, so if I were grading the best I’d give it is a VG-. It would also make me wary about the condition of the vinyl, if the seller considers this cover as excellent. Potential buyers had some of  the same concerns, it seems. The record sold for $495.

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An Interesting Trio of Rare Jazz Vinyl

Here’s some more rare jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay, starting with: Thad Jones, Debut 127. This looks to be an original 12-inch LP, which looks to me like a combination of his 10-inch LP with Mingus and another 10-inch LP, also on Debut? Don’t have this particular record, so I’m not sure. Someone will know, i.e., Rudolf. Anyway, this one was listed in VG+ condition for the cover and Ex for the record, which is probably VG+ as well. It sold for $258.

Benny Golson seems to be more popular as a collectible artist than he ever was as a jazz artist, if you know what I mean: Benny Golson, Groovin’ With Golson, New Jazz 8220. This was an original pressing in M- condition for the record and the cover. It sold for $310.

Here’s a record that’s not only unplayed, it is actually in a virgin state: Lou Donaldson, Lou Takes Off, Blue Note 1591. It sold for $511.01.

Catching Up on Rare and “Megarare” Jazz Vinyl

Here are some other items we were watching before we got distracted.

Remember that nice batch of 10-inch LPs? They did quite well. Kenny Dorham Quintet, Debut 9. The record was listed in VG++ condition and the cover was near mint. The price was $430.55. Sonny Rollins Quintet, Prestige 186. This one was also VG++ for the record and near mint for the cover. It sold for $510. Miles Davis with Sonny Rollins, Prestige 187. This was in near mint condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $305. I’d take it at that price if, indeed, I was buying records these days.

Even though this was was described as “megarare” — shades of BobD — it didn’t sell at a start price of about $300: John Coltrane, Giant Steps, Atlantic 1311. This was a stereo pressing with the bullseye label. The record was VG++ and the cover was VG+.

Tracking Another Batch of 10-Inch Jazz Vinyl

There’s another really nice set of 10-inch LPs on eBay now, including: Sonny Rollins Quintet, Prestige 186. This is an original pressing with a great cover. The record is in VG++ condition and the cover is M-. The start price is about $500 and there are no bidders yet. If I was in a buying mood, which I’m not, I’d consider this for $500. When will you ever see a clean copy of this record again? The same seller has several more beauties. How about this: Miles Davis With Sonny Rollins, Prestige 187. This is in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The start price is about $300 and, again, there are no bidders yet. One more: Kenny Dorham Quintet, Debut 9. This one is VG++ for the record and M- for the cover. The start price is around $350 with no bidders as of this post. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with these records. How often do you find such nice collectibles in such nice condition? Start prices are high, but . . . .

A Couple More For the $1,000 Bin

Here are a couple for the $1,000 bin in the Jazz Collector Price Guide:

Lee Morgan, City Lights, Blue Note 1575. This was an interesting one. The seller had it on last week with a reserve and didn’t sell it despite a bid of more than $400. He put it back this week, the bidding accelerated way past the $400 mark and the record wound up selling for a buy-it-now price of $1,200 before the auction closed. The seller must be pretty happy he put a reserve price on this record the first time around. The vinyl was listed as M- and the cover seemed to be VG+.

Bent Axen-Bent Jaedig, Let’s Keep the Message, Debut 133. This was the original Danish

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On eBay: Mingus, Newk & Unplayed Records

Here’s some jazz vinyl we’re watching on eBay:

Charles Mingus and Thad Jones, Jazz Collaborations Volume 1, Debut 17. This is an original 10-inch LP and it is in M- condition for both the vinyl and the cover. Quite hard to find this LP in this condition. The seller is Euclid Records, which has been posting quite a collection of rare 10-inch LPs the past couple of weeks. Anyway, this one closes in about 15 hours from this post and is still in the $100 range.

This one has a buy-it-now price of $2,800 and is currently at $1,000 in the bidding but has not yet reached the seller’s reserve price:

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On eBay Now: Jackie, Dolphy, Bud

Here are a few items we’re watching on eBay the next few days. We’ve already mentioned all of those records by the seller nautiluso, so we’ll be reporting back on those as well.

Jackie McLean, Consequence, Blue Note Japan King GXF-8172. This is an album that was not released originally in the United States and this is the first press. It features Lee Morgan, Harold Mabern, Herbie Lewis and Billy Higgins. It was recorded in December 1965 and appears here with updated liner notes. I didn’t realize that it had value as a collectible, until I noticed it here and saw that the price is already more than $100 with a couple of days left before the auction closes. I do have a copy of this record, so it will now get a thorough listening to see if it makes the cut in The Great Jazz Vinyl Countdown.

Eric Dolphy in Europe, Debut 136. This is the original Danish pressing and

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For the $1,000 Bin: Hank, Sahib, Griffin, Warhol

Here are a few more items for the $1,000 bin.

Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd Street address and all of the other markings that go with it. It was a tough one to assess in terms of condition because the seller notes that it has a couple of marks, one of which was feelable. That would cause me some concern if I were bidding for it, but I wouldn’t have lasted long in the bidding because this one eventually sold for $1,593. The cover was listed in VG+ condition and the vinyl was listed in VG+ to M-, if only it didn’t have the marks. This is one of the really rare Blue Notes and it has previously sold for more than $2,600 in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, so we can see why someone would want to take a chance on this album.

Here’s another interesting one we’ve been watching: Sahib Shihab, Sahib’s Jazz Party, Debut 101. This one was being offered

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Updating the $1,000 Bin

We’ve been updating the Jazz Collector Price Guide this morning and we just added a fairly  large group of records that surpassed the $1,000 price barrier. We’ve mentioned some of these before on Jazz Collector, but it’s interesting to see the group all at once. There are no links attached to these, by the way, so don’t try clicking them. Here goes:

Bent Axen, Let’s Keep the Message, Debut 133. There are actually two copies of this that fit into the category. They were both in M- condition, both cover and record. One sold for $1,790.90 and the other sold for $1,326.

Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus, Prestige 7079. There are two copies of this as well. One was sold by the Jazz Record Center and was in M- condition, both record and cover. It sold for $1,492. the other was in VG++/VG+ condition. It sold for $1,575. Go figure.

Here’s the only one on the list that was a bit of a surprise:

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Two More For the $1,000 Bin

Things may be slow on eBay this days, but there always seems to be a large appetite for some of the rarest records, and two of the ones we’ve been watching sold for more than $1,000 recently. We haven’t had quite such luck with our own sales although, admittedly, we haven’t been putting up gems. Still, we had more than 50 records up for auction this week and probably sold only about 50 percent. This is highly, highly unusual, since we tend to underprice the records and grade them conservatively. The other thing, and a few readers noted this, is that traffic on eBay seems to be down: Not only are fewer people bidding on the records, fewer people are looking at the records. I think it’s all a temporary lull — a reaction to the economy — and I’m planning to continue posting records on eBay. Whatever doesn’t sell I put into the store inventory, which you can view by clicking the Items For Sale link above, so you may find bargains if you take a look. In the meantime, we continue to track eBay pricing and here are the two records that recently sold for more than $1,000:

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Another Dolphy Collectible; Some LPS on eBay Today

Last week we were watching the record Eric Dolphy in Europe, Debut 136, which eventually sold for $1,375. This weekend there was another nice European rare Dolphy for sale: Eric Dolphy Last Date, Fontana 681-008. To my knowledge, this was an original pressing originally issued in Holland. This one was in beautiful M- condition and sold for $596.50. 

While I’m here, I may as put in a reminder that we have a few records for sale on eBay today. Here are a couple:

Mundell Lowe, New Music of Alex Wilder, Riverside 219. This is an original

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Two More For the $1,000 Bin

We’ve been watching jazz vinyl that crosses the $1,000 barrier on eBay. Here are two more that recently joined the club: Paul Chambers, Whims of Chambers, Blue Note 1534. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing that was in M- condition, both the record and the cover. It also had the advantage of being sold by Euclid Records, one of the most reputable sellers on eBay. This record sold for $1,625, quite a bit higher than we’ve previously seen for a copy of this in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. The other one joining the $1,000 club, was this one: Eric Dolpy in Europe, Debut 136. This was the original Danish pressing in pristine M- condition, both the record and the cover. It sold for $1,375.

A Couple More $1,000 Records

We have two more records to add to the growing list of Jazz LPs selling for more than $1,000. The first is Eric Dolphy in Europe, Debut 136. This is the original pressing from Denmark. It was in M- condition, from a very reputable seller, and fetched a price is $1,225. Also breaking the $1,000 barrier was a copy of John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1577. This was an original pressing, also in near mint condition, also from a reputable seller — Euclid Records — and it also sold for $1,225. We’ve been tracking Blue Train in the Jazz Collector Price Guide ever since we started the guide in 2004. This is the first time we’ve seen this record cross the $1,000 threshold. Part of it has to do with the reputation of the seller, a topic we plan to address in a post later today or tomorrow.

Today on eBay, January 30, 2009

Here are some of the records we at Jazz Collector are watching today:Lucky Thompson, Lucky Strikes, Transition 21. This is an original pressing, with the booklet. The record is listed as M-, the cover as VG and the booklet as M-. The current price is about $160. Art Blakey, A Night At Birdland Volume 2, Blue Note 5038. This is an original 10-inch LP. The record is M- and the cover is VG. The current price is about $150.

This seller, Sweedeedee, has a bunch of nice items closing in the next 24 hours. Here are a few: Gene Ammons, Jammin’ With Gene, Prestige 7060. This is an original New York pressing. Both the record and cover are listed in M- condition. It is currently priced at a bit over $100. Here’s a black-label copy of John Coltrane, Giant Steps, Atlantic 1311. The record is listed as VG++ and the cover as M-. The current price is about $210. And here’s one, frankly, we’ve never seen before: Eric Dolphy in Europe,  Debut 136. This is the original Danish pressing. The record and cover look to be in M- condition. The current price is $360, but we’d expect this to go for quite a bit more. 

We posted a little late today, so we missed a few items, which we’ll be plugging into the Jazz Collector Price Guide later this weekend. Among them are: 

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Today on EBay, January 24, 2009

Pretty light day on eBay today, but here are a few items to perk up your Saturday:

There are two copies of Jackie McLean, Alto Madness, Prestige 7114. They are from different sellers and close at different times. This one is listed as VG for the record and VG+ for the cover. The current price is $42 with four bidders. The next one actually closes tomorrow. It is currently at about $100 and is listed in VG condition by the seller. 

Here’s a nice original mono pressing of Donald Byrd, Live at the Half Note Volume One, Blue Note 4060. This has the West 63rd street address. The vinyl looks to be VG++ and the cover VG++ as well. The current price is just $51. 

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