Month: March 2009

Catching up With a Few More Warhol Covers

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We’ve been watching prices for albums with covers by Andy Warhol. Here are a few more that sold recently on eBay:

Johnny Griffin, The Congregation, Blue Note 1580. This was an interesting one in that the record was listed as in only G+ or VG- condition, which means it is probably something most of us wouldn’t put on our turntables. The cover was listed in VG+ condition. It sold for $311.

J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding and Bennie Green, Trombone by Three, Prestige 16-4. This was an original pressing and a very rare 16-RPM LP. It was in VG++ condition, both the record and the cover. The price was $290.

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Quickie Quiz

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Many people assume that the Charlie Parker tune “Billie’s Bounce” was named in honor of Billie Holliday. That is not the case. Who, in fact, was the Billie in “Billie’s Bounce?” 

Today on Ebay: Trane and Mr. PC

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We’re back watching eBay after taking some time off. It’s actually good to take a break every once in a while. Gives you a perspective that there are things more important than collectible jazz records. But not at Jazz Collector, so here are some items to watch:

This one’s from our friends at Euclid Records: John Coltane, Lush Life, Prestige 7188. This is an original yellow label pressing in M- condition. The current price is about $120. One of the things I’ve always liked about this record is the opportunity to hear Trane in a trio setting. This was around the time Sonny Rollins was playing with a trio and it seemed that Trane was emulating his friend and peer. Not the case, however, if you review the liner notes by Joe Goldberg, who asked Trane about why he was playing in a trio setting. Trane’s response?

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Free Advice For eBay Sellers

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From the archives:

Here’s advice I gave recently to someone looking to sell jazz records on eBay:

1.     Buy a professional record cleaner and clean every record before you grade it and sell it.

2.     Grade your records accurately/conservatively. You want to develop a good reputation and leave your customers satisfied so they’ll feel confident buying more from you.

3.     Have a no-questions-asked return policy. If someone is not happy, pay to have the record shipped back and refund his money. If a buyer is consistently unhappy, politely stop doing business with him.

4.     When you ship records, package them professionally and carefully and don’t scrimp on using high-end boxes and packing material.

5.      Be accurate in your descriptions and include as much information as possible. Learn about the details that are important to buyers, such as the address on labels, colors of labels, distinguishing characteristics such as the deep groove and anything else that will make your listings clear and informative. Include the label and number. Try not to be too wordy: English may not be the first language of many buyers, so keep your listings concise and uncomplicated.

6.     Get a good camera and take clear pictures, showing as much detail as possible.

What do you think? Do you have any other advice for sellers of jazz records on eBay? 

Quickie Quiz

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Back from Key West. It was very nice, but it’s nice to be back home among my vinyl friends. Here’s a question from the archives, which I’m continuing to wade through: On John Coltrane Soultrane, Prestige 7142, there is a beautiful ballad called “Theme For Ernie.” Who was the Ernie that inspired the tune? Bonus: Who wrote it? Of course, it’s easy to look up. But let’s see who knows the answer without doing so. As always, we will rely on the Honor System.

Another From the Archives: A JATP Jazz Bash

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Here’s another item we found of interest from our Downbeat collection. It’s a review by D. Leon Wolf in the Nov. 18, 1946 issue of Downbeat. The headline: Granz Bash a Caricature on Jazz: Everything Bad in Jazz Found Here.” Here’s how the article starts off: “Of all the wretched music ever inflicted upon this earnest devotee of le jazz hot, nothing, I regret to say, has yet to equal Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic concert the night of Oct. 24. Everything that is rotten in contemporary hazz was to be found in this musical catastrophe.” 

Wolf’s view of some of the musicians:  Illinois Jacquet: “The lousiest tenor in the country making over $50 a week, barring none.” Rex Stewart: “Granz, if he had the guts, should have yanked him off the stage during his second number, the most sickening and Read more

Bird And Diz And Downbeat, 1946, 1947

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In addition to vinyl, I collect jazz books, magazines and other ephemera. Once in a while I go through my old copies of Downbeat. Here’s something I pulled a few years ago:

The Dec. 16, 1946 Downbeat offers a prime example of the divergent fortunes of the two leaders of the be-bop movement. On the front page there is a picture of Dizzy Gillespie having fun and joking around. On page six, at the top of the page, there’s a small article with the headline: “Parker Fund Does Fine at L.A. Benefit.” It was a four-paragraph item, noting that a benefit for Charlie Parker in Los Angeles raised a total of $500.86. The purpose of the money: “To assist Parker, upon his release from a sanitarium, to secure instruments, clothes and what Read more

An Appreciation of Sheila Jordan

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From the Jazz Collector archives:

Like all collectors, I’ve let prized records slip through my fingers through the years. I would go to Dayton’s on 12th Street in Manhattan in the early 1980s and balk at their astronomical prices. Looking back, these “astronomical” prices were in the $50 and $60 range for original pressings of Blue Notes, Prestiges and other rarities. I remember passing on a mint copy of Hank Mobley’s Second Message, Prestige 7082, because I thought $45 was exorbitant. If you look at the Jazz Collector Price Guide on Jazzcollector.com, you’ll see that a copy recently sold for $661. Ah, to go back in time. Even more irksome are the lost treasures of my collection that I either sold or traded. I’ve gotten rid of some prized records this way, always figuring it would be no problem replacing them. Sure. Many of those that slipped away are gone forever, never to return. Read more

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