Month: June 2014

Blue Notes In Any Condition for the $1,000 Bin

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Johnny GriffinWe were finally back on eBay this way and found some interesting items, starting with Introducing Johnny Griffin, Blue Note 1533. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing, The record was graded in Ex condition, but the seller’s description made it sound closer to M-. I tend to trust the grade rather than the description, and in this case the seller at least tells us that Ex means VG++ in the Goldmine rating system that we use. The cover was probably VG++ as well with some writing on the back. So, to be clear, the record was not in M- condition for either the record or the cover. I reiterate that because it sold at a price you would expect for an M-/M- copy, which was, ta da, $3,349.

The same seller had this one: Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims, Blue Note 1530. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The seller graded this one between VG and VG+ for both the record and the cover, although the cover sounded closer to VG based on the description. So this one wasn’t M-, wasn’t VG++ and wasn’t even VG+. It sold for $1,651.

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Report From the WFMU Record Fair

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record fairSorry I haven’t been posting regularly. I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of apologizing for this lately. I do have a lot of real work, but that is no excuse, right? I will try to do better. Last week I was also engaged with preparing for the WFMU Record Fair at the 69th Regiment Armory on 26th Street in Manhattan. I had a table on Friday, and arrived around 2 p.m. for my setup, so I was able to walk around a little. There were a couple of tables that had some nice jazz records, but by the time I got there, several of the dealers from Japan had already swooped in on them and were pulling out the best pieces. I have come to know these dealers over the years and I like them very much and am happy for their success in getting records because I realize they are working on relatively low margins, spending money to come to the States every few months and criss-crossing the country in search of records that may or may not be marked up sufficiently when they return to Japan.  Read more

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