Tag: Miles Davis

Patterns, Icons and Socks

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Here are some of the items in our eBay watch list, starting with Gil Melle, Patterns in Jazz, Blue Note 1517. This looked to be an original Lexington Avenue pressing in M- condition for the records and VG++ for the cover. The final price was $2,716. That is the highest price ever recorded for this album, according to Popsike. I own a Japanese pressing of this LP and, frankly, I’ve never listened to it, but somehow I get the sense that it is the label and not the music or the artists that makes this record so coveted among collectors. Maybe next time I get a chance, I’ll put it on the turntable. FYI, the highest price for any of the Melle Prestige records was $544 – and that wasn’t even the one with Kenny Dorham, Gil’s Guests. That one has had a top price of $381. Read more

Just Another Ho-Hum Day on eBay

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Here are some of the more interesting jazz vinyl collectibles we’ve been watching on eBay. Let’s start with Dexter Gordon, Dexter Calling, Blue Note 4083. This is a mono pressing with the New York USA labels and the RVG stamp in the dead wax. It does not have the Plastylite ear, which, to my knowledge, would probably make it a second press. The seller calls it an original first pressing and states clearly that he will never use any Blue Note guide to assess the generation of any Blue Note pressing. Fair enough. I should note that the seller is Bobdjukic, who, with all due respect, is a tremendously successful marketer on eBay who apparently has a coterie of devoted collectors who trust him and pay top dollar for many of his listings, including this one, which was listed in M- condition for the record and some version of VG++ for the cover. The final price was $1,913.90. According to Popsike that is a new high for Dexter Calling, nearly lapping the previous high price of $1,045. Read more

Digging Deeper Into the Jazz Collector Collection

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I was perusing eBay this morning and came upon: Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Prestige 7038. This is an original New York yellow label pressing with the first cover. The record is listed in VG++ condition and the cover is VG. The bidding is in the $315 range with more than a day left on the auction. One of the reasons I saved this record on my watch list was to remind myself that, prior to my recent road trip, I had planned to write a post talking about records I had recently been enjoying, and this was among the foremost – or should I say, Fourmost? – on the list. So here is that record, and here is that post. Read more

Highlights from a (sold) Estate Sale

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A reader sent me a link to this estate sale with a note that it was being sold as a complete collection: The Estate of Alan J. Javorcky: Noted Trombone and Jazz Musician.  I received the note around 3 p.m. yesterday and went immediately to the site.  First thing I saw was a note that the jazz collection had been sold and was no longer available. I decided to look anyway, and I suggest that you do the same before they take the pictures away.Go all the way down to lot #212. First you’ll see a batch of EPs. At first blush, I thought these were 10-inch LPs erroneously listed as EPs, but I’m pretty sure they are EPs. Maybe someone can confirm. The picture is from that group of EPs It’s a challenge because the EPs and 10-inch LPs often used the same covers. Move down to 310 and you start with LPs of the 10- and 12-inch kind. Read more

Jazz Collector In Box: Time Traveling in Jazz

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Time to catch up with the old Jazz Collector in box. My friend Dan sends me cool pictures that he finds somewhere on the internet. This one came in the other day from March 20, 1963, the opportunity to see John Coltrane in New Orleans for an admission charge of $2. Ah, if we could go back in time. What would be your first choice? Bird on 52nd Street; Sonny, Max and Clifford; Blakey with Horace Silver and Clifford Brown; Blakey with Wayne Shorter and Freddie Hubbard; Lester with Basie; Billie Holiday; Miles with Trane, Bill Evans and Cannonball; Evans and LaFaro; Monk with Newk or Trane? Those would be some of my choices, off the top of my head, and certainly Coltrane with McCoy, Garrison and Elvin in 1963 would  be somewhere near the top of the list. If I had to choose one, it would be easy: Bird. Read more

Collectibles in the Eyes of the Beholders

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Here’s some more jazz vinyl from our watch list, starting with Paul Chambers, Bass on Top, Blue Note 1569. When I first saw this record the bidding was in the $200 range and I thought it might be something worth considering. The copy I have is a Liberty pressing with an original cover. I did some mixing and matching myself on that, don’t remember the circumstances. Anyway, when I looked at the listing for this I was surprised to see that this was a Liberty pressing with a Liberty cover. The record was in just VG condition, and the cover was VG+. I guess anything with a blue and white Blue Note label is in high demand these days, whether Liberty, United Artists or second/third pressings. This one sold for $272.34. Read more

Listening to Random Jazz Vinyl for Fun and Inspiration

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Recently I’ve been pulling random records off the shelf and listening either to a side or the whole album. The impetus has been to just play records I haven’t listened to for a while or because something or someone piqued an interest. For example, as I write this the album I have on the turntable is Cannonball Adderley and the Poll Winners, Riverside 355. My impetus was purchasing a second copy to upgrade the condition, not of the record but of the cover. It turned out that the copy I owned was in pristine condition, but it could use a better cover so I went back to Spike’s Record Rack in Catskill to pick up the copy I had left behind. This 1960 album features Cannonball with Wes Montgomery, Ray Brown, Vic Feldman and Louis Hayes. As if I really needed confirmation, this is quite a great record, with great playing and a nice selection of originals, standards and the Charlie Parker composition Au Privave. Read more

Four for Jazz Vinyl

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Back to the grind of watching rare jazz vinyl on eBay. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. Here are items sitting in my current watch list, starting with Curtis Fuller, The Opener, Blue Note 1567. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in EX condition for both the record and the cover. The bidding starts at $500 and there is already one bidder with more than two days left on the auction. In the past, this record has made it into the $3,000 bin one time and into the $2,000 bin twice, according to Popsike. In this condition, we wouldn’t expect it to reach those lofty heights. As for my own copy, I just reorganized my records the other day and re-affirmed that I do not have an original pressing of The Opener, but rather a United Artists pressing that I purchased more than 40 years ago and probably haven’t listened to since I first brought it into my home. Perhaps I will listen today or tomorrow, if I have the opportunity. I have been doing that recently, pulling random records out of the collection and putting them on the turntable. I am preparing posts both on the reorganizations efforts as well as these random listening sessions, so stay tuned. Read more

The Musings of Me

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Just yesterday morning I finished writing a book that I have been co-ghost writing along with my business partner, Mike. It is nothing too exciting and has nothing to do with jazz, unless you could somehow make a connection between cybersecurity and jazz, which I could not do, nor would I ever want to do. I was thinking, perhaps, that working somewhat diligently on the book was both a reason and an excuse for my recent absence from Jazz Collector and my paucity of posts over the past couple of months. Perhaps that is partly true but, of course, it is not the whole story. Sometimes when you are writing intently and intensely for work, the idea of writing for fun becomes less appealing.

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Back To Blue Note, Prestige and Fond Memories

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Just logged onto eBay for the first time in a couple of weeks and my searches led me very quickly to a wide range of Blue Notes and Prestiges currently up for auction, almost all of which seem destined to sell for pretty high prices, indicative that the demand is continuing to be as strong as ever for rare and vintage jazz LPs, particularly for records on these iconic labels. Here are a few that I’ve put into my watch list, starting with Jackie McLean, New Soil, Blue Note 4013. This is an original deep-groove West 63rd Street pressing. The record and cover both look to be in M- condition and that cover looks particularly nice, with an important caveat (see the Lee Morgan record below). The bidding is currently at $350 and the auction closes about two hours from the time I am typing this. There are 10 bidders and 24 watchers and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see this record enter or approach the $1,000 bin. But what about that cover?

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