Author: Al

Three For The Road

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Duke Jordan Jazz VinylThis may be my last post for a couple of weeks. Taking holiday in Italy with The Lovely Mrs. JC. I still may do a post from there, you never know. In the meantime, Clifford has the keys to the kingdom until I return, and I do have a bunch of records I’m watching on eBay, starting with this one, which has already been mentioned by one of the commenters on the previous post: Duke Jordan Trio, Swing 32 323. This is an original 10-inch French pressing and it looks to be in M- condition all the way around, cover and vinyl. The bidding is now at about $1,000 and, as recently as last week we saw another copy sell for nearly $3,000. There are three days left on this auction, so there’s every chance this copy will approach or surpass that one. As you can see, it has a very Stone Martin-esque cover? Anyone familiar with the artist and his other work? Rudolf?

This one surprises me:

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How Much is Shrink Wrap Worth? Plenty, It Seems

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Herbie Hancock Jazz VinylI’m still here, haven’t left yet. Thanks to Clifford for filling in, but while I’m here I’ll strive to do at least a couple more posts. Here are a couple of items that came in from readers, starting with our friend CeeDee under the subject: “prices going up, up, up . . . Liberty!” with a link to Herbie Hancock, Empyrean Islands, Blue Note 4175. This was a clear Liberty pressing, no doubts. It was in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover, and the cover was also in shrink wrap (big deal, right?). The record sold for $300 and there were at least four bidders in on the action at the end. Is this a trend, Liberty Blue Notes selling for collectible prices?

This one came in from another reader, and I’m not quite sure why, but I’ll post it here anyway:

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Top Dollar (or Euro) For European Pressings

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Mobley's Message Jazz VinylCatching up on some loose ends, Terry sent me a link to the following record: Duke Jordan Trio, Vogue Swing M33 323. This was the original French pressing of this 10-inch LP, which was listed in M- condition for the record and Ex for the cover. It sold for $2,939.99. As Terry said in his email to me, the prices of the French Swing records are getting top dollar and this would certainly support that, unless anyone thinks nearly $3,000 is a bargain for a Duke Jordan record.

While we’re in Europe: Hank Mobley, Mobley’s Message, Esquire 32-029. This is the original British pressing of the Prestige record. It was listed in Ex condition for the record and only VG for the cover. It sold for $337.44. I’ve been watching a lot of these U.K. pressings and they seem to be going up in value, particularly the early Prestiges. I can see why: The covers are cool and the pressings sound great. If I didn’t have an original Prestige — and in some case, even if I do — I’d be very happy to have one of these original Esquires.

Here’s another one:

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. . . And The Prices Keep Going Up

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Bill Evans Jazz VinylI’m sure many of you are way ahead of me, but please let me catch up on some of the interesting auctions we were watching, starting with Bill Evans, Waltz for Debby, Riverside 399. This was an original white label promo copy. The record was listed in VG++ condition and the cover looked to be about VG+ because a previous owner had stamped his name and address on both the front and the back. When I first wrote about the record, there were several hours left in the auction and the bidding was in the $265 range and I guessed that the final price would probably surpass $1,000. To my surprise, and probably to the surprise of many of you here, the final price was $2,248. And that’s not even counting the Global Shipping Program charge of nearly $475, which is discussed in the comments on the earlier post. I’d be curious as to who is spending this kind of money on these records, and why? Is it for listening? Is it for investment? Is it just for collecting and owning the history?

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And Now For Some Rare Vinyl on eBay

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Cliff Jordan Jazz VinylNow that all of the excitement over the new site has settled in, let’s get back to the business of watching rare jazz vinyl on eBay, starting with Cliff Jordan, Cliff Craft, Blue Note 1582. This is an original pressing with the West 63rd Street address and deep grooves. It is listed in Ex condition for both the record and the cover, and the pictures show there may be some issues with the back cover for those who are sticklers. The bidding on this is in the $450 range with more than three days left. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one sneaking into or approaching the $1,000 bin, which is certainly too rich for my blood, although this is an album that has long eluded me.

Here are a couple of nice 10-inch LPs that may not sell at a fairly optimistic (for the seller) starting price:

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Welcome to The New, Improved Jazz Collector

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Ernie Henry copyOh my goodness, I woke up this morning and, like many of you perhaps, I was surprised to see a whole new Jazz Collector site. Well, probably not as surprised as most of you, because I knew this was in the works, but I wasn’t expecting it to happen quite so soon and before I even had a chance to discuss it on the site. Anyway, here’s what happened. Tom Stier, the guy who handles all of my Web stuff (since I’m a techno-phobe at heart), informed me a few months ago that the site was going to suffer in Google rankings unless we updated the theme and made it more mobile-friendly. I put off making the move for awhile, just because I didn’t want to be bothered and, since this has never been a money-making proposition, slipping in Google rankings didn’t really have an impact on me. At the same time, we had been talking about adding a real Forum to the site, rather than the cobbled-together effort I had made in the past. Finally, for some reason last week,

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What an Auction! (One More Time)

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Maiden Voyage VinylPlease allow me to dwell one more day on that Jazz Record Revival auction because there are a few more things to point out, as many readers have already done, particularly with that copy of Herbie Hancock, Maiden Voyage, Blue Note 4195 selling for a quite amazing $1,580.

How about this one, with the second cover: Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland Volume 2,Blue Note 1522. This was an odd one in that it had a Lexington Avenue address on one side and a West 63rd Street address on the other. It was clearly not a first pressing, particularly with that cover. But it sold for $236.50.

Someone on the previous post also mentioned this one:

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What an Auction!

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Thad Jones on Blue NoteA lot of us were watching that major auction from Jazz Record Revival and, suffice to say, they had quite an amazing week. Here are some of their higher priced and more interesting items:

The Magnificent Thad Jones Volume 3, Blue Note 1546. This was an original New York 23 pressing listed in M- condition for the record and Ex for the cover. It sold for $1,775. Granted, we’ve been lax in keeping the Jazz Collector Price Guide up to date, but that would be the highest price we’ve ever recorded for a Thad Jones record.

Lee Morgan, Candy, Blue Note 1590. This was an original pressing listed in M- condition for the record and Ex+ for the cover. It sold for $2,938.

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Back in the Vinyl Saddle Again

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Sonny Clark copyTWO WEEKS!!!! The longest I’ve ever gone without posting. Weren’t any of you, aside from Mac, worried about me? I didn’t go anywhere, just took an unexpected and unscheduled break. Now I’m back, but only for a few weeks. I have a two-week vacation coming up in October. Anyone interested in doing some guest hosting for a couple of weeks? Send me an email and we’ll see what we can do.

In the meantime, let’s get back to eBay and see what’s going on. This was on my watch list the last time I looked and now it has sold: Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588. This was an original pressing with the west 63rd Street address, deep grooves, etc. The record was in VG+ condition and the cover was only VG, but it still sold for $2,081. There was also this one for the $1,000 bin:

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