Catching Up on Some Jazz Vinyl

Let’s catch up on some jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay:

First there were those beautiful 10-inch Blue Notes: Clifford Brown, New Star on the Horizon, Blue Note 5032. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing listed in M- condition for the vinyl and what we would characterize as VG++ for the cover. A beautiful copy. It sold for $535.49. From the same seller was this: Miles Davis Volume 2, Blue  Note 5022. This was in similar condition to the Clifford record and sold for $630.

That brilliant copy of Thelonious Monk, Brilliant Corners, Riverside 226, did not reach the  $1,000 bin, to my surprise. This was a white-label pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $898.08.

We’ve never seen a copy of this record fetch a higher price:

Read more

Jazz Vinyl on eBay: Brilliant Brilliant Corners, et al

Here’s some interesting jazz vinyl to watch on eBay as we head into the Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S.:

This seller has some nice items up now, including: Thelonious Monk, Brilliant Corners, Riverside 226. This is an original pressing with the white label, quite hard to find, and it is in M- condition for both the record and the cover. This one is a bit more than $300 and there’s another day to go and I wouldn’t be surprised if this one breaks into the $1,000 bin. This one is from the same seller: Dizzy Gillespie, Horn of Plenty, Blue Note 5017. This is an original Blue Note Lexington Avenue pressing. The record is in M- condition and the cover looks to be VG+. It hasn’t even hit the $100 mark yet. Correct me if I’m wrong — and I’m sure someone will — but I think this is the only Dizzy record on Blue Note, right?

This seller also has some beauties, including: Sonny Clark, Leapin’ and Lopin’, Blue Note 84091. This is an original stereo pressing, which means it doesn’t have the same cachet or value as a mono pressing, but it is still about $140, closing later today. It is in M- condition with the shrink wrap still on it.

Okay, I need some help figuring this one out:

Read more

More Jazz Vinyl: Monk 10-Inch & A Few Bargains?

Here’s some jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay:

Look at the great cover on this one: Thelonious Monk Plays, Prestige 189. This is a 10-inch pressing that was listed in M- condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. It was part of a nice crop of 10-inch Prestiges offered by the Philadelphia Record Exchange and it sold for $295. You may recall that I bid on the James Moody 10-inchers from this auction. I wound up winning all three for about $150 total, about $50 each. To me that’s a fine deal, great music, even though, perhaps, the resale market for these records won’t be so great. Won’t matter though, since I’ll have thousands of records to sell before I get to these.

Some interesting, lower, prices than usual: Sonny Rollins, Tenor Madness Prestige 7047. This was an original New York pressing in VG condition for both the record and cover. This is quite a classic, of course, yet it sold for less than $60. The dealer mentioned something about the cover being “professionally” repaired, whatever that means, so that could have impacted the price. Still, even in VG condition, you’d expect more, based on the prices we’ve seen lately for original Blue Notes and Prestiges. Here’s another:

Read more

The Return of Art, The Blue Note Story, Blue’s Moods

Another day, another batch of jazz vinyl on eBay. What’s up there now?

The Return of Art Pepper, Jazz West 10. This is an original pressing. The record is VG++ and the cover is VG-, which is pretty clear from the picture. The price is $240.50. When I first started collecting jazz records all I cared about was the music: The cover didn’t matter nearly as much. Now, however, that I have more music than I will ever listen to, I find that the condition of the covers is of pretty much equal value. Not that I don’t appreciate an original Blue Note with a little wear on the cover. I do. I also appreciate an original Blue Note with a little wear on the vinyl as well.

Remember I wrote that post about The Blue Note Story, a little pamphlet I found in an old Sidney Bechet record? Well, there’s one on sale on eBay now with an original copy of this LP: Thelonious Monk, Genius of Modern Music, Blue Note 5002. This is an original 10-inch pressing and it is listed in what looks to be M- condition. It also has the pamphlet which is way cool. The current price is $201.50. It will go for a lot more.

Read more

Tracking Blue Note Jazz on 78-RPM

I bought that collection and I found that it had a bunch of 12-inch Blue Note 78s so I did a search this morning on eBay for Blue Note 78s, since it is not something I have tried to collect in the past. It turns out the records I acquired — the Sidney Bechets and Albert Ammons and Art Hodes — don’t seem to have much cachet as collectibles. If you look at closed items, they generally sell in the range of $10 and less. However, in doing the search I found a few interesting bop 78s that sold for higher prices, including:

Bud Powell’s Modernists with Sonny Rollins, Blue Note 1568. This 78 includes Dance of the Infidels and 52nd Street Theme and it was described as being in better than VG+ condition, but not quite M-. This sold for $89.88.

Max Roach Quintet, Blue Note 1569. This contains Prince Albert Part 1 and 2, with Kenny Dorham and James Moody. Let’s see how well my memory is working: Prince Albert is a head based on All the Things You Are, if I recall properly, and this version, in addition to being issued on 78, was issued

Read more

Tracking Some Blue Note 10-Inchers

Here are some 10-inch Blue Notes that sold for some pretty high prices recently:

Milt Jackson, Wizard of the Vibes, Blue Note 5011. This was an original pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $343.50.

Miles Davis Volume 3, Blue Note 5040. This was an original pressing. The record was in VG condition and the cover was VG++. The price was $160.

Thelonious Monk, Genius of Modern Music, Blue Note 5002. This was an original pressing in M- condition for both the vinyl and the cover. The price was $493.50.

Read more

Lee, Newk, Pepper For the $1,000 Bin

Here are a few recent eBay sales we missed:

Lee Morgan, Volume 3, Blue Note 1557. This was an original West 63rd pressing that looked to be in VG+ condition, perhaps a little better, but not nearly mint. It sold for $1,704.

Here’s another copy of Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus, Prestige 7079. This was an original pressing in VG+ condition. It sold for $1,425.

Art Pepper, Modern Art, Intro 606. Based on the description it sounds like this record was VG+, although it was listed as VG++. The price was $1,300.

Pretty cool so far: Three records for the $1,000 bin and none of them

Read more

Guest Column: Making The Case For CDs

When we started Jazz Collector we invited members of the community to contribute to the site and, if you check out the About page, we apparently still do. To date, no one has really taken us up on the offer and all of the posts have been written by yours truly, which has been fine. The other day, however, we got a note from one of our readers asking if he could post an item and, of course, the answer was yes. So here it is:

“Greetings-my name is Ceedee and I’m a jazz collector. I’ve been using this music and the never-ending search for the next ‘must-have’ as a source of pure pleasure and inspiration for nearly 40 years now. And if the latest list of items I’m watching at eBay is any indication, it’s a search that’s not about to end any time soon. It’s the access to collections and collectors worldwide that eBay has made possible – not to mention great web sites such as Jazz Collector – which go a long way towards enabling this ‘healthy’ habit.

Before the 12-step analogy goes any further, let me assure you that for me, it has been necessary

Read more

Back on eBay and The Bidding is Busy

Hey, everyone. Seems since I came back everyone stopped using the Reader Forum. It would be a shame if that trend continues, because I find it very useful and, at times, more interesting than my own posts. Nevertheless, I am back and I am back to posting and I am back to looking at records every day on eBay. Which means today I am looking at pretty nice auction from Fred Cohen at the Jazz Record Center, which many of you were also watching in the Reader Forum. Here are some of the choice items, closing soon:

Donald Byrd, Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill, Transition 17. This is an original pressing, labels unattached (of course) with the booklet in beautiful condition. The current price is $1,791. I’m saying the record sells for $3,300. Anyone want to take the over or the under?

There’s also this on Transition:

Read more

For the Price Guide: Mingus, Bags, Rare Savoy

Here are some new records for the Jazz Collector Price Guide:

When did this one become a collectible that would fetch a price tag of nearly $200: Charles Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Impulse 54. This was an orange label stereo pressing in M- condition. It sold for $178.05. Quite a nice price for this LP, right? I have a stereo copy in my collection also in M- condition, beautiful. If anyone wants it for $175, just send me a note and I will sell it to you.

I almost bid on this one and now kind of regret that I didn’t: Milt Jackson and the Thelonious Monk Quintet, Blue Note 1509. This one was an original Lexington Avenue pressing and it looked to be in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover, although the seller could have been a bit more forthcoming with the grading. It sold for a little more than $100, and

Read more

1 7 8 9 10 11 13