Month: January 2011

Catching Up on Some Odds & Ends

One comment

Here are some non-Blue Note odds and ends we’ve been watching:

Blue Mitchell, Blue Soul, Riverside 309. This was one of the ones from the recent bobdjukic auction. It was listed in VG++ condition for both the vinyl and the cover and it looked to be an original deep groove, blue label pressing. It sold for $275. One of the reasons I was watching this is that I just bought another small collection and a nice original mint copy of this record was in the batch. There were also a few original Blue Notes so, if I ever get back to selling records on eBay, I’ll have some nice items to start with . . . . or if I have Jazz Collector readers come to the house, as previously proposed.

Harry Carney With Strings, Clef 640. This looked to be an original pressing, although there was no picture of the label, with a beautiful cover illustration by David Stone Martin. It was listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover and sold for $110.50. You have to wonder how much longer there will be a market for Harry Carney LPs. Case in point: The Astaire Story. This was the original Mercury boxed set in beautiful condition, signed by Astaire, with the Stone Martin illustrations and the exclusive photos. In M- condition, this would have sold for somewhere in the range of $2,000 just a few years ago. Now, the seller had a start price of $800 and there were no bidders.

Read more

Watching Some New Jazz Vinyl

19 comments

Can you stand a day without Blue Note? Let’s look at some Prestige jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay (actually, it’s all New Jazz):

This was part of the recent batch sold by our old friend bobdjukic: Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny, New Jazz 8225. This was an original pressing. It was listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover, but from the pictures it was clear that the cover was not anywhere close to VG++ condition. Perhaps that affected the bidding, because this sold for the surprisingly low price of $740. If potential buyers were confident that the condition of the vinyl and cover were really VG++, it would presumably have sold for quite a bit more. The last one we had in the Jazz Collector Price Guide in VG++/VG++ condition sold for $1,225.

This one looked to be in beautiful condition and the price certainly reflected it: Eric Dolphy at the Five Spot, New Jazz 8260. This was an original purple label pressing with the deep grooves, which were not described by the seller but were apparent if you blew up the pictures. It was in M- condition all the way around and sold for $687.

This one got a nice top bid, but failed to meet the seller’s reserve:

Read more

Shades of Blue Note

14 comments

We’ll continue to keep an eye on Blue Note today. Here are some recent sales of Blue Note jazz vinyl:

Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. This was an original deep groove pressing that looked to be in beautiful M- condition. I’ve always wanted an original copy of these record, since it is a personal favorite and I’ve only owned a Japanese pressing for many years. One day I’m sure I’ll find an original at a price I would be comfortable paying, which was not this copy, which sold for $1,282 from my friends at Music Matters in California.

Curtis Fuller, Bone & Bari, Blue Note  1572. This was also an original pressing from a reliable dealer. The record was in what looked to be VG++ condition, while the cover was listed as being “in very good shape” which sounds better than VG and, from the pictures, also seemed to look better than VG. If I were bidding, based on the description, I’d be disappointed if the record wasn’t around VG++, which is probably what the winning bidder assumed as well, since the record sold for $710.

Read more

Guest Column: Reviewing The Blue Note Guide

58 comments

Mike Falcon has promised a review of the new Fred Cohen book, and here it is:
Blue Note Records A Guide to Indentifying Original Pressings
A Review By Mike Falcon
For as long as I have been collecting Blue Notes there has been a large chorus asking for a complete guide to navigate the complexities of what constitutes a first pressing.  And now they have it.  Frederick Cohen has given us “Blue Note Records, A Guide to Identifying Original Pressings” an authoritative manual on the Blue Note discography.  This includes the EPs, 10” LPs, and all of the pre-Liberty LPs in both Mono and Stereo.
I first went to the Jazz Record Center in 2002.  I had never seen a record store like it.  Everywhere I looked was something interesting and new to me.  I spent a long while thumbing through records looking at the photos and memorabilia on the wall, and thinking that if I ever win the Lotto I’ll be back here first.  I’ve never won the lotto but I’ve been back a few times, always with less money than I would have liked.  I had spoken to Fred a few times and was always impressed by how informative he was.  I would think, “This guy should write a book”.  Well he has.
“Blue Note Records, A Guide to Identifying Original Pressings” is a nicely bound 6 ½” x 9 ½” inch black book with the Blue Train label with red arrows pointing to the various identifying features on the cover.  It’s written more like a compendium or research paper and is not in the narrative form.  It starts with an introduction, preface, and acknowledgements, before getting to the list of illustrations and glossary.  The glossary and illustrations are necessary to understand what you are reading when sorting through the pressing guide.  The illustrations show what is meant by all of the famous Blue Note esotery.  This includes examples of the famous

Read more

Ringing in the New Year With Blue Note (Of Course)

43 comments

Here are a few more recent Blue Note auctions of interest:

Horace Silver, Blowing the Blues Away, Blue Note 4017. This was an original pressing with the ear, deep grooves, et al. It was in M- condition for both the record and the cover and it sold for $165.50. This is a more common pressing than some of the other Blue Notes and has traditionally, not gotten a top price. Earlier this week we saw another copy sell for more than $200. I think what we’re seeing is that the overall market for Blue Notes is just rising, so even though this one is now $100 or $200 or more, it is still not as costly to purchase as other Blue Notes of the same period and ilk. It’s also a fantastic record, isn’t it? This was a record I heard all the time growing up: My father was a huge Horace Silver fan and Sister Sadie was a particular favorite.

Ike Quebec, It Might as Well be Spring, Blue Note 4105. This was an original New York USA pressing with the ear, Van Gelder stamp, etc. It was in M- condition for the record and the cover. It sold for $305.

Read more

1 2