I was cleaning out some old emails and came across an article someone had sent me about a collector spending $37,000 on a rare 78-RPM blues record: Rare Tommy Johnson 1930 Blues 78 Rpm Record Goes for $37,100 on eBay. It led me to another article from a few years back on a similar subject: They’ve Got Those Old Hard-To-Find Blues. And I thought we jazz collectors were crazy.:)
Let’s catch up on some of the earlier jazz vinyl auctions we were watching on eBay, starting with Hank Mobley All Stars, Blue Note 1544. This was an original pressing with the New York 23 labels and deep grooves. The record was listed in probably VG++ condition and the cover was probably VG++ as well, with a small cut-out hole, which you don’t often see on Blue Notes of this vintage. The record wound up selling for $1,009.
Sonny Clark, Leapin’ and Lopin’, Blue Note 4091. This was an original New York USA mono pressing in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $567, which is the highest price we’ve recorded for this record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide.
Art Taylor, Taylor’s Tenors, New Jazz 8219. This was an original purple label pressing in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $394. Read more
Here are some more jazz vinyl auctions we are watching on eBay, starting with Kenny Dorham, Afro-Cuban, Blue Note 5056. This is an original 10-inch pressing listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. The record was just posted yesterday and the bidding is already in the $90 range with 13 bids. And, while we’re looking at Kenny Dorham, there is a copy of Quiet Kenny, New Jazz 8225. This looks to be an original purple label, deep groove pressing in VG+ condition for the record and VG for the cover. The bidding is in the $150 and there are more than six days to go.
And what would be a day at Jazz Collector without a few more Blue Notes, starting with Joe Henderson, Mode for For, Blue Note 4227. This looks to be an original New York USA pressing with the Van Gelder in the dead wax, right at the end of the line of original Blue Notes before Liberty took over. This one is in M- condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The bidding is in the $125 range and the auction closes tomorrow. Read more
Here’s some more jazz vinyl to watch, starting with Sonny Clark, Leapin’ and Lopin’, Blue Note 4091. This looks to be an original New York USA mono pressing. The record and the cover are both listed in VG++ condition. The bidding is at about $180 and there’s more than a day left on the auction. I now am the proud owner of two copies of this record, so perhaps I will be putting one of mine up on eBay soon.
Art Taylor, Taylor’s Tenors, New Jazz 8219. This is an original purple label pressing with the deep grooves. The record looks to be in M- condition and the cover looks to be probably VG++. This one is now in the $225 range with more than a day left on the auction. This seller has several nice records on eBay now, also including: Sonny Rollins Plays, Period 1204. This is an original pressing that looks to be in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. The bidding is approaching $500. I think this is the only Sonny Rollins collectible record I don’t own as an original pressing.
Wait a second. How did I miss this one: Bill Evans, Waltz for Debby, Riverside 399. This was an original white label promo copy. The vinyl was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG+. The price was, get ready, $3,050.
Here are a few we’re watching on eBay now, starting with Introducing Lee Morgan, Savoy 12091. This is an original red label pressing listed in VG condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The price is about $190 and the auction closes later today.
Art Blakey, The Jazz Messengers at the Cafe Bohemia, Volume 2, Blue Note 1508. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record is in VG+ condition and the cover is VG++. The auction closes today and the bidding is in the $280 range.
Before posting the previous video, I did have a watch list of nice jazz vinyl on eBay. So let’s see how some of those auctions turned out:
There were those nice items from Euclid records, including The Unique Thelonious Monk, Riverside 209. This was an original white label pressing listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It sold for $463.50. Also, Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins, Prestige 7075. This was an original New York yellow label pressing in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $768.88. One more: Donald Byrd, Byrd in Hand, Blue Note 4019. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $515.
This one sold after several attempts:
For the past few weeks I have been having a blast looking at and listening to the records I acquired in that stellar collection from Baltimore (The Complete Jazz Collector Bruce M. West Collection). Last night I listened to two of the rarest, and greatest, jazz trio records ever recorded: Sonny Clark Trio, Blue Note 1579 and Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134. I have heard about these records for years, but never owned original copies. It give me great pleasure to put my own copies on the turntable and just listen to them. And they really are great. As I’ve been listening to the records I’ve been putting them onto the shelves in my collection. However, before putting too many of them onto the shelves, I did a video of some of the highlights from the collection for posterity and for insurance purposes. I hadn’t planned to show the video to anyone here at Jazz Collector, but why not? Part of the fun of having a collection is to be able to share it with friends. So Read more
Jazz Collector is on WordPress and, as such, I have access to a bunch of statistics on the site. I mention this because I noticed yesterday that there was a spike in viewership and many of the readers were looking at a trio of articles I wrote in 2010 when my friend Red Carraro passed away. Original articles are here, here and here. Anyway, I dug a little deeper and the new viewers came from this site, Steve Hoffman Music Forums. There’s a whole discussion going on there about Blue Notes and prices and why collectors pay so much for them and whether the market will continue to rise or whether it will eventually plummet and die. Worth taking a look, and perhaps worth continuing over here. For my part, I am of two minds. Read more
Here’s another selection of jazz vinyl we are watching on eBay, starting with Johnny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Blue Note 1559. This is clearly marked as a United Artists pressing. The seller lists it as a 1968 pressing, which I think he’s just making up. As far as I know these United Artists Blue Notes were originally issued for the Japanese market in the late 1970s or early 1980s. In any case, this is in VG++ condition for the record and the cover and is currently at a price of $78. Is it possible that these United Artists Blue Notes are increasing in value to the point where they are becoming collectibles? Or is it perhaps an aberration, some bidders not knowing, some not caring, some not reading the listing carefully enough?
Our friends at Euclid Records have some very nice records on eBay now, including The Unique Thelonious Monk, Riverside 209. This is an original white label pressing listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. This one is already in the $250 range with nearly four days left on the auction. Here’s another: Read more
Here are some other jazz vinyl auctions we’ve been watching on eBay, starting with Art Taylor, AT’s Delight, Blue Note 4047. This is an original West 63rd pressing with the deep grooves, Van Gelder, ear, etc. It is listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. The bidding is in the $530 range and the auction closes later today.
Dexter Gordon, Doin’ Allright, Blue Note 4077. This was an original New York pressing. The seller listed it in VG+/VG++ condition for the record and the cover. In the description, he mentioned tape on the cover. To me this immediately marks the condition down to VG+, not VG++. So I would also question the condition of the vinyl, but that’s just me. This one sold for $222.50, which is what I would expect for a VG+ pressing of this record, so I guess others may have had the same sense on the grading.
Here’s one featuring a Johnny Hodges autograph:
