Giant Steps, Impulse and Moose the Mooche

Let’s take a look at the Jazz Collector inbox, starting with one of our favorite provocateurs,  CeeDee. This one came in under the subject Trane Reigns! John Coltrane, Giant Steps, Atlantic 1311. This was an original black label pressing listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The final price was $1,604. It look me a long time, but I’m glad I finally got my black label Giant Steps a few years ago, prior to the current shift in the market where, it seems, anything goes and most things are going up. Looking back, it was 2016 when I made that particular score, which I wrote about in this post: A New Year’s Adventure in Jazz Collecting. It was interesting getting this link from CeeDee, because I have been in a Coltrane head lately, starting with a comment from my friend Dan about Mal2, followed by another comment from Dan about Cattin’ With Coltrane and Quinichette, followed by an evening listing to, in order, Blue Train and A Love Supreme, followed by the purchase of the new release A Love Supreme Live in Seattle. At this point, I have only listened to Side One of the new Love Supreme. Once I’ve listened to the whole thing, I’ll have more to say. I will note that I could listen to Coltrane all day, every day, never get bored and always hear something new.  

This one came in with a cryptic note: Sonny Clark Trio, Blue Note 1579. This was an original West 63^rd Street pressing listed in VG+ condition for both the cover and the record. The final price was $2,875. CeeDee, when you see this, perhaps you can comment on the note you sent. I think it alludes to someone dying and the collection being sold by this particular dealer and, if you look at the completed listings from Nov. 6, it does look like quite a score and quite a collection.

The Sonny Clark LP is another one I was able to get within the past few years, back in 2013, as part of the Bruce M. West Collection, one of my all-time favorite memories, driving down to Baltimore in an empty SUV and driving back in the same SUV packed with some of the most amazing jazz records I had ever seen. As I look at the original articles, I am coming up on the 8-year anniversary. My canine pal Marty is no longer with us, but I have a new buddy, a rescue dog who came with the name “Moose,” who, of course, I call “Moose the Mooche,” and he is a ferocious 8-pound, 9-year-old Yorkie who hasn’t yet brought me a lucky record score, but that, I’m hoping, is just a matter of time since we’ve only had him for about 10 months.

Two more emails to share. One is from another regular contributor Daryl, who is part of a Facebook Impulse Collectors group and had a post that raised some questions that could perhaps be answered through the collective wisdom of the Jazz Collector community, to wit:

“Research help request: We know that the original Impulse run was catalog #s 1-100, 9101-9361. We know that 21 of the catalog #s in this sequence were unissued. Through various sources (Ashley Kahn’s book, BothSidesNow, JazzDisco, Discogs) we know what titles were planned for 15 of these 21. Does anyone know what was planned for the remaining six: 9172, 9177, 9320, 9323, 9355, 9358? 9172 is sometimes credited to Irrepressible Impulses (actual catalog # is 1972. Can you help? I’m happy to share the other 15 if anyone cares.”

Finally, there is this from David under the subject “Jazz Collecting – The pandemic years:”

“Hello. I’m sure you’ve been asked this many times already and forgive me if you have already written about it. My impression is that prices paid for in-demand jazz titles have increased a lot over the 2020/2021 pandemic period. This is purely anecdotal, but as an avid eBay user for the last 10 years, I don’t think I’ve had as many sharp intakes of breath as I have had in the last 18 months over prices.

“Have you done any specific research in this area? What are your overall thoughts and impressions? Outside of the horrors of COVID inflicted on the lives of millions, we know buying and selling habits have also been affected globally. My impression is that buying online has taken a sharp turn in popularity and prices are jumping accordingly. I’d be interested in your thoughts.”

My reply:

“Hi, David. Yes, I have written about it and I’ve definitely noticed the same thing although, like you, it is all anecdotal without specific research. It’s been kind of incredible, actually, watching the market change so quickly in real time. Records that wouldn’t have sold at all a few years back, now have a market and everything has gone up in price. I guess it’s simple supply and demand — there are more people collecting vinyl these days, more younger people getting into it, and just a limited supply of the records they are seeking. And the supply side gets smaller each time a quality record ends up in the collection of a younger collector. — al”

Moose the Mooche