Jazz Vinyl for the New Year

Let’s close out the year with another real-time excursion through eBay, with a search of some of the higher priced jazz vinyl on auction now. It’s off to hunt we go. Here’s a new listing: Freddie Hubbard, Hub Cap, Blue Note 4073. This is an original West 63rd street pressing, one of the last of the West 63rd Blue Notes. This one is graded in VG+ condition for the record. The seller has a bunch of pictures of the cover. My grade would be VG based on the pictures. There is nearly a week left in the auction and the start price is $500, with no bidders so far.

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Starting Points for Rare Jazz Vinyl

I haven’t been watching eBay as diligently during the summer as I normally do, and I haven’t actually sold anything on eBay in more than a dozen years, so this observation may be dated, but . . . . is it just me, or are sellers consistently putting a higher start price on their auctions of rare jazz vinyl? I was just updating my watch list and flagged several titles that had high starting prices and no bidders. At first I assumed it was all from a single seller. But when I opened up the listings, they were all from different sellers. Here are some of those records, starting with Mal Waldron, Left Alone, Bethlehem 6045. This was an original red label pressing. If you can read through the seller’s tome and ‘tude, eventually you can find the condition of the record, which was listed as NM-. The cover was described as “pretty nice-very nice” and the picture shows a pretty clean front cover, with wear on the top and some old tape on the back. To me, pretty nice-very nice translates to VG+. The bidding start at $800 and so far there are no takers. Read more

Not Selling on eBay

Took a lovely holiday with The Lovely Mrs. JC and was off eBay for quite a bit. Now I am back and looking over my eBay watch list, and I am somewhat surprised to see that a lot of the items I had put on the list did not sell. A few examples: Jackie McLean, Makin’ the Changes, New Jazz 8231. This was an original purple label pressing in VG+ condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. The start price was $500, when I looked at it. It is back again on eBay now for $400 and there are still no takers, yet. This was from the seller 1molecularman, who has had quite a lot of success with his recent auctions, so I expected it to sell. Another from the same seller: Read more

Red, White and Blue Note

I appreciate all of the advice on what to do with my collection, how much it’s worth, who will buy it, etcetera, etcetera. One of these days, something will happen, but I don’t know when and I can’t imagine I’ll go the Lennib route, at least for as long as I can put Coltrane on the turntable and know that it’s Coltrane that I’ve put on the turntable. In any case, I am watching jazz vinyl with renewed interest and ready to do my normal work here of writing about what I’m watching and, on occasion, writing about what I’m listening to and, on rarer and rarer occasions, what I’m buying. So, let’s start with Red Rodney, Signal 1206. This looks to be an original pressing, listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG- for the cover. Quite a rhythm section on this record with Tommy Flanagan, Oscar Pettiford and Philly Joe Jones. Question: Can anyone think of another record with that rhythm section. Off the top of my head, I can’t. So we have the record VG+ and the cover VG- and a final price of $1,324. Hmm. Read more

Variations on a Vinyl Theme

Here’s some random jazz vinyl we’re watching on eBay, starting with Miles Davis, The New Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige 7014. This looks to be an original New York yellow label pressing with the original green cover. Coltrane’s first LP with Miles. The record and cover are both listed in VG+ condition. The bidding is at $56 with five days left on the auction. From the same seller, and also under $100 (for now) is Lou Donaldson, Lou Takes Off, Blue Note 1591. This looks to be an original West 63rd Street pressing. The record is listed in VG condition and the cover is VG++. Bidding is at $51 with five days left. Read more

Filling Up the $1,000 Bin

Catching up on the eBay jazz vinyl watch list. Let’s start with one that was sent to me by Japhy: Jackie McLean, Swing, Swang, Swingin’, Blue Note 4024. This was an original deep-groove. West 63rd Street mono. The record and the cover were both in VG++ condition. The final price was $1,650. Japhy’s note was titled “Swinging for the fences,” and he did my homework for me: “A new high of $1,650 for Jackie McLean Swing, Swang, Swingin’ in reported VG++/VG++ condition. Prior high was $1,283 back in 2005.” Speaking of “Swingin’” new highs, we were watching this one the other day: Read more

A Period Piece and More

As a collector, I have always tended to focus more on musicians than on labels. So, for example, it was more interesting to me to have original Coltrane, Miles or Cannonball records, than to focus on the Blue Note, Prestige or Riverside catalogues. Anyway, the key artists for me have been the key artists for many of you – Miles, Trane, Clifford Brown, Monk, Dexter, Sonny Rollins, and a few more. One of the records that has somehow slipped my grasp after all of these years of jazz collecting is this one: Sonny Rollins Plays, Period 1204. This is an original pressing listed in VG condition for the record and the cover. The start price is $500 and so far there are no bidders. I haven’t been buying in a while, but a record like this would be of interest for sure and would fill in that one Newk hole in my collection. And I always liked that cover.
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