Jazz Vinyl to Ring in 2019: Happy New Year
Happy New Year jazz lovers. Of course we will ring in 2019 with some rare jazz vinyl on eBay, starting with Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington, Riverside 201. This was an original white label pressing with the original cover. When we first looked at this a couple of weeks ago it was sitting in the $250 range. It wound up selling for $1,730.55, which is the highest price, by far, yet recorded by Popsike for this record.
Curtis Fuller, Blues-ette, Savoy 12141. This is an original red label pressing. The record is listed in VG++ condition and the cover is VG. The auction closes in a couple of days and the bidding is in the $380 range. I had a sealed copy of this record in perfect condition. I opened the seal and, surprise, it was an original pressing. For some reason I sold it and the price was less than the $380 that’s already bid on this copy.
Introducing Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1523. This looks to be an original Lexington Avenue pressing that looks to be in VG++ condition for the record and probably VG+ for the cover. There’s a weird thing going on with this seller. Instead of using photos from the copy that’s for sale, he uses stock photos that are absolutely clean and pristine. How does anyone feel about this? I, for one, would be hesitant. I’d like to see what I’m buying, particularly if this record (and others) end up somewhere in the $1,000 bin. In any case, the photos accompanying this listing and the others from this seller, are quite lovely. I’d be thrilled to have those covers.
Happy New Year to all. It has been a pleasure this past year reading the columns and all your comments
May 2019 bring you what you need, whatever that is.
Regarding the Kenny Burrell LP, it seems to me that only the first photo is a stock image. All the others are likely of the actual item. Actually, from those, it looks like quite clean a copy.
Happy New Year to all jazz record collectors here!
feelable scratch on the Burrell would keep me away from it (and, of course, the fact that it’ll be far pricier than I’d be able to stomach).
anyway, Happy New (Y)Ear to all!
Happy New year to everybody
Happy New Year to all of you.
The seller of the Burrell ships to Europe for 76 dollars, the normal fee being one third of it. $ 25 on the average.
May the crate diging Gods be good to you, may all your Blue Notes be deep groove ,may all your purchases end up in the $1000.00 bin, may you have the good health needed to accomplish all this in the New Year….
happy new year, everyone!
Happy new year to everybody !
Happy New Year Everyone!!
May all your surface marks be visible but not audible!!
Happy New Year! I hope 2019 will be a grand collecting year for all of my fellow collectors. Cheers!
Hi….Happy New Year
Also noticed the seller of the Burrell doesn’t accept returns anymore
I’ve purchased a few LPs from him, and returned all but 1, for some legitimate reason or another
It has become necessary to dispose of the collection of a long time private collector.
I wonder if anyone can offer guidance on getting an evaluation or any other information that will be useful to the task at hand. It would be greatly appreciated. I am not familiar with the genre and do not know of other collectors.
I am in Montreal, Canada.
Happy New Year to all you vinyl buffs. Looking forward to reading more tales if jazz rekkid scores!
Happy New Year! Let the digging begin!
Note to Jean:
As a long time Jazz collector in Montreal , I might be able to offer you direction in navigating this project. Hoping Al can connect us.
Happy New Year to all!
Al, the auctioned Monk record might indeed be an early pressing, but I am convinced the cover is not “original”.
By coincidence I just bought a first press copy of this record – for a fraction of the price by the way – but the cover of my copy is different:
– it is not laminated (the cover of the “eBay” copy clearly is laminated);
– the lay-out and typography of the liner notes on my copy are entirely different;
– the list of “other interesting Riverside recordings” on my copy only mentions four 10-inch albums and two 12 inch LP’s (RLP 12-203 and 12-204). The cover of the eBay copy only mentions several 12 inch titles up to RLP 12-227.
So not a bad price indeed …for a second pressing 😉
Peter — If I had been smart enough to buy that copy from Fred for $100 many years ago, I might have known these things. Thanks. — al
Peter – also I noticed that the label colors are different. One side has grey riverside logo and other side has blue.
Also an expensive lesson to be learned for sure; I also suspected that was not a true first pressing due to the catalog numbers advertised on rear and the different label colors. I did not know, however, that first cover should not be laminated…
I have not followed this discussion on Monk plays Ellington since its beginning as I have the U.K. London version of same, issued in 1956, but pressed in Germany. (I have seen a French London issue with a different cover design!)
Anyway, I knew that these early Riversides are non laminated, but the list of issues up to 12-227 on the rear is an obvious indication of a later issue, too obvious even not to note at first glance. The label colours grey vs blue lettering is interesting. Anyone who can advise whether grey or blue is more authentic?
Interesting, Mark, I didn’t realise there are different white label varieties. I just checked the (7) white label copies I recently added to my collection and I see now that 12-201 (Monk) and 12-203 (Randy Weston Trio) both have records with grey logo. The next one in line is 12–223 (Bill Evans – New Jazz Conceptions), which has blue logo. All the higher numbers have blue logo’s as well, so apparently grey logo copies are from earlier date…
Too bad though that the pressing quality of these early Riversides is a bit lousy… Rudolf, do you perhaps know if these early Riverside’s were sold without inner sleeve at the time?
Peter, I don’t know if the early white labels came with custom made inners. When I started buying new Riversides, they were already in the blue label period.
Ah I see…and white label copies were perhaps not even for sale in Holland… or only for a limited period… or did you already buy your records abroad at the end of the fifties?
Good info on Riverside labels here: https://londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/record-labels-guide/6-riverside/riverside-labels-us/
Quick note on the Monk: the first press has more of an orange hue on the lower left front photo, while the later press is more bright red.
Peter A. The Riverside label in the ‘white’ period was not imported in Holland. I remember a small ad in a newspaper in the Hague around 1958, 1959, inviting people to get acquainted with the Riverside label during a presentation in a specialized record shop. All the hipsters were there, packed in a small backroom. Only two titles were available, ‘The Sound of Sonny’ 12-241 and Golson’s sextet album 12-256. Both blue labels of course. After this test, an official importer soon started national distribution of the label.
Great story, Rudolf, thank you for sharing!
Was the specialized record shop located in The Hague? Nowadays there are hardly any record shops left in The Hague (where I work). Amsterdam (where I live) still has many…
PeterA: yes, it was in The Hague. The shop was called v/h ‘Muziek-Smith’-den Haag. Adress Nieuwstraat 25. They had three affiliates, in the Nobelstraat, Denneweg and Laan van Meerdervoort. This is almost sixty years ago! Last time I went to the Nieuwstraat must have been late sixties. In the Nieuwstraat they had their jazz section. The backroom was there too. Ideal to spend a Saturday afternoon, without buying!