Tag: Thelonious Monk

Rare Jazz Vinyl, Sonny Rollins, MOMA, Me & Bob Porter

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I just logged in to my eBay watch list and the first three items were recent sales from the seller 1molecularrman. Prices seemed really high to me, so perhaps he has a great reputation, or a magic touch, or maybe he is just bobdjukic incognito. Anyway, these were the records: Thelonious Monk/Sonny Rollins, Prestige 7075. This was an original New York yellow label. The record was listed in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+. The final price was $1,375. Based on a quick look over at Popsike, that is the highest price ever recorded for this record. And, to note, neither the record nor the cover was in near mint condition. Read more

Starting Points for Rare Jazz Vinyl

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I haven’t been watching eBay as diligently during the summer as I normally do, and I haven’t actually sold anything on eBay in more than a dozen years, so this observation may be dated, but . . . . is it just me, or are sellers consistently putting a higher start price on their auctions of rare jazz vinyl? I was just updating my watch list and flagged several titles that had high starting prices and no bidders. At first I assumed it was all from a single seller. But when I opened up the listings, they were all from different sellers. Here are some of those records, starting with Mal Waldron, Left Alone, Bethlehem 6045. This was an original red label pressing. If you can read through the seller’s tome and ‘tude, eventually you can find the condition of the record, which was listed as NM-. The cover was described as “pretty nice-very nice” and the picture shows a pretty clean front cover, with wear on the top and some old tape on the back. To me, pretty nice-very nice translates to VG+. The bidding start at $800 and so far there are no takers. Read more

A Supreme Love Supreme, Prestiges and Blue Notes

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Still here. Still watching jazz vinyl on eBay. Here’s one: John Coltrane, A Love Supreme, Impulse A-77.  Gotta give the seller credit for being loquacious and highly descriptive about this record. We know why he is selling it, what equipment he played it on, how loud. It is one of the more unique listings I’ve seen. Anyway, after reading all that, I would guess, as the seller does, that the record is in VG+ condition, that it is an original pressing and the cover is probably in VG+ or VG++ condition. The start price is $400 and so far there are no bidders with a bit more than a day left on the auction. The seller says he is ambivalent about selling the record because he is afraid to play it, so maybe the market will make it an easy decision for him to keep it. Read more

“A Pretty Nice Batch of Sides”

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Let’s turn this one over to our friend Japhy, who sent me the following note under the subject “New Trombone, New High!”

“Heya, Al, just randomly nosing around eBay and noticed a few records, all from the same seller. Not one of the more-known sellers we talk about, but the guy recently sold a pretty nice batch of sides for some hefty sums. Included in those were Curtis Fuller New Trombone, Prestige 7107, which at $1,259 set a new record, and also a Riverside white label Monk Plays Ellington, which, at $1,077, was the third highest ever, according to Popsike. Read more

A Treasure Trove of LPs, Autographs, Photos and Other Memorabilia from Ornette, Monk and More

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Some of you may remember Dee Dee, Ornette Coleman’s stepdaughter and accomplished jazz photographer. For those who don’t remember, or are new to Jazz Collector, or who just want a refresher, you can go back to the original four-part series of articles, which started on February 21, 2020 (Another Adventure, Part 1: Ornette, Monk, Dee and Me). Dee reached out recently and asked me to post the following note. For what it’s worth, I’ve seen many of Dee’s photographs and they are pretty special. As you will see in Dee’s post, there are also Monk albums, Latin and Brazilian records and other memorabilia that may be of interest to the Jazz Collector community. Here’s Dee:

These remaining Thelonious Monk albums are from his close friend Ornette Coleman’s personal collection. I’m Ornette’s step-daughter, Dee Dee – and retrieved them when my mother died in 1995. They lived together – (with me, early on!) – going back to his earliest 1959 arrival in NYC, in a close relationship spanning 30 years.

She had quite a history in this music, not the least of which was booking (including the Five Spot Café and Town Hall gigs), publicity/promotion for both Monk and Ornette, and international publishing contracts for their compositions, which still generate royalties for the Monk family.

I’ve uncovered documentation, personal letters and original sheet music in his handwriting, a music stand, metronome, a fat scrapbook of clippings from 1959 forward . . . and so much more.

It’s now urgently the time to find a home for the historic value it all contains. Some is being donated to Jazz Foundation of America for their good work, but if anyone has serious interest in knowing more, please contact me immediately:

dee@creativemusicphotography.com

The entire collection is currently in Vermont, but other arrangements are possible.

Jazz LPs and Memorabilia

Additionally, I’ve worked documenting historic jazz, Brazilian, and Latin musicians since 1964 as a formally trained (Herb Snitzer) art photographer.

I have an AUTOGRAPHED Edition of one original silver gelatin print available here:

Autographed Edition – Images, Prices, and Exposure Data

My personal vinyl collection of historic Brazilian and Afro-Cuban/Latin albums can be viewed here – with some accompanying images:

Latin & Brazilian Record Collection

Two Old Jazz Records That Are New (At Least to Me)

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Time to peruse the old watchlist once again. Let’s look at two records I don’t recall seeing and were certainly never on my radar until spotting them on eBay. First is Electrifying Sounds of the Paul Jeffrey Quintet, Savoy, 12192. This is a very late issue for the Savoy label and it has a maroon label. I’m assuming the maroon is the original color at this stage of the Savoy catalogue, but I don’t know that for sure. This one had a corner clip and original shrink wrap and was listed in M- condition. The final price was $265. Further research shows that the quintet consists of Jeffrey, Jimmy Owens, George Cables, Larry Ridley and Billy Hart, recorded in August of 1968. Part of my interest is the simple fact that I am not familiar with this record, even though it was issued near the time when I first got interested in jazz and began shopping the bins for jazz records. Also, it was near the time when I started seeing jazz live regularly. Jeffrey was the tenor player with Monk and I saw him many times at the Vanguard and was always impressed with his playing and always wondered why he didn’t get more accolades and/or record dates as a leader. So, I guess, he had at least one more record date as a leader than I was aware of. Read more

In the Mailbox: Yikes, Yowzas & George Benson’s Collection

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Got a few emails from our friend CeeDee, starting with The Booker Ervin Quintette, Cookin’, Savoy 12154. This looks like a red label, but it’s not clear. Some of the photos look red, some look maroon. Not sure this record had deep grooves, but there are none in the picture. This copy was in Ex condition for the record and the cover and sold for about $558. The previous high for this record was $175, according to Popsike. Read more

Thelonious, Duke, Phil and Buckshot

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Let’s get back to the mundane business of watching prices of rare jazz vinyl soar on eBay, shall we. Let’s start with Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington, Riverside 12-201. This is the original pressing of the first record in the 200 series of Riverside. It is an original white label pressing with the original cover, featuring photos of Monk, Oscar Pettiford and Kenny Clarke. The record looks to be in nice condition, although the description is pretty vague for a seller who does not offer returns. Cover also looks pretty nice, based on the pictures. The bidding starts at about $750 and so far there is no action, with the auction closing in about two days. I would love to own an original copy of this record and I came close about 20 years ago for what at the time was a reasonable price. I was at the Jazz Record Center in New York and had a copy in my hand in very nice condition and the price was $100. I thought long and hard, asked Fred what he thought and he said it was a bargain at that price, but I guess I didn’t have the money, or the balls, at the time, so I left it behind. Came back a few days later to get it, but it was gone. Read more

Catching Up: Blue Notes and Prestige

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Sorry for the long gap between posts. I spent a week in New York and when I got back I began a major record reorganization project to clear space in the house, which has resulted in me moving 2,000 records and my entire Downbeat collection into storage for potential sale and/or donation. I imagine that sentence may pique some interest, so feel free to email me if you have questions. The time is ripe: I’m in a purging frame of mind, and who knows how long that will last? Anyway, I’m back on eBay once again and, as always, watching jazz vinyl for sale, starting with: Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk, Prestige 190. This is an original 10-inch LP, listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG for the cover (and what a great cover it is). The bidding is in the $240 range. Seeing this record, which I don’t own, I am wondering why Prestige chose to issue this on 12-inch in Monk’s name and not Sonny’s. Anyone venture a guess or opinion? Rudolf, our Prestige expert, any insight? Read more

Autographs, Autographs, Autographs

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I heard back from the reader who sent me the original link to the auction for the autographed copy of John Coltrane Ballads, Impulse A-32. The one that sold for more than $5,000 a few weeks ago. His name is Bill and, it turns out, he has a passion for collecting autographs—as well as an impressive collection. With his permission, here is a copy of our correspondence after I replied to his initial note.

Al:

My jazz collecting the past 25 years has morphed mainly to jazz autographs. There is something about a genuine signature that makes an item come alive: This was actually in the hands of Billie, Bird, Trane, etc. One must be careful to not obtain a fake, but I have mainly dealt with reputable dealers, and over time, I have become more savvy in finds on sites such as eBay.

I did bid on this Coltrane item, but exited the bidding when it went above $2000.

The prizes of my collection are signed photographs, some contracts, some personal letters, etc. To give you an idea of some of my prized items, here is a partial list: Read more

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