Tag: Tal Farlow

A Visit to a Record Store, Part 1

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I had a yen to go to a record store the other day. I don’t go to record stores much these days. First of all, there aren’t too many record stores remaining. Secondly, I’m trying to get rid of records, not add them. But it was my birthday last week and I’ve always gotten records for my birthday — even if I had to buy them myself — and perhaps it was merely just a Pavlovian reaction from years of training: Birthday = records, records = record stores. So I took a drive out to the last remaining great record store on Long Island: Infinity Records in Massapequa Park. I’ve been going there for at least 20 or more years and there was a time I would probably take a ride out at least every other week as part of my regular route of scouring all the local stores. This time, I hadn’t been out in at least a year or so. My first stop was to check out “the wall.” The store’s owner, Joe Ostermeier, always hangs some of his best records on the wall and he always has some good jazz. Sure enough, there were three or four items of interest. Among the records I wanted to check out was one of my all-time favorites: The Tal Farlow Album, Norgran 1047. I happened to remember that my copy of this record, the

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Free Jazz Vinyl, TAL: And The Winner Is . . .

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OK, time to announce the winner of our latest give-away. This one is: Tal Farlow, Tal, Verve 8021. This is a nice Japanese pressing that is in beautiful condition and is being given away, frankly, because we found ourselves with an abundance of copies through a variety of mostly pleasant circumstances. Anyway, this record features Tal in a guitar-bass-piano trio with Eddie Costa and Vinnie Burke. It’s a superb record and of the era during which Tal was setting new standards for inventiveness on the jazz guitar. As usual, the record will go to someone who has commented on the Jazz Collector site these past two weeks. We may have a new record number of eligible contestants — 21 in all. Usually I mention everyone, which I shall do again, but I’m not sure if I should continue doing. If any of you has a feeling about this, and about having your name mentioned, please let me know. Anyway, the eligible names for the Tal record are:

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Jazz Vinyl Giveaway: Tal Farlow on Verve

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Okay, now we’re cooking. This is a great, great, great jazz guitar LP featuring Farlow in his prime in a fantastic trio setting with Eddie Costa and Vinnie Burke: Tal Farlow, Tal, Verve 8021. Costa was a great accompanist as well as an inventive soloist and it’s clear he had a great rapport with Farlow. So, why give away this wonderful record? Because I am loyal to my friends at Jazz Collector, of course. Well, it also happens to be that this is a Japanese pressing  and, as I was working on my collection this weekend, I discovered that I actually owned three copies of the Japanese pressing in addition to my own original Verve with the trumpeter logo. How did that happen? Inertia, I think.  Or something like that. Anyway, I have at least one copy too many, so I am happy to share it with one lucky reader here at Jazz Collector. In order to be eligible to win this record

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Today on eBay: Tadd, Zoot, Fuller, Miles, et al

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We’re back from The Berkshires after our successful gig in the Monterey General Store and it’s time to get back to the ever-lasting grind that is eBay. We took a look at listings over the next couple of days, and it’s actually pretty quiet out there, although our friends at Euclid Records have a few nice items closing today. Here’s some of what we’re watching:

Tadd Dameron, Fontainebleau, Prestige 7037. This is an original New York pressing that is in M- condition for both the record and the cover. This one is not usually among the higher-priced early Prestiges, but the bidding is already at $162, which is nice to see for a nice record.

Zoot Sims and Joe Newman, Locking Horns, Rama 1003. This is a rare record on a rare label. The vinyl is listed as M- and the cover is VG++. The price is nearly $300, with more than an hour left.

Miles Davis, Miles, The New Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige 7014. This is the album that introduced John Coltrane to

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Live At Monterey: Jazz Collector

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For any of you who may find yourselves in the wilds of Western Massachusetts this weekend, you can come down to the Monterey General Store on Sunday and catch a live performance of none-other-than yours truly. It is a long and complicated story that brings me there, and I won’t get into the details now, but I have a minor ability to play rhythm guitar and I will be doing so in support of my friend Dan Axelrod, who I have mentioned many times on this site as a brilliant jazz guitarist and protege of the late Tal Farlow. Many years ago, Dan and I used to play fairly regularly. That’s us in the picture, with more hair and less girth. I’m on the left. Don’t laugh — it was a time when mustaches like that were quite respectable. Anyway, a few years ago we revived the act and played at the Monterey General Store — which is, quite literally, a general store — and this weekend we are reviving the act for a “jazz brunch” from noon to 2 p.m. The music will be good and the gig should be a lot of fun. I’ll let you know how it goes next week.

Price Guide Update: Wallington, Drew, DeFranco, Tal

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We’ve missed a couple of days posting. Sorry. Up in the country. The weather is beautiful and the Internet connection is inconsistent. We will attempt to be more regular. To get back into posting shape, this morning we will list some of the new items we’ll be entering into the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Nothing in the $1,000 bin — we’ll save those for later — but some nice, interesting collectibles. Here are several:

George Wallington Quintet at the Bohemia, Progressive 1001. This is an original pressing and the seller listed it as near-mint condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $810.

Kenny Drew, Undercurrent, Blue Note 4059. This was an original pressing, also in near-mint condition and was one of the items sold by the seller herschel78. This one also sold for $810.

Here’s a record I actually bid on (and lost, by $1):

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Price Updates: Roy & Diz, Tal, Stone Martin, Drew

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Time to catch up on some of the items we were watching earlier in the week. We’ll do another of these catch-ups tomorrow or Monday when some of the high-tagged Blue Notes close.

We don’t often see Dizzy Gillespie among the higher-priced LPs, but here was a nice one that was sold earlier this week by Euclid records: Dizzy Gillespie and Roy Eldridge, Roy & Diz #2. This record was in M- condition, both record an cover, and sold for $145. No doubt helping the value of the LP is the great illustration by David Stone Martin.

Also featuring a David Stone Martin illustration is The Tal Farlow Album, Norgran 1047. This was also sold by Euclid and was also in M- condition. It sold for $83, not bad for a quality record like this in today’s market. Seems that within the Norgran/Clef/Verve pantheon there are still bargains to be found. Also, please take a look at our earlier post on this album Today on eBay: Tal, Drew, Kenny Dorham, True Blue. I had mentioned that my good friend Dan Axelrod was a good friend and protege of Tal, and he shares some personal insight about the album that’s worth reading.

Speaking of Kenny Drew, that copy of The Kenny Drew Trio, Riiverside 224, that

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Today on eBay: Tal, Drew, Kenny Dorham, True Blue

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We had a couple of hours to kill last night, so we did something we used to do every day: Scroll through a full 24 hours worth of jazz records listed on eBay. It was good timing, because we found some nice items for our Jazz Collector readers and one item we plan to bid on for ourselves.

Our friends at Euclid Records have a nice batch closing today, including: Kenny Drew Trio, Riverside 224. This is an original white label pressing and is listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The current price is $1,256, so, Kenny Drew, welcome again to the $1,000 bin. Also from Euclid is The Tal Farlow Album, Norgran 1047. This is the 12-inch version with the beautiful cover by David Stone Martin. It is in M- condition for both the record and the cover and is currently in the $60 price range. My friend Dan Axelrod, who was Tal’s good friend and protege, swears that the 10-inch version of this record offers far better sound quality than the 12-inch version. I suppose that’s why he has more than a dozen copies of the 10-inch version. Nonetheless, the 12-inch Tal Farlow Album is quite lovely to listen to and quite collectible and is certainly a worthy addition to any collection.

It always pays to read the eBay listings carefully. Here’s an example why:

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Norvo, Farlow and Mingus: Volume 2?

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A Jazz Collector reader poses a question. On eBay, there was a copy of this record: The Red Norvo Trio, Volume 1, Discovery 4005. This is a 12-inch LP featuring Tal Farlow and Charles Mingus. It includes the following tracks: Little White Lies, Move, I Get A kick Out of You, I’ll Remember April, I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Zing Went the Strings of My Heart and September Song. These are the exact same songs that are on the 10-inch version of the LP, Discovery 3012, which has similar packaging, with the exception of an added picture (a great one of the group in action). The question is this: Is there a 12-inch Volume 2 of this series as well? There is a 10-inch Volume 2, which is Discovery 3018, so we assume there’s a 12-inch also (probably with the same pictures), but we don’t have a copy and, rather than search through eBay, we figured we’d throw it out there to see if someone knows the answer. Thanks.

Catching Up on eBay, One More Time

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Here’s an update on some of the items we’ve been watching lately on eBay:

Kenny Dorham and Jackie McLean, Inta Somethin’, Pacific Jazz 41. This was an original pressing in M-/VG++ condition. We had targeted this is a potential bargain. It sold for $71. What do you think? Definitely a very nice record.

I have a feeling this one also may have been a bargain: Eric Dolphy, Out There, Prestige New Jazz 8252. This was an original purple label pressing in M- condition. Price. $103.51

Charles Mingus at the Bohemia, Debut 123. This was an original pressing in M-/VG+ condition. We expected it to go for a high price and it did, also beating the dealer’s reserve. Price: $460 Read more

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