More Jazz Vinyl: Byrd, Trane, Book, Jackie
I spent some time yesterday putting some new items in the Jazz Collector Price Guide and came across a few odds and ends worth sharing.
This is yet another Blue Note that has hit a new high price in the past few weeks, at least as far as we can tell: Donald Byrd, Byrd in Hand, Blue Note 4019. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing and it was listed in M- condition for the vinyl and probably VG++ for the cover. It had a nice picture, as you can see. The price was $637, which was not only a high for this record, but a high for any Donald Byrd Blue Note for the Jazz Collector Price Guide. This follows recent high prices for Wayne Shorter and Ike Quebec on Blue Note as well.
This one was getting a little bidding action and I’m not sure why, although it is certainly an excellent record: John Coltrane, Ole, Atlantic 1373. This seemed to be a routine pressing with the purple and orange label. With Atlantics of this vintage, I’m not sure how to tell if it’s an original, other than the heaviness of the vinyl and cover. Perhaps someone out there has some more information. Anyway this was in M- condition for the record and cover and it sold for $53.01.
I thought this would fetch a higher price: Booker Ervin, The Freedom Book, Prestige 7295. This was an original yellow label pressing, toward the end of the yellow label series, and it looked to be in VG+ condition for both the record and probably VG++ for the cover. The price was $64. A bargain in these times, right?
Let’s close it off with a nice Jackie: Jackie McLean, Makin’ the Changes, New Jazz 8231. This was an original mono deep groove pressing with the purple labels. The record looked to be M- and the cover VG++, at least. The price was $431.
I still can’t believe there are people paying these outlandish prices for Blue Notes ! They are certainly worth every cent mind you, but for the rest of us there are still some great deals to be found out there despite the ongoing surge in prices… Just an example, I picked up an original 1st pressing of this Donald Byrd, Byrd in Hand, Blue Note 4019 on ebay for $64 back in July ! It was in VG/VG condition but still, a great LP nevertheless. In a way, it is almost more fun to start keeping track of the lowest prices we collectors can score on these classics now that almost every LP is hitting closer to that once illusive $1000 dollar bin…
I agree DL-it helps that a Blue Note ‘vg'(visual grade) just plain SOUNDS so much better than an identical grade lp on a different label.
These prices will continue to skyrocket as collectors with deep pockets buy and archive the NM LPS.
Frankly, the Wayne Shorter record that was talked about yesterday is an absolute classic. Was it overpriced relative to previous auctions? Absolutely. Is it a far superior session than many of the standard fare Blue Note sessions that regularly top $500? I think so, though it may not be as scarce of an LP. Of course, many “standard fare” BLue Note sessions would be the pearls of nearly every other Jazz Label…
I picked up a Lee Morgan 1557 Volume 3 flat edge for Euro 60.
It was listed VG/VG- and had an instant buy option. It was only online for three hours and had 5 views when I bought it.The seller anounced it as a Lex pressing which of course it is not.It has the original W 63rd labels and 63rd street adress on the back cover. Of course there is seam where and browning on back cover and rounded edges but the front graphics are bright and the record plays with moderate backgrond noise really enjoiable. So happy when it arrived……….
My recent score last week. A little old lady (yes old lady) found a bunch of records in a house she was cleaning after a foreclosure. I had her rattle of the titles on the phone. While the condition was probably rough, I offered her $40 for 8 of them that sounding interesting, sight unseen. She said come and take what you want and pay me what you want. She didn’t want them.
Picked up the records, 1 of which was a Whims of Chambers Flat Edge Lex. I graded it VG/VG+ overall. I paid her the $40 and could care less about the other 7 records.
To DaveS. Great score! You seem to be having some luck lately.
To Jan. Great score as well! I would definitely take a chance with an album like that. Having a used cover makes it feel vintage and these Blue Notes almost always sound better — much better — than they look.
…Just a piece of trivia on that Donald Byrd – Byrd in Hand, Blue Note 4019: The cover photo was actually taken outside of the current RVG studio in Englewood Cliffs NJ just off the main entrance, despite the fact that the album itself says it was recorded in his old Hackensack, NJ “studio” (his parents home) on May 31, 1959. BN 4020 ‘The 3 Sounds – Good Deal’ was seemingly the last one recorded in Hackensack before transitioning into the new location Rudy built for himself in Englewood. But I wonder if 4019 was really among the first dates recorded in the new Englewood studio, especially since Blue Note often issued recordings out of sequence or with misprinted labels… It’s tough to know for sure, but could the photo be the clue in this case ? The best part of looking at these Francis Wolff cover photos is getting a feel for the locations they were taken from, usually inside one of the studio’s or just outside in the neighborhood. It really provides a great sense of what it was like to be there at the sessions.
Thanks for the interesting post, Don. My favourite studio location shot is the cover to the BLUE HOUR (4057) record by Turrentine and The 3 Sounds… especially since BNs rarely used photos of the whole band in action.
I’m still looking for an OG JUJU… a lot of the “NY USA” era Blue Notes seem to be skyrocketing in price.
like the story Don-Lucky! I am a photographer myself, and a great deal of my facination with BN is of the photography of Francis Wolff. There are two beautifull books with his phtography. Always speculated how he worked. I guess he had a Hasselblad or rolleiflex, but what kind of flash did he use in the RVG ‘s studio? And how did he flash? Not from the camera angle.. but did he put it on a stand?…. i would love to know….
That photo on the cover of BN 2057 (Blue Hour) is one of my favorites as well Blipp… That shot is taken from the corner in Rudy’s Englewood studio, and it never looked as uncluttered as it did that day I am sure! Today, Rudy has built a series of small infill recording booths all along the perimeter walls so you can’t see the exposed cinderblock as much, and the grand piano now sits in the centre of the studio. The only thing missing from this shot is the great wood framed cathedral ceiling above… As for Francis Wolff’s amazing Jazz photographs Maarten, I have often wondered about his technique myself as well so I did some digging for us and came across this quote from an article in Jazz Times…
“Wolff was not an available-light photographer, but he developed the use of auxiliary lighting that simulated the essential character of a jazz club’s spotlit atmosphere. What is marvelous here is that you can observe the evolution to perfection in his style.
We are treated to many pictures from the years of traditional jazz and early bebop where distracting backgrounds and flash-thrown shadows are a bit of a problem. With time, however, he arrived at his ultimate goal, where figures are suspended in deep black—in limbo, as cinema and video photographers would call it. Furthermore, because his electronic flash source is much more intense than club spots, the subjects are completely in focus since depth-of-field is large. But even more important than his superb use of state-of-the-art lighting was his ability to be “sufficiently unobtrusive” while using such generically obtrusive techniques. As a consequence, he was almost invariably able to capture a distinctly natural image of the musicians engaged in their craft. This, of course, is the goal of all jazz photographers; something that is much easier physically when using only existing light, but at the expense of a very narrow range of focus. Frank Wolff was a master at getting just the right balance within his style.”
-Excerpt from: The Blue Note Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff by Lee Tanner (Jazz Times May 2001)
…I picked up a used copy of ‘The Blue Note Years…The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff’, and wish I could have every shot framed on the walls of my already overcrowded office walls. Now that we know you are a photographer Maarten, you will definitely have to share some of your Jazz portfolio with us !
UPDATE on the Donald Byrd – Byrd In Hand Cover graciously provided by our good friend Larry Cohn:
“As far as the BLP 4019 cover photo is concerned, my explanation would be the following, based on my studies of the all-important timing of each step in the LP process: recording, approval & assigning of cat. #, mastering, test pressing, preparing art work of label, jacket & back liner; pressing release copies, fabricating finished jacket, scheduling of release date, actual release of album to the stores. Many shelved Blue Note titles failed at some point in this lengthy process, and it is the timing that determines the age/era of such things as cover design, labels, physical characteristic of the released disks (e.g., flat rim, dg, P, etc.).
So by my reckoning, BLP 4019 was recorded in May 1959 at Hackensack, two months before Rudy moved. However, the cover art would have been designed and executed later on. So the photo session for the cover could easily have been done by Wolff & Byrd at the new studio location in Englewood Cliffs. Byrd in Hand was not released until December 1959, so you can see that quite some time elapsed between the album’s starting point in May and its finish line in December. Blue Note did not scrupulously match the photographs for an album with the photos from that album’s recording session(s), so there is no reason that the cover shot had to have been made during the same time frame as when the music was recorded.”
Thanks again Larry !
great story!! His photography IS unique in all the ways stated in the Jazz Times article,.. and in time his photographs will hang next to Ansel Adams, robert Frank and William Eggleston…
Mayby his Rolleiflex is still in use by a grandson..?
I keep jazz and photography seperated till now…
The only thing i can come up with is “something like F.Wolff…”,.. ha,ha.. something will come on my path eventually in a way i can make it mine…
Till then i work for dutch magazines and advertising..
here are two works i made with afriend under the pseudonym Vandenboeselaere.
http://www.blurb.com/search/site_search?search=vandenboeselaere&filter=all&commit=Search
as a non- new yorker i would love to know where for example ‘six pieces of silver’ or Goin’ up..(seagram building???) where taken…?
I just checked out your links Maarten. I love urban photography, and some of your frames remind me of a Chilean-born, New York-based writer, photographer and documentarian. You would definitely enjoy his work involving photographic documentation of American slums and decaying urban environments. Check out ‘the New American Ghetto’,’American Ruins’ or ‘Subway Memories’ if you get the chance… Some of those office interiors of yours also have a mid-century modern ‘Julius Shulman” quality to them as well. Not too shabby man !
when this album was issued, a frequently heard comment was on its equivocal title. Donald has his hands placed on his noble parts, whence “bird in hand” / Byrd in hand.
and Hubbard’s ‘Goin up..up..up! is ofcourse a reference to Russ Meyer 🙂
who is Russ Meyer? Sorry for my ignorance!
Well Rudolf, of course Maarten is joking: the movie “Up!” indeed is a Russ Meyer production, but it was released in 1976; way, way later than Hubbard’s “Goin’ Up, Up, Up!”. Of course as a tongue in cheek reference to your Byrd in Hand remark. And about Russ Meyer, this is how his work is described: “Meyer is known primarily for writing and directing a series of successful low-budget sexploitation films that featured campy humor, sly satire and voluptuous women.” I guess that the best European equivalent of his work would be the Tiroler adult films from the 70s 😉
And just in case you want to read more: click here. Totally off topic, but still fun! Mattyman, The Netherlands
thanks Mattyman. I am learning each day.