Catching Up With Some Nice Savoys

I’ve been a big fan of the Savoy label since I started listening to jazz, perhaps because of the great Charlie Parker records, perhaps because the original Savoys always had the heavy vinyl and nice covers and great artists. I remember discovering the Dexter Gordon Savoy LPs and hunting all over to find copies, which, it turned out, weren’t even original pressings. It didn’t matter, not at that time, because it was only about the music. Anyway, we’ve been watching a couple of nice Savoys this week (one because it was our own record) and it was nice to see that they are among the more cherished collectibles, at least if you go by the prices reflected by the winning bids. Here are a couple of items, both of which will be added in due time to the Jazz Collector Price Guide:

Donald Byrd, Jazz Message #2, Savoy 12092. This was an original pressing with the blood red label. It was

in M- condition, both record and cover. The final price was $405. 

This was one of the ones we sold this past week: Introducing Lee Morgan, Savoy 12091. This was an original pressing with the red label. It was in VG+ condition, both the record and the cover. The final price was $428, which surprised us a bit because of the condition. But, then again, as I explained to Mrs. JC, the idea that this is the record “introducing” one of the iconic artists, and the great picture on the cover, and the fact that he was probably 17 years old at the time, and the reality that there are, what, maybe 1,000 of these original pressings out there in the world somewhere . . . how do you put a price on that?