Jazz Vinyl Update: Some Warhols, Blue Notes & Miles

Here’s some jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay:

This one was described in “like new” condition and, based on the picture and description, it looked like an original pressing: Sonny Clark, Sonny’s Crib, Blue Note 1576. The seller said he turned down a “buy now” request and let the bidding continue, which it did, topping off at $1,713.

This one wasn’t in nearly the same condition as Sonny’s Crib: Lee Morgan, Candy, Blue Note 1590. This looked to be an original pressing and it was listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG MINUS for the cover. It sold for $1,115.

This is the highest price we’ve ever seen for this record: Miles Davis, Cookin’ Prestige 7094. This was an original pressing that was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $665.

How about a few records with Andy Warhol covers:

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Andy Warhol Covers For the $2,000 Bin

Someone mentioned this one in the comments: Jay Jay Johnson, Kai Winding, Bennie Green, Trombone by Three, Prestige 16-4. This is a rare item, a 16-RPM record with a cover design by Andy Warhol. We’ve seen it sell for nearly $300 in VG++ condition in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Which did not prepare us for this one, which was in mere G condition for the record and just VG for the cover. It sold for $2,000.

Here’s another jazz record with a cover by Andy Warhol: Conte Candoli, Cool Gabriels, Groove 1003. I have to admit, this is one I’ve never seen before. The record was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG++ as well. The price for this one was also $2,000.

Since we’re already in the $2,000 bin, here’s one more:

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Catching Up on Some 10-Inch Jazz Vinyl

Can’t sleep so I’m up early updating the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Here are some 10-inch records that will be going in:

Miles Davis All Stars Volume 2, Prestige 200. This looks to be an original pressing with the yellow label, probably one of the first Prestiges to have the famous yellow label. The record was listed in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+. The price was $204.50.

I think this was the first LP issued by Blue Note: Mellow The Mood, Blue Note 5001. It features Ike Quebec, Benny Morton, Buck Clayton and others. The record was VG and the cover was VG++. You’d think it would fetch a high price just for the historic value. But, alas, this copy did not: It sold for $28.

I’ve never seen this one and it has quite a cool cover: Bill Jennings/Leo Parker Quintet, Billy in the Lion’s Den, King 527. This was listed in VG condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $81.

Hard to find this one in M- condition, but here was a copy: Gerry Mulligan Quartet, With Chet Baker, Pacific Jazz 5. It sold for $115.52.

And now for some 10-inch Blue Notes:

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Jazz Vinyl Today: Jackie, Newk, JJ, Booker Little

Let’s catch up on some jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay, shall we?

I expected this to fetch a higher price but, as I said earlier, I think the picture of the back cover was out of synch with the description: Jackie McLean, Capuchin Swing, Blue Note 4038. This was listed in M- condition and sold for $331.

This is a real nice record that doesn’t have the cachet of a Blue Note or a Prestige, but has excellent personnel, a nice cover, deep groove, etc.: Booker Little Four, United Artists 4034. This was an original pressing in VG++ condition for the record and the cover. The price was $118.25.

This is one of those that can stir up more debate about what, exactly, is an original pressing:

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Jazz Vinyl On eBay: Mobley, JJ, Trane

What, pray tell, is on the Jazz Collector watch list this week? Glad you asked.

The seller Bullsite2000 from Italy has another fine batch of records on eBay, including: Hank Mobley, Soul Station, Blue Note 4031. This looks to be an original West 63rd Street pressing and it looks to be n beautiful M- condition. The seller is quite reputable, so we see no reason why this one won’t join its many brothers in the $1,000 bin when it closes tomorrow. The current price is a bit more than $600. Here’s another from the same seller: Hank Mobley With Donald Byrd and Lee Morgan, Blue Note 1540. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing with the flat edge, deep grooves, etc. It’s in beautiful condition with equally beautiful pictures. The current price is more than $800 and it has not yet reached the seller’s reserve. Would anyone be surprised if this one

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Catching Up: A Little Trane, A Little JJ

Sorry for taking such a long and totally unexpected hiatus. I got caught up in things and just never put aside time to post. I won’t do that again. Anyway, I have not forgotten Rudolf’s question about the status of my Great Jazz Vinyl Countdown and I will address that soon, but first let me catch up on other stuff. I had noted the small John Coltrane autograph from the Jazz Record Center when I last posted and I had expectations it would go for a fairly high price, which it did: $491.85. And no, I was not the bidder, although that is certainly something I wouldn’t mind having. I was also watching this one: Jay Jay Johnson Volume 2, Blue Note 1506. This looked to be an original Lexington Avenue flat edge pressing. It was only in VG+ condition for the vinyl and VG- for the cover. Many of the flat-edge Lexington Avenue  Blue Notes have been

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A Plug For Us, A Few For the Price Guide

I must say, I got some pleasure out of reading this listing:

The Magnificent Thad Jones, Blue Note 1527. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing and the seller was not an expert and he took it to a professional cleaner to have cleaned. Even better, when he posted the listing he provided a link and referenced Jazz Collector to help people learn more about the record. Nice touch, if I do say so myself. Anyway, the record looked to be in M- or VG++ condition, and the cover was probably around VG. The price was $385.

Here are a few more going into the Jazz Collector Price Guide this morning:

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For the $1,000 Bin: Griffin, JJ, Hubbard

It’s been a while since we’ve updated the $1,000, and there are, as expected, a few new entries. Here goes:

Introducing Johnny Griffin, Blue Note 1533. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing and it was listed in M-, pristine condition. The price: $2,651.01.

Also from the same seller were these: The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Volume 1, Blue Note 1505. This was also an original Lexington Avenue pressing and it was also in pristine condition. It sold for $1,507, which is way more than we’ve ever recorded in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. In fact, our previous high price for any JJ Johnson record was less than $400. There there was: The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 2, Blue Note 1506. This was

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On eBay: Some Blue Notes, Curtis Fuller Savoy

I’m sitting here hanging out with the lovely Mrs. JC and whilst she’s chatting on the phone I’ve spent the last hour going through two full days of jazz records on eBay. Here are some of the items I found — far fewer collectibles than I would have expected to encounter over 48 hours, by the way:

Johnny Griffin, The Congregation, Blue Note 1580. This is an odd one: It has the original vinyl, but the cover does not seem to be an original. Does anyone know the vintage of the cover — it has no address on it? The cover is by Andy Warhol, so that has always added to the value of this particular Blue Note. The record and cover are both listed in M- condition. Despite the cover the bidding has already reached more than $240 and the record has yet to reach the seller’s reserve price.

The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 1, Blue Note 1505. This is an original Lexington

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More Blue Note Favorites, Courtesy of Downbeat

I did that post earlier today and mentioned that Downbeat had done a whole feature asking various artists about their favorite Blue Note records. I was able to dig up my copy of the magazine — I don’t have a subscription anymore, but I had purchased this one on the newsstand because of the cover. It was from March of 2009. The cover, as you can see, has Joe Lovano with his favorite Blue Note: Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, Free For All, Blue Note 4170. It’s quite gratifying to see his picture with a vinyl pressing, and a mono vinyl pressing at that and perhaps even an original mono pressing. Inside, the magazine asked a variety of other jazz artists to name their favorite Blue Notes as well. Here are their replies:

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More Confessions of A Vinyl Addict, Part 2

    ReissuesOK, so I got to the JJ Johnson record and realized it was a New York USA pressing, and then I got to Blue Note 1513, Thad Jones, Detroit-New York Junction, and realized it was a Japanese pressing, and then I got to Blue Note 1515, Jutta Hipp at the Hickory House Volume 1, and realized, hey, I don’t own that record at all.

I knew all of that. I knew I didn’t have a complete original collection of Blue Notes. I knew I wasn’t even close to having a complete collection of original Blue Notes. I knew I never aspired to having a complete collection of original Blue Notes. But I felt compelled to go on, to go through the entire 1500 series and know exactly what I had

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Jazz Vinyl Countdown: Benny Golson On Riverside

This is one of our favorite records: Benny Golson, The Modern Touch, Riverside 256. It is a very nice sextet recording from 1957 with an all-star lineup: Kenny Dorham on trumpet; Golson on tenor; JJ Johnson on trombone; Wynton Kelly on piano; Paul Chambers on bass, Max Roach on drums. Love Dorham’s playing on this LP, JJ as well, and the arrangements are solid. It’s also one of those records on which both sides are equally good and listenable. We highly recommend it and we know we are going to keep it in our collection. The issue, however, is this: We have both an original pressing of this record on Riverside as well as a reissue on Jazzland: Reunion, Jazzland 85. The reissue is in a little bit better condition and, to be honest, they both sound about the same to us on our equipment. So which to keep, the one in better condition or the original?

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More and More Blue Notes: Quite a Week on EBay

It is quite a week on eBay this week. Yesterday we pointed out two quite compelling Blue Notes for auction and if you were dig a bit deeper you would notice that the seller of the Cliff Jordan-John Gilmore LP, herschel78, has quite a trove of additional treasures. I will point some of these out momentarily. We have also received an email from a seller named pretovelho, who has just put up about 200 records, including a large number of Blue Notes, some of which will will point out here as well. We are also putting up a few nice records under our nom-de-ebay AJDoctor, one of which is the first Moondog LP on Prestige, entitled Moondog, Prestige 7042. This one is in nice shape and already has a bid of $99. As for some of the other choice items we’ll be watching this week, here is a sampling:

The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 1, Blue Note 1505. This is an original Lexington

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Catching up With a Few More Warhol Covers

We’ve been watching prices for albums with covers by Andy Warhol. Here are a few more that sold recently on eBay:

Johnny Griffin, The Congregation, Blue Note 1580. This was an interesting one in that the record was listed as in only G+ or VG- condition, which means it is probably something most of us wouldn’t put on our turntables. The cover was listed in VG+ condition. It sold for $311.

J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding and Bennie Green, Trombone by Three, Prestige 16-4. This was an original pressing and a very rare 16-RPM LP. It was in VG++ condition, both the record and the cover. The price was $290.

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Another Warhol Cover, On Prestige

A lot of people have been coming to Jazz Collector looking for information about jazz covers by Andy Warhol. We’ve written quite a bit on these, so it’s worth doing a search on the site. A seller today sold a Warhol cover we hadn’t seen before. It was on the LP Trombone By Three, featuring JJ Johnson, Kai Winding and Bennie Green. We own the 33-RPM version of the record, with an illustration by Don Martin (of Mad Magazine fame, we presume). This copy was a rare 16-RPM version, Prestige 16-4. The record and cover both seemed to be in VG++ condition and the price was $290. As for the authenticity of the item, if you look at the picture you can clearly see the Warhol signature.

More On the 10-Inchers From Dex, JJ and Silver

We’ve been tracking some of the 10-inch LPs on eBay lately, so here’s a rundown of some of the prices. We tend to think perhaps the market for 10-inch LPs is soft but, actually, everything on eBay seems a little soft these days. We had a bunch of inexpensive records up the past two days and most of them didn’t even get a bid. The records we did sell, went for lower prices than we expected. Anyway, here  are the 10-inch LPs we were watching and their prices. You can make your own judgments.

Horace Silver Quintet, Blue Note 5058. This was in M- condition, both the record and the cover. The price was a very respectable $255, but that was last week.

Dexter Gordon, New Sounds in Modern Music, Savoy 9003. The record was VG+ and

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Today on eBay: Tracking Some 10-Inch LPs

I was watching the discussion about 10-inch LPs elsewhere on the site (click here) when I started doing my daily perusal of eBay and came upon a nice batch of 10-inch LPs being sold today by Euclid Records. We’ll see what this records eventually sell for but, if current price is any indication, maybe there’s something to the theory that interest in 10-inch LPs is declining. Of course, these things often run in cycles as well. Here are some of the items worth watching today:

Jay Jay Johnson, Blue Note 5028. This is a 10-inch LP featuring Clifford Brown being sold by Euclid Records. The record is in M- condition and the cover is VG+. The current price is just $67, which doesn’t mean it won’t sell for a lot more. Also from Euclid on the 10-inch front: Dexter Gordon, New Sounds in Modern Music, Savoy 9003. This is an original pressing. The record is VG+ and the cover is VG++. The current price is about $30. 

Also for sale today is a nice copy of a record we expect to sell for more than $1,000:

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Tubby Hayes, Art Taylor, Shades of Red

Back from the weekend and finally caught up on eBay. Here are some of the records we’re looking at over the next day or two:

 The dealer JBLD44000 out of Seattle has still more highly collectible records in nice condition at high prices. He has a few closing today, including:

 Tubby Hayes Quintet, Down in the Village, Fontana 680-998, with a price of $750 as we posted this.

 This dealer has many more high-priced, interesting items over the next two days, including:

 Art Taylor, Taylor’s Wailers, Prestige 7117 in M- condition.

The price on this is already $450. We missed out last week on a copy in VG++ condition that sold for $307.

Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045 in nice condition, but not mint. This is priced at $295. I’m watching this because it is a favorite of mine – I think the music is terrific, with Jackie McLean and Tina Brooks – and the only copy I have is a Japanese pressing. My copy sounds great, but it’s not like having the original.

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