Adventures in Jazz Collecting, Part 3

OK, so I let the nice collection in Hartford slip through my fingers. But I knew there was another option: Trenton, New Jersey. For the past couple of weeks I’d been dealing on line and on the phone with a guy named Rob in Trenton. Rob said his father had a friend who passed away and left his records to Rob’s dad, who had also passed away. Rob had been holding on to the records for years and was now ready to get rid of them. He’d come across Jazz Collector on line and saw some of the prices in the Price Guide and figured maybe they were worth something. We chatted and he sent me a bunch of pictures of records. There were definitely some nice ones in there, but there was no way for me to tell if they were originals or if they were in good condition. So I didn’t get too excited. Besides, I wasn’t sure what Rob wanted to do. At first I thought he might be interested in selling the records himself on eBay, and I told him that, in my opinion, that would be the way to get the best value for the records.

As we talked, I got the sense he wasn’t necessarily up for that. It would involve cleaning the records, and he didn’t have a cleaner, and he wasn’t sure what was original and what wasn’t. I said I’d be happy to help in any way I could. I also mentioned the possibility of him calling one of the larger dealers, like the Jazz Record Center in New York. As another option, I said I’d be happy to come down to Trenton, look at the records and possibly purchase the whole collection and I’d give him a fair price. He thought about it and said: “Why don’t you come down here. I think it’ll be worth your time.” 

I have to say, I was not optimistic. Through the years I’ve been on many a wild goose chase in my search for the perfect record score. So, honestly, I was in no rush to haul down to Trenton. But, when we did make the arrangements and I got in the car, the old adrenaline was pumping mightily once again. I used to get this adrenaline rush just going to a record store: What would I find? Would this be it? I remembered driving to a store in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the same route I was taking to Trenton. The one thing that made me feel somewhat hopeful this time, however, was Rob. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy and was very straightforward on the phone.

So I got there and opened the front door and there were the crates of records, sitting in the living room. I could smell the musk. Rob explained that the records had been around for awhile and they’d been up and down stairs and in a basement and nobody realized they had any value. I looked at the first crate and the first record: Paul Chambers, Whims of Chambers, Blue Note 1534.  And I thought about the previous Friday and driving up to Hartford and seeing the Art Pepper LP and getting real excited and then being so disappointed when I pulled out the record and it was a reissue. I sidled over toward the Chambers LP, squatted down, grasped the record and looked at it. There was some water damage on the side. Not a good sign. Then I tilted the record, grabbed the vinyl and pulled it from the sleeve and looked at the address on the label: 767 Lexington Avenue. Ahhhh, the real deal. Then I looked at the next record: The Clifford Brown Memorial Album, Blue Note 1526. Same deal. A little water damage on the cover, tilted the record, grabbed the vinyl, looked at the address on the label: 767 Lexington Avenue. Both records were covered in dust and both had some dirt, but neither seemed scratched. Hmmmm. 

I kept looking through the records, pulling out some of the nicer ones. A few of the best ones were totally trashed. For instance, there was a copy of Tina Brooks, True Blue, Blue Note 4041. The cover was completely destroyed and covered in mold. A lot of the records had water damage, on the vinyl and the cover. Some were covered in dirt and dust and mold. Still, there was definite potential in this collection, and there was definite risk: What if the records didn’t clean up well? What if the water damage had warped them and they were unplayable? Meanwhile, I was chatting with Rob and I could see my impression of him from the phone conversations was accurate: He really was a nice guy, very warm and personable. He showed me a picture of his dad from 1950 at a jazz club, with personal autographs from Lee Konitz, Art Blakey and a few others.

I wanted to give Rob a fair price, and I wanted the records. I decided to offer 50% of what I thought I could get on eBay for the records that were clean, as well as a few others, hoping they would clean up well. I made the offer, in cash. He accepted. We loaded the records in my old Ford Explorer and I got in the car heading back to New York. Right away I got nervous: The smell of musk in the car was overwhelming. Perhaps the water damage on these records, from being stored in a basement, was more than I had bargained for. I called Mrs. JC: Be prepared, I told her: There will be more records in the house. I can’t say she was overly thrilled, but she was certainly used to it by now.

So, what happened when I got home and started working on the records? For that, you will have to stay tuned for Part 4, which I will post later today or tomorrow. Right now I have to get back to cleaning and washing records.