A Surprise Price For Bechet 10-Inch on Dial

We try to watch for interesting items at trends at Jazz Collector, and not always on the highest price tags or the Blue Notes. Here’s one we were watching a few weeks ago that we found interesting. The record was: Sidney Bechet with Kenny Clarke, Black Stick, Dial 301. This was an original 10-inch LP and it was listed in VG+ condition, for both the record and the cover. It caught our attention because of the selling price, which was $103.50. Normally even the Bechet’s on Blue Note don’t sell for this price, unless they are original Lexington Avenues in near mint condition. Not sure if this is because of the Dial label, or because of the presence of Kenny Clarke, but it was definitely surprising to see this in the $100-plus range. We had a discussion on the site a few months back about the dearth of demand for some of the earlier artists, so perhaps this is a signal

that the market for traditional jazz is not quite dead yet, as long as there’s something of collectible interest either in the label or in the other musicians.