Tag: Tommy Potter

Marketing, Language, Hyperbole and Collectible Jazz Vinyl

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Where was I? Oh, yeah, collectible jazz vinyl. The seller vinyl-house-uk has some interesting items for sale on eBay, including the Wardell Gray Memorial Album, Volume 2, Prestige 7009. This is an original New York yellow label listed in VG+ condition for the record and the cover. The bidding is already at about $775 with more than four days left on the auction. This is already the highest price ever for this record, according to Popsike.  In the same lot, the same seller is offering the Wardell Gray Memorial Album, Volume 1, Prestige 7008. This is also an original New York pressing in lesser condition than Volume 2, probably closer to VG all around. The bidding is at about $140. What I find interesting in these auctions is how the seller chose to list/market them. Volume 2 is promoted as “Wardell Gray/Sonny Criss/ Dexter Gordon.” Volume 1 is “Wardell Gray/Al Haig/Tommy Potter.” Do you think those headings make a difference? I absolutely do. Somehow, I’m more interested if Dexter Gordon is on a record versus Tommy Potter. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems to be leading to a record price for a record in just VG+ condition. Read more

Another Adventure in Jazz Collecting: A Bronx Tale, Part Two

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Dexter GordonSo, back in the Bronx, I had a pile of about 50 records. Of the records in that pile there were probably about 10 that I really wanted. But I sensed that the woman wanted to get rid of records and taking more seemed like the right approach. So I made an offer that I thought was fair, considering the condition of the records and the reality that many of the records in the pile were relatively worthless. The offer came out of my mouth and the words were still just hanging in the air when I could see the woman physically recoil as if she had just swallowed a platter full of insects. She repeated the number I had just said and gasped: “The Jackie McLean record alone is worth more than that!” Which, to be fair, would have been true if the Jackie McLean record was in excellent condition. But it wasn’t. Then she started going through a list that she had compiled with values for some of the key records. But there was clearly a disconnect. All of the values she had compiled were for records in M- condition. The records in the pile were not in M- condition. None of them.

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Monk and Newk, Superb in Every Way

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Be still my heart. Look at this beauty: Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk, Prestige 190. This is an original 10-inch with the maroon and silver labels. Hmmmm. M- condition for both the record and the cover, as the seller describes “superb in every way.” Now this is temptation. It closes in less than three hours and is priced at close to $400. I just won $500 in Fantasy Football this season. Perhaps, this would be the payoff?

Here’s one I’ve never seen in person, only on eBay: Tommy Potter’s Hard Funk, East-West 4001. This is an original pressing in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. Kind of a strange record for the era, recorded in Sweden with an American rhythm section and Swedish horn players. I imagine this is all explained on the liner notes?