True Blue, Sonny’s Crib and More
Let’s catch up on a few other rare jazz records we were watching on eBay and, without expressing inordinate surprise, we will start with Tina Brooks, True Blue, Blue Note 4041. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing. The seller did not follow established norms in his description, basically saying “amazing sound and few imperfections.” Imperfections, it seems, would be in the eye or ears of the beholder. The beholder, in this case, is the person who bid $2,025 for this record. As a point of observation, there were definitely imperfections in the cover, including a tape repair, that would probably put it in the VG category, maybe VG+ on a good day.
This one was on the Jazz Record Center auction: Sonny Clark, Sonny’s Crib, Blue Note 1576. This was an original RVG-stamped “P” pressing on the New York 23 labels, quite rare. The start price was $3,500, but the record did not sell. There was a copy of Sonny’s Crib that sold a few weeks ago for $1,100, which was in much lesser condition and had one original label and one West 63rdStreet label. Also not getting any bids was that James Moody 10-inch record we were watching on the Vogue label. For that one, the start price was in the $190 range.