A Jazz Vinyl Christmas?

I did my usual eBay searches last night and there is a lot of really, really nice collectible jazz vinyl available now. These things tend to go in cycles. Perhaps the Christmas season brings out the inner retailer in some of us. Here is just a sampling of the jazz vinyl we’re watching now:

Walter Davis Jr., Davis Cup, Blue Note 4018. This looks to be an original pressing in not-too-great condition. Record looks to be VG or VG+ and the cover is rated as VG. The auction closes later today and the bidding is in the $150 range. I have a United Artists pressing of this record and would love an original, even one in VG condition. But this will probably sell for somewhere around $300, so I think I’ll wait.

I’m still surprised to see these Benny Golson LPs selling for such high prices, although I’ve always been a fan myself: Benny Golson, Gone With Golson, New Jazz 8235. This is an original purple label pressing and it is listed in M- condition for the record and Ex for the cover, which is probably VG++? There are more than two days left on this auction and the bidding is already nearing $400. Speaking of which, here is a copy of my favorite Benny Golson record: Benny Golson, The Modern Touch, Riverside 256. This is an original deep groove blue label pressing that is listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The price is well less than $100 at this point, with a few days to go. If you don’t know this record, it’s one to check out. Really nice arrangements, some great Kenny Dorham, and a fantastic rhythm section with Paul Chambers, Max Roach and Wynton Kelly. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Here’s another favorite, with a great cover:

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Catching Up: Walter Davis on UA, Jackie, Sonny

Here are a few items we’ve been watching on eBay. Given our recent interest in later pressings, particularly Blue Notes, we were curious about this record: Walter Davis, Davis Cup, Blue Note 4018. An original pressing of this would normally sell for more than $1,000, and we’ve recorded one instance of this record fetching $2,000 in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. This record was not of that distinctive lineage: This was a United Artists pressing, similar, unfortunately, to the one in my collection. It sold for $34, which seems about right, unless you’re the seller bobdjukik and can somehow sell it for $400 or more.

This was from the same seller, but it was an original: Jackie McLean, Swing, Swang, Swingin’, Blue Note 4024. This one was in VG+ condition for the vinyl and VG or VG+ for the cover. The price was $273.60.

Here’s one of my favorite Sonny Rollins records, at a reasonable price:

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