Author: Al

Giant Steps, Impulse and Moose the Mooche

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Let’s take a look at the Jazz Collector inbox, starting with one of our favorite provocateurs,  CeeDee. This one came in under the subject Trane Reigns! John Coltrane, Giant Steps, Atlantic 1311. This was an original black label pressing listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The final price was $1,604. It look me a long time, but I’m glad I finally got my black label Giant Steps a few years ago, prior to the current shift in the market where, it seems, anything goes and most things are going up. Looking back, it was 2016 when I made that particular score, which I wrote about in this post: A New Year’s Adventure in Jazz Collecting. It was interesting getting this link from CeeDee, because I have been in a Coltrane head lately, starting with a comment from my friend Dan about Mal2, followed by another comment from Dan about Cattin’ With Coltrane and Quinichette, followed by an evening listing to, in order, Blue Train and A Love Supreme, followed by the purchase of the new release A Love Supreme Live in Seattle. At this point, I have only listened to Side One of the new Love Supreme. Once I’ve listened to the whole thing, I’ll have more to say. I will note that I could listen to Coltrane all day, every day, never get bored and always hear something new.   Read more

A Treasure Trove of LPs, Autographs, Photos and Other Memorabilia from Ornette, Monk and More

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Some of you may remember Dee Dee, Ornette Coleman’s stepdaughter and accomplished jazz photographer. For those who don’t remember, or are new to Jazz Collector, or who just want a refresher, you can go back to the original four-part series of articles, which started on February 21, 2020 (Another Adventure, Part 1: Ornette, Monk, Dee and Me). Dee reached out recently and asked me to post the following note. For what it’s worth, I’ve seen many of Dee’s photographs and they are pretty special. As you will see in Dee’s post, there are also Monk albums, Latin and Brazilian records and other memorabilia that may be of interest to the Jazz Collector community. Here’s Dee:

These remaining Thelonious Monk albums are from his close friend Ornette Coleman’s personal collection. I’m Ornette’s step-daughter, Dee Dee – and retrieved them when my mother died in 1995. They lived together – (with me, early on!) – going back to his earliest 1959 arrival in NYC, in a close relationship spanning 30 years.

She had quite a history in this music, not the least of which was booking (including the Five Spot Café and Town Hall gigs), publicity/promotion for both Monk and Ornette, and international publishing contracts for their compositions, which still generate royalties for the Monk family.

I’ve uncovered documentation, personal letters and original sheet music in his handwriting, a music stand, metronome, a fat scrapbook of clippings from 1959 forward . . . and so much more.

It’s now urgently the time to find a home for the historic value it all contains. Some is being donated to Jazz Foundation of America for their good work, but if anyone has serious interest in knowing more, please contact me immediately:

dee@creativemusicphotography.com

The entire collection is currently in Vermont, but other arrangements are possible.

Jazz LPs and Memorabilia

Additionally, I’ve worked documenting historic jazz, Brazilian, and Latin musicians since 1964 as a formally trained (Herb Snitzer) art photographer.

I have an AUTOGRAPHED Edition of one original silver gelatin print available here:

Autographed Edition – Images, Prices, and Exposure Data

My personal vinyl collection of historic Brazilian and Afro-Cuban/Latin albums can be viewed here – with some accompanying images:

Latin & Brazilian Record Collection

Two Old Jazz Records That Are New (At Least to Me)

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Time to peruse the old watchlist once again. Let’s look at two records I don’t recall seeing and were certainly never on my radar until spotting them on eBay. First is Electrifying Sounds of the Paul Jeffrey Quintet, Savoy, 12192. This is a very late issue for the Savoy label and it has a maroon label. I’m assuming the maroon is the original color at this stage of the Savoy catalogue, but I don’t know that for sure. This one had a corner clip and original shrink wrap and was listed in M- condition. The final price was $265. Further research shows that the quintet consists of Jeffrey, Jimmy Owens, George Cables, Larry Ridley and Billy Hart, recorded in August of 1968. Part of my interest is the simple fact that I am not familiar with this record, even though it was issued near the time when I first got interested in jazz and began shopping the bins for jazz records. Also, it was near the time when I started seeing jazz live regularly. Jeffrey was the tenor player with Monk and I saw him many times at the Vanguard and was always impressed with his playing and always wondered why he didn’t get more accolades and/or record dates as a leader. So, I guess, he had at least one more record date as a leader than I was aware of. Read more

Familiar Names and Titles for The $1,000 Bin

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Catching up on some more jazz vinyl auctions on eBay, starting with Tommy Flanagan, The Cats, New Jazz 8217. This was an original purple label mono deep groove pressing. The record features John Coltrane among others. The record and cover were listed in M- condition, although the picture of the bag cover is clearly not M-, and is probably just VG+.  The final price was $1,675. Based on Popsike, that is the highest price we’ve seen for The Cats, possibly more than double the previous high.

Whilst we are perusing the $1,000 bin: Duke Jordan, Flight to Jordan, Blue Note 4046. This was an original West 63rdStreet pressing listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The final price was $1,514.89. This one had a start price of about $5,000 but did not sell: Tina Brooks, True Blue, Blue Note 4041. This was an original pressing. The record was listed as M-, but the cover was VG-. It is back on eBay for the same start price. Read more

Vinyl Sadness and Stuff

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Once again relying on our friend CeeDee to keep me apprised of jazz vinyl happenings on eBay while my work prevents me from being as active as I would like. The first one is a record I’ve never heard of by an artist that is not familiar to me: Bjarne Rostvold Trio, Tricrotism, RCA Victor 9955. This was an original mono German pressing sold by vinyl-house-uk.The record was listed in EX+ condition and the cover was EX. The final price was $503. Is this a bass, drum, trumpet trio, as it seems on the cover? I’m trying to think of other records with this personnel and I’m coming up empty. There surely must be more out there, but I can’t think of them. Read more

Who Did You See?

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Dexter Gordon in the ’70s. When he played the Vanguard, I would go every night.

This will be fun (for me, at least). It’s a new thing: Who Did I See? And the flip side: Who Did I Not See? I’m 68, born in 1953. I got into jazz at age 17 in 1970. I’ve told that story: Song for My Father. I was born too late to have seen Bird or Fats or Clifford or Pres or Billie or Art Tatum. I grew up in New York and have spent most of my life in New York. When I was a kid, my dad used to drag us to afternoon jazz shows in Manhattan. There was an organization called Jazz Interactions and they used to do Sunday concerts at the Village Gate and other venues. I remember going to the Five Spot on St. Marks as a kid. So I have two lists of Who Did I See. One is Who Did I See before I had any appreciation for who I was seeing. The second list is Who Did I See after I got into jazz and was making my own decisions and spending my own money. BTW, this is jazz only. I did see Cream and I did not see Hendrix, but that’s another list and another web site. These lists are not complete. I don’t remember every drummer or bass player or pianist. I don’t remember everyone I saw. It’s just a list of highlights off the top of my head. The nice thing about Jazz Collector is I can add to, subtract from or amend in my own time and at my own discretion. Here goes: Read more

Just a Few Jazz Records

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Lots of interesting jazz vinyl to drool over on eBay right now. Let’s start with Hank Mobley Sextet, Hank, Blue Note 1560. This is an original West 63rd Street deep-groove pressing listed in EX condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The bidding is already over $2,000 with nearly two days left on the auction, as of this writing. The seller is vinyl-house-uk and they have a load of great original pressings for auction this week, including a lot of nice Blue Notes. Here’s one more: Introducing Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1523. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing that is listed in EX/EX+ condition (whatever that is) for both the record and the cover. The bidding is around $1,250. Read more

Vinyl Madness

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I did a bit of a double take when I saw this record sell on eBay: Thad Jones, Mad Thad, Period SPL 1208. The reason for the double take was I remember owning this record but do not remember seeing it in my collection for many years. Sure enough, I perused the shelves and I apparently do not own this record any more. Do I have any idea what happened to it? Well, have some idea: I sold it. When, why, to whom, I have no idea. My guess is that the copy I had was in poor condition and I was weeding out some records from the collection. Or it could go all the way back to 1990, when I sold a large batch of records in order to buy a boat. Careful readers know the story: I sold the records, bought the boat and there was a hurricane and the boat sank. Vinyl karma? Anyway, I do not have a copy of Mad Thad. This would have been a nice one to own. The record was in M- condition and the cover was VG. The final price was $940. This is the second highest price for this record, according to Popsike. Whenever I did sell my copy, you can rest assured I didn’t get anything close to that price. Read more

Oddballs and Ends

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I think CeeDee may be prodding me to post more. Yes, my friend? Anyway, he’s been sending me links with little notes. Here are the latest. This one is titled “another one from my ‘Greatest Misses’ list:” East Coasting by Charlie Mingus, Bethlehem 6019. This was an original red label pressing, featuring Bill Evans on piano. Is this the only recorded instance of Mingus and Evans together? The record and cover were in VG+ condition and the final price was about $286. Here’s one titled “This oddball LP has been fetching good bids for some years, so don’t pass it up the next time you’re browsing:” The Louvin Brothers, Satan is Real, Capital 1277. The record and cover were in VG+ condition and the price was $363.88. I have no idea what this record is and why CeeDee sent me this link. I have a feeling I am better off in my ignorant bliss, but I have a feeling someone, perhaps Mr. CeeDee, will provide an answer. Read more

Benson, Bird, Dex and More

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Last week I posted that video of the guy who bought George Benson’s record collection (In The Mailbox: Yikes, Yowzas & George Benson’s Collection). Now we are starting to see some records from the collection coming onto eBay, starting with Dexter Gordon, A Swingin’ Affair, Blue Note 4133. This is an original New York USA pressing featuring Sonny Clark on piano. The record is listed in VG condition and the cover looks to be about VG+. The bidding is in the $125 range with eight days left on the auction. There are already 16 bids and 83 watchers, which will surely increase with this post. It’s a great record and a nice collectible: Does the fact that it was probably owned by George Benson have an impact on the price? If you were considering buying this record, would it matter to you? Read more

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