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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The Great Jazz Vinyl Countdown, Ad Infinitum

Finally, the real deal.

To answer some of your post pressing questions. Yes, those are many of my records on the current Carolina Soul eBay auction. Seeing the actual listings makes it pretty clear to me one of the reasons why Jason and I weren’t able to strike a deal: We were grading the condition of the records on a different curve. That wasn’t the only reason, but it must have played an important factor. As a collector and former seller on eBay, I was grading the records quite a bit differently than Jason and his team, who are admittedly more in touch with today’s marketplace. Some of the obvious examples are ones I’ve written about here. Like the Jutta Hipp and Zoot Sims record on Blue Note and the Donald Byrd on Transition. I know that I got those records from the Bruce M. West collection in Baltimore, and I am pretty sure those records weren’t played more than two or three times. When I listened to them, once each, they were clean. In my collection, I had graded the vinyl condition at M- or VG++ at worst. Read more

A New Adventure in Jazz Collecting

Sometime over the next few weeks the seller Carolina Soul Records will be running an eBay auction that will include many really, really nice original jazz collectibles. These will include a beautiful copy of Jutta Hipp With Zoot Sims, Blue Note 1530, along with nice copies of the other 12-inch Jutta Hipp Blue Notes; a really nice original New York pressing of Sonny Rollins Saxophone Colossus, as well as Blue Note 1542, 1558 and 1581; a West 63rd copy of John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1557, plus more than a dozen additional original Tranes; a bunch of Miles originals; Donald Byrd Blows Beacon Hill on Transition, Kenny Dorham Blue Note, Lou Donaldson Blue Note. I could go on.

How do I know so much about this upcoming auction? Read more

Watching Some Original Original And Not So Original Jazz Vinyl

Very interesting thread on the previous post. Glad everyone has been able to keep the conversation going in my absence. For the record, I am and always will be an original, no matter what anyone says. And now, back to watching original rare jazz vinyl on eBay. I have a lot of stuff I am watching now, so let’s go, starting with Frank Morgan With Conte Candoli and Machito’s Rhythm Section, GNP 12. This is an original pressing with the red vinyl. The record and cover are both listed in VG+ condition. The start price is $250 with more than two days left on this auction. I was fortunate to acquire a near mint copy of this record when I purchased the Bruce M. West collection in Baltimore. For some reason, I always considered this to be an album for the $1,000 bin. I guess the reason is that it’s really rare and hard to find, plus there’s not that much early Frank Morgan on record. When I did a search on Popsike, however, I discovered that the top price for this record was $331, and that was back in 2006. I guess it’s just not a Blue Note. Read more

Catching Up on Rare Jazz Vinyl

Let’s catch up on some items we’ve been watching on eBay, starting with Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134.This was an original New York yellow label. The record was listed in VG+ condition and the cover was VG. The final price was $1,610. Hank Mobley Quintet, Blue Note 1550. This looked to be an original promo copy with the New York 23 label. The record was listed in VG+ condition and the cover was listed as VG, but the pictures tell a different story for the cover. VG minus would be a stretch. Despite the cover, the record sold for $969. Read more

Blue Note Sunday

Back to the watchlist grind, starting with Donald Byrd, Byrd in Flight, Blue Note 4048. This looks to be an original mono pressing with the deep grooves, ear, Van Gelder, etc. The record is listed in Ex condition and the cover is VG. The start price is about $900 with eight days left on the auction. According to Popsike, there have been about 10 instances of this record in the $1,000 bin. We’ll see what happens with this VG cover. Another Blue Note: Fred Jackson, Hootin’ ‘N Tootin’, Blue Note 4094. This looks to be an original New York USA pressing, despite what the listing says. The record is listed as VG and the cover as VG+. The start price is $700 and so far there are no bidders, with the auction closing next week. High expectations for both sellers, IMHO, but we’ll see. Read more

More Jazz Vinyl From Europe

Let’s look at a few more original European pressings, starting with Zoot Sims in Hollywood, Esquire 20-040. This is an original 10-inch version of an original 10-inch U.S. Prestige. The record looks to be in M- condition and the cover looks to be VG++. The bidding starts at about $115 and so far there are no bids. I have to admit – I’ve never seen a copy of this record before, either in person or even on eBay. Can’t beat the cover on this one: Gigi Gryce-Clifford Brown Sextet, Jazz Time Paris, Volume 2, Vogue L.D.E. 048. This is an original French pressing. It takes a while to interpret the seller’s description, but I would say this looks to be in VG- condition for the record and VG for the cover. The start price is $100 and so far there are no bidders. The auction closes tomorrow. Read more

Transitioning Back with Rare Jazz Vinyl

Let’s celebrate our return with a look at random rare jazz vinyl on eBay, marking the transition back to Jazz Collector with some records from Transition: Doug Watkins, Watkins at Large, Transition TRLP-20. This looks to be an original pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG for the cover. There is no mention of the booklet, and no pictures of the booklet, so my expectation is that there would be no booklet, making this particular copy incomplete. So far there is one bid at $750, with the auction closing in a couple of days. Whilst Transitioning, here is a new one to me: Donald Byrd Sextet, Transition 5. This looks to be a limited edition numbered reissue, and it seems to include the booklet as well. Looks pretty cool, if you are into numbered reissues. This is part of the Sam Records Artisan Series, number 138 out of 300. Since I don’t follow the reissues market as closely as original pressings, perhaps someone can enlighten us about this record and this series. Read more

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