Author: Al

A New Year’s Jazz Vinyl Treasure Trove

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Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. It’s been a while. I will spend the next couple of days catching up on eBay, starting today with some items we missed while we were hibernating over the holidays. First up is one of our all-time favorites: John Coltrane, Soultrane, Prestige 7142. This was an original yellow label pressing with the New Jersey label. The seller was the Jazz Record Center and the record and cover were both listed in M-, near-new condition. The final price was $902. This was the highest price we’ve ever seen for Soultrane, confirmed by a quick link over to Popsike. Only a matter of time before we see this record in the $1,000 bin. Why not? I mean, it’s Coltrane and, IMHO, the best of all his Prestige records. Read more

True Blue, Peanuts and More

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Today we have some random jazz vinyl from our eBay watch list, starting with a record that has already surpassed $3,000 in bidding, Tina Brooks, True Blue, Blue Note 4041. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing that looks to be in M- condition for the record and cover. The bidding is at $3,156 with five days left on the auction. So far there are six bidders and 14 bids. In the past few months we’ve seen a copy of True Blue sell for $6,643 and yet another copy sell for $5,779, according to Popsike. Perhaps this one will end up in similar rarified territory. Read more

New Newk, New Guest Columnist

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I suppose many of you have already seen that a new Sonny Rollins album came out last week, Rollins in Holland. Unfortunately, Sonny is no longer playing the sax. The music and interviews are from radio and concert appearances from May 1967, a time when Sonny was taking a hiatus from studio recordings in the States, so this is an interesting addition to the catalogue from a time period where there isn’t much Newk on record. I have to admit, I haven’t ordered the record yet, nor have I heard the music, but I will order it as soon as I finish writing this post. I was planning to wait until getting the record to write about it, and I will probably still do that, but in the meantime our loyal reader from Amsterdam, Maarten Kools, sent me an email last week with some insights on the album and I wanted to share them here. Maarten also sent me a separate email a few weeks ago about some of the great jazz artists who are still alive, so I henceforth shall be turning this post over to Maarten as an improvised guest column of sorts. Read more

Another Visit to A Record Store, Pandemic Edition

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One of the things I have missed during the pandemic has been going to record stores. I love going to record stores. It’s a life-long habit, and pleasure, one which I have never wanted to give up, even in the dark days of the recent past when vinyl was an endangered species and brick-and-mortar record stores seemed to be going the way of the 8-track. Even then, I would regularly visit the surviving stores and always buy something, it seemed, because, fundamentally, I like buying records. Anyway, I couldn’t remember the last time I physically walked into a record store, even though there are several decent, recently opened stores in a reasonable driving distance from my home in The Berkshires, where The Lovely Mrs. JC and I have permanently relocated since the pandemic began. I decided this was an itch that just had to be scratched and the other day I grabbed my son’s dog, Gordon, who is visiting for a few weeks, and got in the car and took a ride over to Catskill, New York, a little more than an hour away, to visit my favorite of the record stores in the area, Spike’s Record Rack, of which I have written several times in the past. Spike and I have gotten to be quite friendly during our brief interactions, so I sent him a heads-up in advance that I would be making a visit. Read more

Blue Notes Galore

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Lots of Blue Notes caught my eye as I was perusing eBay this afternoon, so let’s dig right in, starting with Sonny Red, Out of the Blue, Blue Note 4032. This looks to be an original deep-groove, West 63rd Street pressing. The record and cover are both listed in VG+ condition. The start price is about $500 and so far there are no takers. This would be a major gap sealer in my collection, since once owned a mint copy that I bought for five dollars and subsequently traded away before I even had a chance to even listen to it. Just the thought makes me shudder. I’m sure I’m not the only one here who has, at times, reached that level of stupidity. Read more

Jazz Vinyl Collection For Sale

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I recently got a note from a collector who is relocating and selling his collection. He sent me a link the collection, and here it is: Collection for Sale. I had some level of interest myself, simply because in buying several collections over the years, I have found that I really enjoy the process of curating the collections, sorting the records, cleaning them, taking a few for my collection, etcetera, etcetera. It is a fun thing to do for someone like me, who really enjoys records. In case you may have forgotten, here are links to the two major collections I’ve bought in the past: The Complete Jazz Collector Irving Kalus Collection and The Complete Jazz Collector Bruce M. West Collection. Anyway, I perused this potential collection and probably identified many of the same records most of us here would identify as being of interest, such as Steamin’ With the Miles Davis Quintet,  Joe Henderson Mode for Joe, A Love Supreme, A Swingin’ Affair by Dexter Gordon, and at least a couple of dozen others. Read more

Thanksgiving Jazz Vinyl

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Time to clear out the old watch list this Thanksgiving holiday weekend here in the States, starting with Mal Waldron, Mal-1, Prestige 7090. This was an original New York yellow label pressing in M- condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The final price was $536.69. I get the sense that the Prestiges are starting to get a little more interest from the collectors will to pay top dollar. These are certainly great music and packaging. I put a few of the Prestiges on the turntable the other day – Tenor Madness, Soultrane and When Farmer Met Gryce. Can’t beat it. I don’t own an original pressing of Mal-1, but I’m sure it’s of a similar quality.

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A Day of Prestige at Jazz Collector

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Here are some rare jazz records we are watching this Election Day in the States, starting with Dorothy Ashby, Hip Harp, Prestige 7140. This looks to be an original pressing with the yellow label and the New York address. It must be right at the end of the line for the New York labels. The record and cover are listed in M- condition and the seller, Vinyl-House-UK has a huge stack of nice vinyl for sale this week, closing more than four days from the time I am writing this post.  Definitely worth checking out. The bidding on this Ashby record is in the $270 range. It is one of those original Prestiges that has somehow escaped me all of these years and it is somewhat tempting, given that this pressing looks so clean. My nephew, who is 24, somehow really got into Dorothy Ashby and I would like to share this record with him but, alas, when I looked for it on my shelf the cupboard was bare. I do have Soft Winds, Jazzland 961, so perhaps I will put that on next time I have a few moments to listen. Maybe I’ll also bid on Hip Harp. I feel ready to do something, after not having bought a single record since before the pandemic began. Read more

What is Your Most Valuable?

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OK, I did not bid on that Cliff Jordan/John Gilmore Blue Note last night. By the time I logged in about 15 minutes before the auction ended, the price was already past what I would have entered as my top bid. So I just watched as it spiked from about $760 to $960 at the last minute. It is not for me to judge whether the record is worth that price. Obviously, it is to the buyer. To me, after the auction closed I played my United Artists copy. While it doesn’t sound quite like an original pressing, it sounded plenty good to these ears. It was actually nice to get the inspiration to listen to the record again. Damn good record, for sure. Meanwhile, back to eBay with this gem: Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588. This is an original mono, West 63rd Street pressing with the ears, deep groove, etc. It is listed in M- condition for the record and Ex for the cover, which looks like M- in my nomenclature, based on the description and the picture. The bidding is already at more than $3,300 with more than three days left on the auction. Get ready for a big number on this one. Read more

Blue Note Temptation

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I haven’t bid on a record on eBay in a long time, so long I can’t remember when, so long that I no longer have access to any sniping software. But today, I am strongly considering making a bid on something. If I was greedy, I wouldn’t share my intentions here, but I don’t have high hopes of winning the record because I don’t think my bid will be nearly sufficient. For the record (pun intended), the record is Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore, Blowing in From Chicago, Blue Note 1549. This looks to be an almost original pressing with one New York 23 label and it is listed in VG++ condition for both the record and probably VG+ for cover. Read more

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