Ella and Louis as Rare Jazz Vinyl
Aug 19, 2011 10-Inch LPs, Blue Note, Verve
Well, this is one of my all-time favorite records, but when did it become a high-priced commodity: Ella and Louis, Verve 4003. This is an original pressing in M- condition. I don’t often find myself watching copies of this on eBay, because it rarely gets to the $50 threshold. This one, however, has a bunch of bidders and is already in the $150 range with a few hours to go. Any guesses as to the reason for the high price on this one?
Now for this one I can understand a high price: Lou Donaldson Sextet Volume 2, Blue Note 5055. This is an original 10-inch pressing that seems to be in about VG+ condition for the vinyl and VG++ for the cover. There are nearly four days to go and the price is in the $225 range. By the way, I think I’ve convinced the lovely Mrs. JC to allocate four solid shelves of space in our new New York apartment for 10-inch LPs, which will probably cover 250-plus records. Not my full 10-inch collection, but more than enough to sustain me. And perhaps I will get back to eBay and sell some of the others. Still looking for a permanent home for my 78s, which is a bit more complicated because there are more of them and because they include both individual records and albums as well. I’ll keep you posted.
Tales of the Hunt: Tribute To A Friend
May 4, 2011 Guest Columns
Nick From Brooklyn is back with another in his ongoing Tales of the Hunt series. Enjoy.
It was, I believe, 1993 and a friend had called me and asked me to track an arranger by the name of Larry Lucie. At the time I did not know it would be the most rewarding journey I would have of all the people I came in contact with in the music business. After looking for a couple of days on and off, I came up with his name in New York’s Union Book for musicians under “Guitar.” I called his home phone number and explained that I was a dealer and collector of jazz. As soon as I said jazz he invited me over to his home, which I think was on 43rd Street and 9th Avenue. When I arrived it was like I was a lost friend, he greeted me with a welcome I will always remember, he was what I call a Teddy Bear of a guy. We went up to his apartment, we started talking about jazz and he started telling me stories about who he played with, and I sat there
Tags: Louis Armstrong
Sealed Giant Steps? $2,025? Huh?
Apr 19, 2010 $1000 Records
I know this is going to give some of you a heart attack: That sealed copy of Giant Steps of unknown provenance sold for $2,025.55. What happens with something like that? Does the buyer even open it? If he does, what if it’s just a standard red and green label? What happens? I think it’s amazing that this seller is able to get these prices for some of his offerings. But I do wonder if there’s an alternate reality going on that we’re not aware of, like whether there is one set of buyers that are completely rapt by his marketing wizardry and only bid on his stuff and are not bidding on any other records. Here are a couple of other auctions we were watching from him: Louis Armstrong at the Crescendo Volume 2, Decca 8169. This is a pretty routine record that you could probably find pretty regularly for $10 or $20 at a weekend record show. This one sold for $103.50. How about: Billie Holiday, Lady in Satin, Columbia 8048? This was a 6-eye stereo pressing. Nothing special, right? This one sold for $157.55. As I was copying the picture of Giant Steps, I took another look at the listing. Someone asked about the label and this was the seller’s reply:
Tags: Billie Holiday, Giant Steps, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong
For Sale: Louis Armstrong Autograph
May 19, 2009 Autographs, Books/Magazines, For Sale
I just posted an interesting item on The Jazz Collector Store on eBay: A copy of the Louis Armstrong autobiography Satchmo, My Life In New Orleans, which is autographed by Louis Armstrong. It is signed in large print on the title page: “To Joel From Satchmo Louis Armstrong.” The Satchmo is underlined. I have a receipt stating that I paid $270 for this item nearly 10 years ago, but I just posted it for $200. I did a quick search on eBay and there are not that many Armstrong autographs available and none quite as strong as this one, since it is an inscribed autobiography. Since the item is in the store and not up on auction, it could go fast, so I wanted to make sure I gave a heads-up to all of you who read Jazz Collector in case you wanted to grab it. If you buy it and tell me you read about it at Jazz Collector, I’ll give you an additional $10 discount. Can’t beat that.
Tags: Louis Armstrong
In Search of the Highest Prices
Jul 29, 2005 Blue Note, Jazz Vinyl, Jazz Vinyl on eBay
I was just tooling around eBay this morning and decided to do a quick search in the Jazz LP category sorted by “Highest Prices First.” I’d never thought to do a search this way and didn’t even realize it was an option. Here are some of the interesting items I found:
Here Comes Louis Smith, Blue Note 1584
Lee Morgan, Indeed, Blue Note 1538
Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. This is one of my favorite all-time LPs. I only have a Japanese pressing and have never owned the original. Will I bid on this? Perhaps. The price is $150 and the auction closes in nearly four days.
And here’s one you wouldn’t expect to see on a search of highest priced LPs: Louis Armstrong, Hello Dolly. This is from a seller with zero feedback. His asking price is $100. Think he’ll get it? If he does, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’ll be auctioning on eBay next week.
Tags: Freddie Redd, Lee Morgan, Louis Armstrong, Louis Smith
Collecting Autographs
Apr 4, 2004 Autographs, Features
It’s always surprised me that jazz collectors seem to place only marginal value in autographed albums or other memorabilia. There are exceptions of course: A Charlie Parker signature on a contract or a Billie Holiday inscription on a book are extraordinarily rare collectibles that fetch a small fortune whenever they appear on eBay or on auction lists from dealers.
But my experience is that autographs don’t necessarily do much to enhance the value of a collectible. To test this, I recently did a search of completed auctions on eBay in the category of jazz using the key word “autographed.” The results confirmed my theory:
Tags: Art Taylor, Features, Louis Armstrong, Sonny Rollins, Zoot Sims
