Tag: Louis Smith

Catching Up (Again) On Jazz Vinyl Auctions

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Louis smith Jazz VinylAnd now I will clean out some more jazz vinyl from my eBay watch list, starting with Louis Smith, Smithville, Blue Note 1594. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing. The seller listed the record and cover as VG++, although the picture of the cover looked less than VG++ to these eyes. Nonetheless, the record sold for $1,677.

Jazz By Sun Ra, Transition 10. This was an original pressing with the booklet. The record was listed in Ex condition and the cover was VG++. The final price was $1,475. In a similar vein there was also Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra Playing Secrets of the Sun, Saturn GH 9954. This was an original pressing. The record was probably VG+ based on the seller’s description and the cover was also VG+. The final price was $1,135.

These have all been mentioned in previous posts, but now we have final prices to consider:

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Prices Rising, Regardless of Condition, It Seems

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clifford copyLet’s catch up on some of the jazz records were were watching on eBay before we were so rudely interrupted by life.

Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Study in Brown, Emarcy 36037. This is, of course, one of the classic records of the era. I haven’t noticed it selling for big prices in recent years, but perhaps that’s just me not noticing. Looking in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, I see we have several instances of the record selling for between $400 and $700. This looked to be an original pressing in just VG condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. I was surprised to see that it sold for $280.55, which is why I was watching it. I thought it would sell for less.

I thought this would sell for less as well: Thelonious Monk Plays, Prestige 189. This was an original 10-inch LP in VG+ condition for the record and the cover. It sold for $504.99. That seller did well not just with the Monk and Clifford records, but also with the Sun Ra records he had and some of his other 10-inch LPs, including Dexter Gordon Quintet, Dial 204. This was an original pressing listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $333.

Here’s one for the $1,000 bin:

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Lou REALLY!!! Takes Off, and More

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louHere’s some of the jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay:

Lou Donaldson, Lou Takes Off, Blue Note 1591. This was an original pressing listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $1,499.99. If you ever needed evidence on the increasing value of Blue Note originals, here it is. It has the presence of Sonny Clark on piano, which always seems to raise the value of the records (for good reason, IMHO), but this is quite a hefty  price for a Lou Donaldson LP. Very happy to have acquired a mint copy recently. The gift of Baltimore keeps coming for me.

Sonny Clark is on this one as well and, again, the price is somewhat reflective: Curtis Fuller, Bone & Bari, Blue Note 1572. This was an original pressing, probably in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. This one sold for $1,624.99.

Here’s another Blue Note from the same era, although no Sonny Clark:

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Four for the Jazz Collector Price Guide

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monicaHere are the results of some jazz vinyl auctions we’ve been watching on eBay:

Monica Zetterlund and Bill Evans, Waltz for Debby, Phillips 08222. This was an original mono pressing listed in “pristine” condition for the record, which we translate to M-, and VG++ for the cover. Not a lot of description from the seller, but certainly a lot of interest from the buyers. This one had 13 bids and sold for $555.65.

Louis Smith, Smithville, Blue Note 1594. This looked to be an original West 63rd deep-groove pressing. The record was listed in VG+ condition, and the cover was listed as VG+, but somehow the seller made it sound as if it were actually better than that. The play-grading described the record as between VG+ and VG++, with the description of some surface noise. And the nice clear picture of the cover made it seem that the cover may also have been better than VG+. I have a feeling whoever purchased this record may be hoping that it is, indeed, better than VG+. Why? Well, the price was $960. As for me, I tend to believe the seller’s original grading of VG+, and that’s what I would expect.

This looked like a nice one:

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Four Blue Notes For the $1,000 Bin

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Goin' Up -- That's for sure

                    Goin’ Up — That’s for sure

Let’s look at some rare records that we may have missed on eBay:

Louis Smith, Smithville, Blue Note 1594. This was an original pressing in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $1,250. That’s not quite the highest price we’ve ever recorded for this record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, but it’s definitely up there.

This one got a lot of mentions in the comments, but I wanted to point to it specifically in a post so anyone doing a search can easily find it: Freddie Hubbard, Goin’ Up, Blue Note 4056. This was an original pressing that seemed to be in VG+ or better condition for the record and M- for the cover. It sold for, ahem, $1,259. Whenever I’ve thought of this record I’ve thought of it as Goin’ Up, Up, Up based on the front cover, but that’s just a design element, isn’t it? Took me a while to figure that out.

John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1577. This was an original pressing in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. Despite the condition, it still sold for $1,113.

Not sure how this one slipped by us from a couple of months ago: Read more

Danish Jazz, Anyone? Blue Notes, Anyone?

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Here’s one that almost made it to the $3,000 bin: Sahib Shihab and the Danish Jazz Radio Group, Oktav OKLP 111. This was an original Danish pressing listed in Ex condition for both the record and the cover, with just a single photo on the listing. The bidders must have had a lot of confidence in the seller because the record sold for $2,965. Last time we saw that record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide it sold for $1,953. This seller had quite a week. This next one went deep into the $3,000 bin: Presenting Jazz Quintet 60, Fontana TL 687.527. This was another Danish original, from 1963, and it featured, among others Bent Axen and Neils Hennings Oersted Pedersen. It was described as being in pristine condition and sold for a whopping $3,617.89. Imagine buying these records in the mid ’60s for, what, the equivalent of five bucks or so each, and now selling the two of them for $6,500? What’s more, if you look at the seller’s completed auctions, you see another record that sold for $2,240: Jazz Quintet 60, Metronome 15124.

Here are a few nice Blue Notes:

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Four More Blue Notes For the $1,000 Bin

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Those Blue Notes I was coveting the other day? Even if I had bid, which I considered, I would have been out of the running quite early. Several of these broke into the $1,000 bin. Here are some results.

Jutta Hipp, At The Hickory House Volume 2, Blue Note 1516. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing that was in perhaps VG++ condition for the record and VG for the cover. It sold for $1,402.88.

J.R. Monterose, Blue Note 1536. This was also an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record was VG+ and the cover was probably VG++. The price was $1,472.

John Jenkins With Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1573. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing. The record and cover were both in VG++ or so condition. The price was $1,107.

Here Comes Louis Smith, Blue Note 1584. This was an original pressing in VG++ condition for the record and M- for the cover. It sold for $1,025.

Four Blue Notes, four $1,000-plus jazz records. Whew.

Spring is in the Air and We’re Pining for Blue Notes

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I’m watching a bunch of Blue Notes on eBay, many of which I have in later pressings — Japanese, United Artists — but all of which having me pining for originals. Here are a few:

This is from a seller who has a bunch or rare original Blue Notes closing tomorrow, including: Sonny Clark Trio, Blue Note 1579. This is an original pressing that looks to be in VG++ condition for the record and the cover, based on how the seller describes his grading system. There have already been more than 20 bids and the price is now hovering in the $550 range. Here Comes Louis Smith, Blue Note 1584. This is also an original pressing. The record is VG++ and the cover is M-. The price is now $432. J.R. Monterose, Blue Note 1536. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing.  It is listed in what seems to be VG+ condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. The price is now in the $300 range. There are more from this seller if you want to do a search.

This is from a different seller and is also quite appealing:

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Watching Original Jazz Vinyl on eBay

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At some point soon I will be updating the Jazz Collector Price Guide. My inclination is to not include some of the recent sales we’ve been watching here, such as Getz/Gilberto and Miles Davis Four and More since they are clearly aberrations and not indicative of the overall market. I think they would tend to give people false expectations as to real market value. What do you think?

In the meanwhile, here are some other jazz vinyl auctions we are watching on eBay.

Hank Mobley, Mobley’s Message, Prestige 7061. This is an original yellow-label pressing with the New York address. The record and cover are both listed in M- condition. The price is $165.50 and there are more than two days left in the auction. Tempting, although I have a feeling the bidding will definitely surpass the $600-$700 range and perhaps slide into the $1,000 bin. All of which would put it out of reach for me.

Louis Smith, Smithville, Blue Note 1594. This is also an original pressing. The cover

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Updating the Jazz Vinyl Price Guide

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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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