A Conclave of Coltrane
Just cleaning out the last of my eBay watch list before moving on to new items.
John Coltrane, Tenor Conclave, Prestige 7074. Notice how I listed this as a John Coltrane record. It is actually one of those Prestige jam sessions featuring Coltrane along with Hank Mobley, Al Cohn and Zoot Sims. So Why do I think of it as a Coltrane record? Because that’s where I place it within my collection, under the Coltranes. Where else would you put it? Mobley aficionados aside, Coltrane is the one transformational musician in that group, aside from being, by far, my favorite tenor play among the four of them. So, to me, it’s always been a Coltrane record, and one I am quite happy to own. This one was in M- condition for the record and probably VG+ or VG++ for the cover. It sold for $350. A bargain for someone, IMHO. This one falls into the same category: John Coltrane, Wheelin’ and Dealin’, Prestige 7131. This one features Coltrane along with Frank Wess and Paul Quinichette. For me, it’s a Coltrane record. This one was in VG+ condition for the record and the cover and sold for $263. Wonder what prices they would be selling for if they were on Blue Note? Double that? Triple?
And now some Blue Notes:
Jutta Hipp, Jutta, Blue Note 5056. This is an original 10-inch pressing. The listing was a little weird. At one point the seller describes it as near mint for the record, at another it is described as VG+. The cover was VG+. The price was 449.
Pete La Roca, Basra, Blue Note 4205. This was an original New York USA pressing that looked to be in probably VG++ condition for the record and the cover. It sold for $353.88.
About that Pete La Roca listing. I can’t stand when people only include pictures that don’t show the whole cover. I always assume they’ve taken the pictures off another listing or have something to hide.
In regards to filing of Tenor Conclave I’m in the position of not yet having enough Blue Note or Prestige albums to justify not filing them by LP number. So for me it just gets filed as 7074. Hopefully down the line it’ll become a difficult task to remember where each artist lies and I’ll need to adjust to an artist filing system. In that case, this goes among the Coltrane’s (more because I own more of his albums than any of the other players).
I’m not much in agreement about your classification of the Conclave album (btw, always one of my favorites & never understood it’s relatively modest prices realized) – there are at least three and possibly four great tenors here, and I personally resist rating them to determine the place on my shelves – first listed almost always used – can’t really argue with anyone else’s classification system however, nor can I argue with calling Coltrane the greatest tenor
in my collection, whoever is listed first (from top right to bottom left) on the album cover is who i file under, so i have several jj and kai albums under both musicians, and i have my original “newport rebels” under mingus, for example. the early prestiges are not really my main cup of tea, but if i had this record, it would be under mobley for the above reason.
test
I made a test since three messages I wrote went nowhere.
From the point of view of a discographer, Tenor Conclave and Wheelin’ and Dealin’ should be filed under “Prestige All Stars”.
Here is the complete list of Prestige All Stars albums:
Two trumpets: 7062
Tenor Conclave: 7074
All Night Long: 7073
All Day long: 7081
Earthy: 7102
Three Trumpets: 7092
Four Altos: 7116
OLIO: 7084
Two Guitars: 7119
Interplay for two ténors and two trumpets: 7112
Coolin’: NJ 8216
the Cats: NJ 8217
Modern Jazz Survey: Baritones and French Horns. 16-6
After Hours: 7118
Wheelin’ and Dealin’: 7131
Roots: NJ 8202
Just Wailin’: NJ 8211
Basie Reunion: 7147
Very Saxy: 7167.
For those who want to file on artist name, Tenor Conclave has two originals, penned by Hank Mobley (Bob’s Boys and Tenor Conclave), so the honours should go to Hank (even if the re-issue of Tenor Conclave, Prestige 7249 is issued, for commercial reasons, under Coltrane’s name.
All this hassle is unnecessary when filing by label and catalogue number.
Man O Man! You Anal Filers!! Just stick em on the shelves wherever, pull em out at random, spend the evening searching for one and discovering stuff you really need to listen to again. Chaos I hear you cry… complete disorder and confusion!!!
I can hear the sharp intake of breath as I write.
…It’s Fun! Try it!
I must confess the only section I keep together is the Impulse! recordings, a block of those oranges spines…just lovely, like Penguin book originals.
Adamski: Founding member of the ‘Liberation Freedom Jazz Record Shelving party’
new members welcome.
Adamski that’s how I file my records as well. I even have jazz next to soul next to country next to rock…oh my! If I was to ever organize my albums I’d follow Gregory the Fish’s post.
That’s a really nice list, Rudolf – thanks for sharing that!
It would also be a nice list of records to acquire…sadly I just have two of them.