Author: Al

A Tale of Two Blue Notes

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The Blue Notes remain through the roof. Here’s a new one for the $1,000 bin: Clifford Brown Memorial Album, Blue Note 1526. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing and it was listed as “very close to mint” condition. It sold for $1,280.50. Our friend Rudolf recently put this on a list of expendable Blue Notes. So what do you think about this price?

This one came from the same seller: Thad Jones, Detroit-New York Junction, Blue Note 1513. This was also an original Lexington Avenue pressing and it was also listed as near mint. It sold for $692.02, not quite half of the Clifford, but pretty close. Who knows why? That is a rhetorical question by the way, although if some thinks there is an answer, be my guest.

Site Update, One More Time

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OK, in response to some of your suggestions, we’ve made a slight adjustment on the site. On the Reader Forum, the comments are listed with the most recent on top and the oldest below. This will simplify searches and make it easier for those of you using portable devices. On all of the other items, the comments will be listed sequentially, with the most recent on the bottom. This is to satisfy my belief that the comments flow better from top to bottom and, when read sequentially, help tell a bigger story than what I may have posted originally. We’re also looking into a Forum plug-in for WordPress, so if any of you have seen ones you like elsewhere, just let us know.

Mobley Sets New Top Vinyl Price For Jazz Collector

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Time to catch up on a few items. By now, most of you have probably seen what happened with those records we were watching from the Jazz Record Center. The Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568 sold for $5,101, which is the highest price we’ve ever recorded for a jazz record at Jazz Collector. The previous high was $4,036 for a copy of Jackie McLean, The New Tradition, on Ad Lib. A lot of people have already commented on this one, so I don’t have much to add other than what I’ve often said: The market is the market and eBay reflects what the market will bear. This is the going rate for this record in this condition at this point in time. I was wrong, barely on a couple of my predictions. (1) I had opined that two of the other records from this auction would sell for more than $2,000 and only one of them did: Hank Mobley, Hank, Blue Note 1560, which is the one pictured here. This one sold for $2,347. The one that did not break the $2,000 barrier was:

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A Veritable Cornucopia of 10-Inch Jazz Vinyl

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As is our usual custom, we were perusing the jazz vinyl listings on eBay this evening and we happened to notice an unusually large number of interesting 10-inch LPs for sale, some of which we shall share with you henceforth, including:

Kenny Dorham, Afro-Cuban, Blue Note 5065. A beauty, no? This one is in M- condition for the record and what looks to be VG+ for the cover. The current price is around $225 and there are three days to go.

Here’s the next one up in the 10-inch Blue Note catalogue: Hank Mobley Quartet, Blue Note 5066. This is an original pressing, of course,and the vinyl looks to be M- and the cover somewhat close to M-. The current price is $338 and there are also three days to go.

Another 10-inch Blue Note? Why not. Here’s The Amazing Bud Powell, Blue Note 5003. This is an original pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It is being offered by Euclid Records and is currently at about $115.

Here’s the one on the list that will probably sell for the highest price:

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New Jazz Record Center Auction Could Be Big

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Got an email from the Jazz Record Center and they have an auction closing in a couple of days and it could be a doozy. Here’s one of the items we’ll be watching closely, to see if it perhaps sets a new record for Jazz Collector: Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This is an original pressing and it’s in M- condition: In fact, it’s listed as “near new.” The combination of one of the rarest records, a Blue Note at that, and the most trusted seller, is definitely worth watching. So far, the record has a start price of $2,500 and there are no bidders.

Here are a couple more we’ll be watching from the same auction:

Dexter Gordon, Dexter Blows Hot and Cool, Dootone 209. This is an original red vinyl pressing. The record is in M- condition and the cover seems to have been repaired, but is also listed as very clean. This one has a start price of

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Rare Jazz Vinyl Collectibles From Three Tenors

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We did a whole riff on this record a few months ago and actually came up with some never-heard-before tapes of J.R. Monterose, which, to my knowledge, may still be available. Check it out here and here. Anyway, another copy of this record sold recently: J.R. Monterose In Action, Studio 4 SS 100. This was an original pressing. The vinyl was listed as M- and the cover looked to be VG++, based on the description. The price was $1,911.

Here’s another non Blue Note for the $1,000 bin: Dexter Gordon, Dexter Blows Hot and Cool, Dootone 207. This was an original red vinyl pressing. The record was listed as VG++ and the cover was VG+. The price was $1,137.

This one really got top dollar, more than you would normally expect to see for a Jazzland LP:

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Blue Notes, $1,000 Bin & $2,000 Bin

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It’s June and the $1,000 bin is busting out all over, mostly with Blue Notes.

How do you like this one? Tina Brooks, True Blue, Blue Note 4041. This was an original pressing. The vinyl was listed in M- condition, the cover was listed as excellent, with shrink wrap still on it. The top bid was $2,311 and . . . and . . . and . . . and it still failed to meet the reserve price.

The seller roverd-90 had a nice weekend selling Blue Notes. Here are a few:

Lee Morgan, Candy, Blue Note 1590. This was an original pressing in M- condition for the record and the cover. It received a top bid of $2,264 and actually sold for that price, since there was no reserve. From the same seller was Lee Morgan, Indeed, Blue Note 1538. This was an original Lexington Avenue, flat-edge pressing. The vinyl was M- and the cover was VG+. The price was $1,915. And then there was this:

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Jazz Vinyl Price Decline? Some Theories

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OK, I have two theories on why prices in mid-tier, i.e. non-Blue Note jazz vinyl on eBay may be down from previous levels.

1. A couple of months ago, eBay made a decision that would drive more revenue, but not necessarily enhance either the buyer’s or seller’s experience. Previously, if you did a search of jazz vinyl you would only see those items that were up for auction, plus those items that had buy-it-now prices with specific deadlines. On average, if you would do a search you would get about 20,000 to 25,000 jazz records over the course of any week. Then eBay decided it wanted to charge more for store listings and raised the price from 3 cents a month for a store listing to some listings as high as 20 cents a month. To justify this rate hike, they made all of the store listings appear on general searches for jazz records.

The result: If you do a search on 12-inch jazz records, which I did just now, you will come up

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A Slight Site Change

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Before I get into my theory or theories on some of the lower prices on eBay for mid-tier collectibles, which I will do later this morning, let me inform you of a recent slight change we’ve made to the Jazz Collector site. After we started the Reader Forum a couple of months ago, we set up the site so that comments would appear in a different order, with the most recent on top. We did this to make it easier to use the Reader Forum without having to scroll through to the bottom. However, we spent some time on the site last night, just perusing old articles and it all seemed a bit out of synch and counter-intuitive. When you look at the articles, as well as the Reader Forum, there’s a certain flow wherein the order of the postings is part of telling the entire story. Anyway, we decided to go back to showing the comments in the order they were posted, top to bottom, the way it is handled on most Web sites. It may be a little bit more hassle reading the Reader Forum, but for me, as a reader, it enhances the overall storytelling.

Tracking Rare Jazz Vinyl That Didn’t Sell

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Let’s catch up on a few odds and ends in the world of collectible jazz vinyl:

The Blue Notes continue to be getting top dollar, but there seems to be a drop-off in prices in the middle of the market, records that would normally sell in the $30-$150 range. I’ve noticed it with my own sales on eBay and I was talking with Steve at Round Again Records in Providence yesterday and he said he believes the market has fallen off by as much as 40 percent in the past couple of years. I was thinking about that when I looked at some of the records I’ve been watching on eBay that failed to get bids, despite what seemed to be reasonable starting prices. Here are a few:

Kenny Drew and his Progressive Piano, Norgran 1066. This was an original pressing from a reputable seller. The record was in nice condition, M-/VG++ and the cover seemed nice as well with a partial seam split. The start price was $74.99 and there were no bidders. The picture accompanying the listing wasn’t great and perhaps that dampened the enthusiasm.

Ken McIntyre, Looking Ahead, New Jazz 8247. This was an original pressing with the purple labels and the deep grooves. The record and cover were in VG+ condition and the start price was $99.99. This record, which prominently features Eric

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