Miles Davis with Sonny Rollins, Dig, Prestige 7012. This looks to be an original New York pressing with the gray cover as opposed to the blue cover. I would also assume that this is the “frame” cover, otherwise known as kakubushi. I always preferred the gray cover, of course, since it is the original, and I wonder why Prestige chose to change the color on the subsequent release. Perhaps someone out there knows — Rudolf? This one was in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover and is currently in the $150 price range with more than a day to go.

I am no longer in the market for this record, having just acquired an original pressing. Yay! Johnny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Blue Note 1559. This appears to be an original pressing and the condition seems to be somewhere between VG+ and M-. The start price is around $750 and, so far, there are no takers. The second copy, viewed here, looks to be in slightly worse condition, rated as “excellent” by the seller, although he describes light scuffs and the picture shows a back that has some dirt and wear. If I were wagering, I’d say this record and cover are VG+, the way I grade things. This one already has two bids and is at $404 with six days to go.

Lou Donaldson, Lou Takes Off, Blue Note 1591. Hard to believe, but I never had an original pressing of this record — until now. I have made a little bit of a purchase, including a bunch of Blue Notes. I will give you more details once the full purchase is complete, probably sometime next week. In the meantime, I’m watching this to see if I overpaid. This one is listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. It is currently at about $215 with another day to go. I expect this to go for quite a bit more, with the added benefit of Sonny Clark on piano.

This one could set a new record, perhaps: Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This is an original pressing listed in near mint for the record and what looks to be at least VG++ for the cover. The seller is reputable and has been posting some very nice items the past few weeks. This one is already more than $3,100, yet it hasn’t met the seller’s reserve. In the Jazz Collector Price Guide we’ve recorded this as selling for $5,600 in the past, the highest price we’ve ever seen for a single jazz record.

In that collection I’m buying, there is also a clean copy of this: Sonny Rollins, Newk’s Time, Blue Note 4001. The one here is in M- condition, probably comparable to the one I’m getting. This one’s at around $250 with a few days to go. I may be looking to trade one of my copies pretty soon. Unless my collector’s gene kicks in and I decide to keep everything, even doubles and triples, so I can experience both the thrill of the conquest at the thrill of seeing all of my conquests on my shelves.

Having said that, I found both the biographical tribute and the musical tribute to be really uninspired and disappointing. This was the one opportunity to explain to the country why, among all of the thousands of jazz musicians in the world, it was Sonny Rollins who was being honored on that stage. Even in just a couple of minutes with the opportunity Bill Cosby had in his introduction and in the video tribute, there was so much that could have been said that wasn’t. Here are some of the things I would have said:

“Jazz is a unique art form in that it enables – in fact, it requires – the artist to perform on the fly, as part of a unit of other musicians and without a safety net, and it demands not only immense technical skill, but a mind that can constantly plumb the depths of creativity to avoid cliché and deliver something new, exciting, clever, unique and, at times, innovative. In the mid-1940s there was a revolution in jazz that came to be known as bebop, led by musicians such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. Sonny Rollins came along as a teenager at the tail end of the bebop revolution and he was able to fuse the concepts of this new generation with the ideas and masters of the previous generation, such as Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, to bring the art of jazz improvisation to levels that the music has rarely seen, before or since. If you listen to some of the masterful Sonny Rollins albums of the 1950s, such as Worktime or Saxophone Colossus, you will hear an artist who was able to set new standards of improvisation – in creativity, in humor, in conception, in technique – that truly changed the course of jazz history and influenced every single jazz musician who came afterwards. With one or two exceptions, Sonny Rollins was without peer as an improviser, as a genius in creating music that was fresh, bursting with energy and ideas, and always inspiring.

“But Sonny was never content to rest on his laurels and, in fact, was never satisfied with his own work, even though his colleagues and peers came to respect, admire and laud him as one of the true masters of modern jazz. One of the things that makes Sonny Rollins so special among jazz artists has been his true humility and belief that he can always improve, always learn more. This quest led him famously to the Williamsburg Bridge, where he spent two years in self-imposed retirement to practice and improve his skills. This quest to be innovative, to improve, to experiment, to pioneer, has also led Sonny in many other directions, and continues to lead him to this day. Not many people realize it, but the first record album in the United States to use the words “Bossa Nova” was the Sonny Rollins album “What’s New?” Not many people realize that it was Sonny Rollins who composed and performed the music to the original movie Alfie. Not many people realize it, but it is Sonny Rollins who is regarded all around the world – in France and England, in Japan and Russia, in South America – almost everywhere – as one of the true treasures of American jazz and one of the great musicians the world has produced in the past century. It is wonderful, exciting and long overdue that Sonny Rollins is finally receiving this same recognition in the United States.”

What I wrote off the top of my head just now attempts to put Sonny’s place in history in perspective, which the tribute last night did not. If I wanted to take more time, I’m sure I could do better, but you get the point. As far as the musical tribute, it was just a bunch of guys up there playing a bunch of songs and doing a bunch of improvisations that also lacked perspective and, in my opinion, missed an opportunity to connect with a national audience. There could have been something to either explain the music or to connect the music to Sonny, but instead it was just a bunch of guys playing. To me it was a missed opportunity and, frankly, pretty boring. There was a later tribute to Yo-Yo Ma that was much more compelling, exciting and interesting. Sonny deserved more, but he also deserved what he received – the honor from the Kennedy Center and a place among the world’s most important and inspirational performing artists of the past half-century. Congratulations once again to one of our true jazz heroes.

As Rudolf pointed out, that copy of Giants Steps sold for $600 and met the reserve price, so I guess it’s not finding its way into my collection. Speaking of Coltrane, that copy of Tommy Flanagan, The Cats, New Jazz 8217,  did not sell. It had a top bid of $510.07, but did not reach the seller’s reserve. It’s kind of funny when you think about these things in perspective: Who could have ever imagined when this record was first issued and could be purchased in a store for $3 or $4 that 50 years later someone would actually turn down more than $500 for the very same record?

In case I don’t get a chance to post later: Tonight, CBS TV in the U.S., Kennedy Center Honors, featuring Sonny Rollins, one of our true greats.

Here are a few interesting items closing in the next day or so:

John Coltrane, Giants Steps, Atlantic 1311. This is an original black label mono pressing from a reputable seller. The record is listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the vinyl. It’s closing later today and the price is around $160, but it has yet to meet the seller’s reserve price. Hard to believe but with all the years I’ve been hunting records, and the size of my collection, I actually don’t own a black label Giant Steps. The one in my collection is the stereo bulls-eye. Perhaps if this doesn’t meet the reserve price, the seller and I can trade? Are you listening out there? I know you read Jazz Collector.

Sonny Rollins, Newk’s Time, Blue Note 4001. This is an original pressing that looks to be in M- condition for the record and VG++ or so for the cover. The auction is closing today, the bidding is around $200 and there is still a reserve price that has yet to be met. I just picked up a second copy of this LP for myself. Not sure if I’ll put it on eBay or keep it. These things are so rare these days, it feels like they should be kept and preserved and treasured, even if you have more than one. Not to hoard, but to sort of own and preserve the history. Anyone else starting to feel that way?

This seller has some nice items up this week so you can take a look at this and see the other items as well: Introducing Johnny Griffin, Blue Note 1533. You need to read the listing carefully on this. The picture shows the Lexington Avenue address, but the description notes that it is a split address, one side Lex, one side West 63rd. Early second press, wouldn’t you say? Although many of you out there would call it an original, based on early discussions here at Jazz Collector. The record here is in M- condition, the cover is described as “OK” condition. There is a start price of about $350 and so far there are no bidders. For me, I’d rather have the same label on both sides, even if it’s a second press and both labels are West 63rd. Not sure why I feel that way, but I do.

Here’s one in VG condition for both the record and the cover: Jutta Hipp, Blue Note 5056. This is the 10-inch LP, quite rare. How important is condition to you? This one is at about $75 with about a day to go. It will probably sell for close to $200 even in this condition. In the Jazz Collector Price Guide our top price for this record is $662 but, of course, that one was in M- condition.

“There are many people in this room who could do this better than me: Jimmy Heath, Joe Lovano, Ravi Coltrane, Jim Hall. But it’s appropriate because I’m just a fan. I discovered Sonny Rollins when I was about 15, 16, about 50 years ago. I loved jazz, and I fancied that someday I might be good enough to do it. And I bought my first Sonny Rollins LP. I listened and listened, I listened the grooves off of it. I subscribed to Down Beat magazine and I kept thinking: if I read every edition, sooner or later I will find one article that will explain to me what in the hell I just heard. It was unbelievable, and it still is. Decade after decade after decade, this man explores the far reaches of the possibilities of what has lovingly been called the devil’s horn. His music can bend your mind, it can break your heart, and it can make you laugh out loud. Still today after all these years, if I wake up in kind of a bad humor, or I’m worried about something, if I put on Sonny Rollins’ version of ‘Brown Skin Girl,’ I will laugh out loud.

I have thought so much about his unique gifts. He has done things with improvisation that really no one has ever done. In complexity and creativity, he rivals Coltrane. On one of the three CDs I listened to to prepare my mind for this, the Road Shows 2 album [that] has a lot of the tracks from his 80th birthday concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York, I was just aghast at how good he still is. There’s a duet, which is more of a duel with Ornette Coleman, who probably has the most extreme capacity to go beyond normal chord structures and tonal assumptions of any saxophone player. So Sonny just gets right out there with him. Then when he plays beautiful music… Another one of the CDs I listened to today was called Old Flames. I played that one because it’s a bunch of love songs that Sonny recorded in my first year as President. One of them, Duke Ellington’s beautiful ‘Prelude to a Kiss,’ Jimmy Heath arranged and conducted… It’s so beautiful. And then I listened to The Freedom Suite, which he recorded almost 54 years ago, in February 1958. A propos of what the former speaker said [referring to emcee Renee Fleming’s earlier remark: "He’d take a song you’d known all your life and in soaring solos of improvisation strip away the familiar and reveal new universes of wonder"], there are also, at the end of The Freedom Suite, three different takes of ‘Till There Was You,’ and they’re all different.

This man is a marvel. He was born with a strong body and a brilliant mind and a passion for jazz. He knew when he made jazz his mistress he would never be bored, but he would never conquer. And he decided he would spend his life trying again, every single day. At 81, he told me tonight, he said ‘I still practice every day.’ Every day. I said, ‘I love that 80th birthday gig at the Beacon.’ He said, ‘I wasn’t very good.’ Some musicians that are really good grace us because they keep playing. Sonny Rollins’ great gift to all of us, whether you know a lick about jazz or not, is that he keeps growing. And he still does.

A few weeks ago, physicists in Switzerland at the superconductor supercollider, the Hadron Supercollider, fired some subatomic particles called neutrinos through the mountains to a magnet in the Italian Alps, and it appeared that they arrived before they left. That is, it’s the first known experiment in physics since Einstein propagated his theory of relativity where anything with matter and mass appeared to travel faster than the speed of light. People who know a lot more about this than I do are still trying to absorb what this means and whether the experiment is accurate. But if it is, it may mean not just that we don’t know where we are and what time it is—something I often feel when I’m in Washington—it may mean that there is after all a whole fourth dimension to reality. Long before the scientists fired the neutrinos, Sonny Rollins believed there was another dimension to reality. In jazz music, his Mark VI Selmer tenor with his old Berg-Larsen mouthpiece is our superconducting supercollider. He has given us a gift, and reminded us that whatever hand we’re given to play, we’re supposed to play it to the very end and keep growing. Thank you, my friend.”

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