Pandemic, Prestige, Impulse, Blue Note
How are you all doing out there in the midst of a global pandemic? I’m doing well, despite the fact that I haven’t posted here at Jazz Collector since August 3, which is one of the longest inactive stretches for me since I started doing this as a blog site nearly 12 years ago. These are crazy times. I’m home more than ever, which would seem to be an opportunity to listen to my records more frequently. But that hasn’t been the case. I’m still working full time. My son was here for nine weeks. My wife, The Lovely Mrs. JC, is now working from home, so she is around all the time. My daughter and son-in-law just moved into a new house right near mine up here in The Berkshires. Frankly, while the music, the record collection and the blog have often served as an escape in the past, I haven’t turned to them as frequently as I would have expected throughout the course of this pandemic.
It’s not just the music and records: I’m not following sports; not going out to eat; not interacting nearly as much with anyone outside of my immediate family and closest friends. It feels like normalcy has been suspended until we someday come to a new normal, if, indeed, there is anything we can rely on as normal in our futures. I started writing this as an explanation for my disappearance the past few weeks and also as an assurance that I am actually doing quite OK, physically, mentally and spiritually, just in case anyone was wondering. I’m also curious about how the pandemic is affecting the broader community’s relationship with music and records, so if you are still out there, please consider taking a moment to comment. Meanwhile, since I’m here, I may as well take a look over at eBay and see what has been happening in my absence.
Wouldn’t you know it, the first record that caught my eye is from the Jazz Record Center: Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet, Prestige, 7029. This has always been a weird one because Prestige somehow managed to print the wrong catalogue number on the front. As a longtime journalist, I’ve always been amazed that something like that could slip through the cracks. Can anyone think of other examples in our Jazz Collector world? Obviously, Kind of Blue comes to mind immediately What else? This is an original pressing with the original cover and the New York address on the labels. The record looks to be in M- condition and the cover is probably VG+ or VG++, with a previous owner trying to make the 7020 appear to look something like a 7029. There is one bid for this record at $500, with a couple of days left on the auction.
Among the other records for auction this week from the JRC is this: Max Roach, His Chorus and Orchestra, It’s Time, Impulse A-16. I never considered this to be highly collectible, and perhaps it is not, but there are already eight bids and the price is getting close to $100. The eight bids are from just two people, so perhaps we are seeing something of a bidding war. The record and cover both look to be in M- condition.
Whilst I was away from eBay, The Jazz Record Center had an auction in which there were a number of United Artists Blue Note pressings. Careful readers may recall that I bought dozens of these from my friend Red Carraro when they first came out, in the late 1970s or early 1980s. I still have many of these pressings, including Presenting Lee Morgan, Cliff Jordan Cliff Craft, J.R. Monterose and more. I also sold many of these back when I was doing eBay, whenever I would get an original pressing. Typically they would sell for $10 to $20 back maybe 15 years ago, or so. Here were more recent prices from the JRC auction:
Lee Morgan, Indeed, Blue Note 1538: $202.49
Hank Mobley Quintet, Blue Note 1550: $152.50
Kenny Dorham, Afro-Cuban, Blue Note 1535: $102.50
J.R. Monterose, Blue Note 1536: $104.38
That’s just a small sample. Check out the link above for more. It’s an interesting phenomenon because these pressings have become much more interesting to collectors than the subsequent Japanese pressings which, to me, seem to be of higher quality in both the pressings and the packaging. But I may be somewhat prejudiced, having paid so relatively little for the UA pressings and having spent 40 years or so on a quest to replace each and every one of them with an original pressing. 🙂
I can’t believe the prices on late Blue Note stuff in general. Those late 70’s vault releases are selling for $25-$50. DMM pressings are at about $20 for the good sessions. Crazy.
Hello Al,
Good to see you back, and in good health.
Same here, but the isolated life incites to more listening and re discoveries. How about Billy Bauer ‘Plectrist’ on Norgran? I had not listened to it for a long time but came to Billy after listening to the outstanding Konitz albums on Atlantic on which he is featured.
The extra home time is allowing me to dig deeper into larger bodies of work. I’ve had the Miles Plugged Nickel vinyl box since it came out , but it is only in recent months that I have gotten around to listening to all 10 LPs in 2 or 3 consecutive sessions. Result: I’m getting Wayne Shorter like never before!
Golly Al , I really feel that all of us are coping in our own way. Being an old guy my reality is quite different than the younger set. As far as Jazz is concerned, I haven’t bought a record in 6 months because I’m a in person buyer. I’m pretty bummed about it but like I said many moons ago….” I rather be wrong than dead” Here is the good news; The Austin Jazz Society, (which I’m on the board) has started project safety net. With the help of some very dedicated and hard working people we have raised over $60,000.00 to help jazz musicians in Austin. So far we have helped over 60 local jazz musicians with $500.00 each. Some needing help 1 time and others more than once. In addition we have partnered with a local piano player to put on live concerts on the Internet . Each week a new group performs and gets paid for the gig. We are able to raise $ doing this and the response has been fantastic. Check it out Tuesday night on our website.
Rudolf, I’m glad you dug Billy ! May I recommend Mary Osborne on Warwick for your next listen ?
Question…are there auctions for collectible Jazz other than Ebay? If so, I’d like to know…
Nice to have you back Al, from my point of view the Blue Note market has really taken a further step upwards during the last years. It is really crazy now and everybody says Blue Notes are in very high demand indeed.
You are right about the UA pressings going higher than just a couple of years ago. I kind of like them myself and for me they are a bit more genuine that the recent 75th reissues and later non-audiophile reissues like DMMs.
What I have noticed lately is that audiophile reissues like MusicMattersjazz and especially their SRX Vinyls have really gone through the roof. If they are out of print they can go for top dollars like between $200-300. It feels steep. I do not own any SRX titles but maybe 20 normal MM and a record I bought Mobely’s Feeling Good just like a year ago now went for $199. I think I paid 50 or 60 bucks. My point being that the high quality reissues are getting very appreciated and sought after and I guess accepted by many collectors.
I’m a member of Ken Micaleff’s Jazz Vinyl Lovers on Facebook. That’s a great group! Anyway the members are about 7500 in numbers and that is a lot of global competition for jazz vinyl – new and old. Phew! No wonder the prices are rising…..
Darryl. The Japanese use yahoo auctions a lot.
Thanks for the update Al ! Glad to hear you and yours are keeping safe and well. Like so many of us out there who have been “furloughed” into a forced sabbatical the past six months, I have just tried to bury myself in projects I never thought I would have time for around the house. Beyond the weekly grocery expeditions and occasional sushi takeout, life has been manageable thankfully…The time spent purging room by room, with small renovations and repairs here and there have kept me sane. I even decided to pursue a lifelong dream of going back to school to get a post-graduate degree. Despite all that’s happening out there in the world, this time was desperately needed to help re-boot.
In terms of music and records, I find I enjoy each note that much more in the absence of live music in the clubs and on festival stages throughout the world. Supporting our favorite artists in the interim has been a constant focus, and in all honesty it has been such a luxury to be able to attend the live sets at the Village Vanguard from my listening room here at home with a bottle of wine. Along the way, I even managed to pick up some great gems on ebay to add to my collection, and in some cases replace a few extremely rare pieces I regrettably sold in past.
I look forward to a day when we can get back out there again, but for the moment it has been a blessing in disguise to have an opportunity to step off the proverbial merry-go-round and just pause and reflect. Focusing attentions on what we already have in our own collections, and catching up on all the little things we never seem to have time for.
p.s. – My favorite example of an important / obvious detail on an album printing that slipped through the cracks:
Billie Holiday at Jazz At The Philharmonic on Clef Records (MG C-169) …The first original 10″ pressing had Billie’s name erroneously spelled “Billy” on that otherwise hauntingly beautiful DSM cover !!!
Nice goin’ Art Klemper re The Austin Jazz Society helping out the music. Putting some $ in the pockets of musicians beats putting $ in the pockets of record dealers ,I’d say ,in these current inane times.
Moreso than the pandemic, my collecting has been negatively impacted by a man called “Drumpf” and his blatant efforts to rig the US presidential election by messing with the US Post Office. I’ve personally experienced long delays in mail being delivered (and even lost, in one case) and am hesitant to buy records online, or sell anything on eBay for fear of a media rate package being thrown on a massive mountain of parcels to be delivered “sometime” and then getting into hot water with buyers. No bueno!
Some of my favourite misprints:
BLP 4033 with Reece misspelled as “Reese” on back spine.
And the runout of PRLP 8203 Farmer’s market: PRLP-8023 handetched, and strike through. Then PRLP-3058 handetched, mirrored (giving somewhat of a 8023), but x-ed out again. And finally, the correct PRLP-8203 with lettertype engraved ;). Love it.
An album, shipped in Berkeley, Calif. on the 20th, arrived today, 28th, at my home in Savoia, thanks to the reliable services of USPS.
A lot of mail is heavily delayed, but as near as I can tell, they are still doing their damnedest to make it work. A nice majority of packages going both into and out of my home are getting where they need to be on time. Main delays seems to be in eastern Texas and Utah, both states that Trump has locked up, so I am not worried about that as far as the election goes.
But I have to maintain a positive outlook on that. If I don’t, I’ll lose my mind.
Prices are high. Blue Note has become a status symbol/surrogate for self worth, fueled by social media such as Instagram and the newly minted experts on Youbut. There is even a guy from Scandinavia with his own website who posts each record he purchases, along with his own expert assessment of the record’s amazing rarity, incredible condition, and (oh yes) the incredible music it contains. Conspicuous consumption in the face of economic collapse, reminds one of the final days of the Roman Empire.
I rarely leave comments on JC, but I wanted to let you know Al that I always look forward to your posts and have learned so much about jazz music & jazz records from you (and many knowledgeable JC contributors) over the years. You don’t need to explain your long absence between posts. In a global pandemic, we all get a mulligan.
And speaking of mulligans…the other night my wife and I saw a movie (outdoors) that probably many of you here know: “Jazz on a Summer’s Day”. It’s a concert film of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. It’s pretty basic: no narration, no interviews, just 90 glorious color minutes of Newport, the America’s Cup race (which was taking place at the same time) and of course the performers and their very engaged audience (all seated on hard back slotted chairs). The lineup included Anita O’Day, Dinah Washington, Louis Armstrong, Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Monk, Mahalia Jackson and many others. One particular thrill for me was watching Chuck Berry playing “Sweet Little Sixteen”. It was like watching the birth of rock and roll.
Well, Al and all, I’ve been doing great as I’ve been listening to WKCR since August 28, as it’s been “all Bird, all day,” celebrating Bird’s birthday centennial.
Brings me back to where my love of Jazz all began, with Charlie Parker.
Spending a lot of time with the collection and family. Be well everyone!